Freeform’s Love in the Time of Corona is a four-episode mini-series that follows four interconnected stories about life, love, and family during the early months of quartine.
Since viewers are still being subjected to COVID-restrictions within their state, In an interview with TVline executive producer Joanna Johnson ensures that the show was not about the virus.
“That’s why our take on the show was more about relationships and connections, and how this time has affected those, as opposed to really being about the coronavirus.”
In another effort to differentiate the series from other recorded series during this pandemic, Johnson didn’t want to rely on Zoom, the go-to video-calling platform during the pandemic.
“We didn’t want to do a Zoom show, even though we appreciate the shows and the reunion shows that people did do just purely over Zoom,” Johnson says. “We wanted to do a real production and figure out a way to do it… I really wanted to see people interacting with each other in person during this time.”
Although Zoom was used to depict an online relationship between two characters, the majority of the show was shot inside the actor’s homes.
Precautions were taken to sanitize the set, but it also helped that many of the cast members were already quarantining together, such as husband, Leslie Odom JR. (Hamilton) and wife, Nicolette Robinson (The Affair).
Robinson tells 6abc that filming with her husband was fun. “We haven’t worked together like this in years. So there was so much relaxation and freedom and effortlessness in a way that we could start at that level and add all the extra stuff,” said Robinson.
Odom describe the show as a moment of reflection. “You know, this show is about turning that mirror back at all of us and saying, yeah, we know it’s been hard,” Odom tells 6abc. “We know there’s been grief and pain and anxiety but hasn’t there also been connection? Hasn’t there also been joy? Hasn’t there also been love?”
The four-part limited series aires this Saturday, Aug 22nd and Sunday, Aug 23rd at 8pm on Freeform.
