Why ‘Amazing Race’ Shut Down Production, What It Means For New Episodes

Season 33 only just began filming, but production on CBS’ popular reality competition television series “The Amazing Race” has been suspended due to the spread of coronavirus.

According to CBS News, the temporary shutdown was due to the spread of the disease which has been spreading around the globe and is only a precautionary measure. The shutdown occurred after three episodes had been filmed and teams had gone to England and Scotland—the pairs and production staff are now all headed home to wait until the production picks up once again.

“Due to increased concerns and uncertainty regarding the coronavirus around the world, CBS and the producers of ‘The Amazing Race’ have taken the precautionary measure of temporarily suspending production on the 33rd season of the series,” a spokesperson said. “All contestants and production staff are in the process of returning home.”

“At this time, no Racers or anyone on the production team traveling with them have contracted the virus or shown symptoms, and we are not aware of anyone being exposed to it,” the statement continued. ”Out of an abundance of caution, everyone involved in the show will continue to be monitored when they return home. The health and well-being of the Racers and the production team are our top priorities.”

The decision came after the World Health Organization upgraded the global risk of the disease to “very high,” following a death toll of 2,800 and more than 83,000 confirmed cases of the illness worldwide. The spread of the disease has disrupted several different industries due to shutdowns in different sectors, including the entertainment industry, with Disneyland parks in Asia all closing down and Chinese premieres for movies being pushed back. Musical acts including BTS and Green Day have also canceled concerts in Asia as a precaution as well.

It is unclear if Season 33 of “TAR” was supposed to travel to Asia at some point later in the competition, though at least one country from the continent sees teams complete a leg there each cycle. The most popular countries in Asia that the race has visited multiple times have included China, India, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, where the largest number of confirmed cases have largely been concentrated. Other popular areas around the world the show has visited multiple times that also have confirmed cases of the disease are France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

It currently remains unclear when production will resume on the new season, or if it will affect the potential airing of Season 32, which filmed at the end of 2018 but has yet to air on CBS or receive a place on the network’s schedule. If the network chooses to keep the usual 12-15 month gap between seasons airing, then a delay in production could result in the new episodes being delayed further.