‘The Blacklist’ Season 7 Finale Shifts to Graphic Novel-Style Due to Coronavirus
The seventh season finale of NBC’s acclaimed drama, “The Blacklist,” airing May 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, is ending the season in style with a unique hybrid of live-action and graphic novel-style animation.
The season’s 19th episode, titled “The Kazanjian Brothers,” was midway into filming in New York when TV productions across the industry were halted due to COVID-19.
Looking to do something out of the box to finish the episode and close out the season, producers came up with an idea to add graphic novel-style animation that would incorporate with the already filmed live-action scenes.
Cast members recorded dialogue from their homes for the animated scenes to ensure a seamless transition between the two styles as editors and animators complete their work remotely.
Episode logline: The Task Force investigates an accountant who works for lucrative criminals in order to find the violent and thuggish brothers hired for his protection. Liz must make a momentous decision. Presented in a unique hybrid of live-action and graphic novel-style animation.
NBC announced in February that “The Blacklist” has been renewed for an eighth season. The 150th episode of the series will air May 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The current season was supposed to have 22 episodes but was cut short due to the pandemic.
“The Blacklist” stars James Spader, Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff, Amir Arison, Hisham Tawfiq and Harry Lennix.
John Eisendrath, Jon Bokenkamp, John Davis, John Fox, James Spader, Lukas Reiter, J.R. Orci, and Laura A. Benson serve as executive producers. “The Blacklist” is a production of Davis Entertainment in association with Sony Pictures Television and Universal Television.
Sony is also turning another series into an animated offering because of the suspension of production. Per Deadline, “One Day at A Time” will feature an animated special instead of its usual episode since the cast and crew were not able to finish filming.
