'Blindspot': NBC Moves Final Season Premiere Early Due to Coronavirus Pandemic

NBC moved up the premiere for the fifth and final season of Blindspot as other shows' seasons [...]

NBC moved up the premiere for the fifth and final season of Blindspot as other shows' seasons begin ending earlier than planned due to the coronavirus. The show was originally not scheduled to air until this summer, but the premiere will not air on Thursday, April 30 at 10 p.m. ET. The show will move to its regular 9 p.m. ET timeslot the following week, on Thursday, May 7.

The last season picks up after Jane (Jaimie Alexander) watched a drone strike hit the safe house with the rest of her team inside. The cliffhanger left several unresolved questions, including who survived and if the team could clear their names after Madeline (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) rose to power. The show's cast also includes Sullivan Stapleton, Rob Brown, Audrey Esparza, Ashley Johnson and Ennis Esmer.

Blindspot was created by Martin Gero, who executive produces with Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter. The series is a Warner Bros. TV production. The previous season averaged a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 4.3 million viewers overall.

Seasons three and four aired on Fridays at 8 p.m. during the regular TV season, but NBC was planning on holding the final season back for summer programming. Since NBCUniversal had to shut down production on more than 30 shows due to the coronavirus pandemic though, NBC decided it could not sit on a completed show for weeks.

The premiere date for Blindspot means a new Law & Order: SVU episode will not be airing that night. SVU, which is filmed in New York, was among the shows put on hold last month.

"The safety and health of our cast, crew and employees is our top priority," NBCU said in a statement on March 12. "Where possible, we are pausing production for two weeks as a precautionary measure, following which we will reassess and determine an appropriate start date. In some cases, we are accelerating plans to wrap up physical production."

Some of the shows postponed have wrapped their seasons, choosing to end early without filming finales. On Thursday night, NBC announced Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med are not going back into production, so their season finales will air on Wednesday, April 15.

SVU, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore and Will & Grace will end on Thursday, April 23. Manifest will end on April 6, while New Amsterdam is ending on April 14 and Indebted on April 16. Good Girls and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist are ending on May 3, while The Blacklist ends on May 15. Little Big Shots is ending on May 24.

Photo credit: Barbara Nitke/NBC/Warner Brothers

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