‘Abbott Elementary’ Pauses Production Amid Los Angeles Wildfires

Classes are being put on pause at Abbott Elementary. The ABC sitcom is among the many shows that have to suspend production because of the wildfires devastating the City of Los Angeles. According to Deadline, Warner Bros. closed production at its lot in Burbank on Wednesday, with Abbott scheduled to film. The studio also shuttered its famous studio tour both today and tomorrow out of an abundance of caution.

Also like many shows, Abbott just restarted production after the holidays. It’s unknown how long the series is expected to be on break, but it’s all dependent on the wildfires. Since Warner Bros. is shut down for the studio tour, it’s highly likely productions on the lot will also remain shut down. Other Warner Bros. productions affected included All American, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, and new Max series The Pitt, which had its red carpet premiere canceled.

At the very least, Wednesday was still an exciting Abbott Elementary day despite the paused production. Tonight marked the return of the series after it went on a winter hiatus. Not only that, but the long-awaited and highly-anticipated crossover with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia kicked off the new year. The episode featured Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson, and Danny DeVito as their It’s Always Sunny characters paying a visit to Abbott, and, of course, chaos ensued. When Season 17 of the FX series eventually premieres, there will be another crossover, more or less the same episode but from the perspective of It’s Always Sunny.

Meanwhile, other shows that have also had to pause production include fellow ABC shows Grey’s Anatomy and Doctor Odyssey, as well as NCIS, NCIS: Origins, Hacks, new NBC series Suits LA, and Happy’s Place, among others. Prime Video’s Fallout had not yet gotten back into production after the holidays, but the restart date has been pushed back a couple of days out of caution. Some events, such as red carpet premieres, press events, and SAG Awards nominations announcement, were canceled.

It’s a heartbreaking time for everyone affected by the wildfires, and the hope is that this ends soon and everyone stays safe. If people are wanting to get their minds off of it, they can definitely watch all four seasons of Abbott on Hulu, which would definitely help, even if it’s just temporary.