False COVID-19 results delay 'The Bold and the Beautiful' production; switches testing labs
Jun 24, 2020
Washington D.C. [USA], June 24 : Despite few attempts to resume the filming amid Covid pandemic, the production of daytime drama 'The Bold and the Beautiful' has once again been halted.
The long-running television drama was among the first productions to hit the studios after keeping its doors shut for months over coronavirus concerns.
However, the show's producers say they have switched medical labs after receiving several false-positive results from the first lab, resulting in a pause in the production once again. The first lab for testing was provided by the show's studio facility, Television City.
"The lab TV City provided The Bold and the Beautiful with last week produced several false positives and many inconclusive results," the Hollywood Reporter quoted a representative of the show as saying.
"We have not had, nor do we have, any positive COVID-19 cases and are not shut down, but we needed the additional time to ensure our testing protocols were at the highest standards," the show rep said.
"We were planning on returning to production today but needed the day to get requested information to the Health Department regarding the resolved testing issues," the rep added.
Executive producer and head writer Bradley Bell told the publication that the show's stages had been modified to accommodate social distancing and that all cast and crew would be required to wear masks onset, except when actors are shooting scenes.
During filming, actors will remain at least eight feet apart, with visual effects and other tricks of the trade employed to make them appear closer together during intimate scenes.
"We're also bringing in, in some cases, the husbands and wives of the actors as stand-ins for their [characters'] significant others," The Hollywood Reporter quoted Bell as saying.
"So if you see hands touching faces in close proximity from a wide shot, instead of a stunt double we'll have a love-scene double, where it will be the husband or the wife doing the actual touching," Bell added.
Earlier, the series resumed its production after months, on June 17. But the filming had to pause after one day last week to accommodate a greater volume of testing than producers initially anticipated.
'The Bold and the Beautiful' has been on the air since 1987. CBS has renewed its daytime drama for two more seasons, where the pickup will take the show through its 35th season in 2021-22.
