Grace & Frankie is one of Netflix’s most endearing sitcoms that abounds in humour, fun and laughter. It sees two older women of polar opposite personalities and living vastly different lives forging an unlikely friendship after their respective husbands fall in love and marry.
Starring the iconic Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, co-creator Marta Kauffman, known for having created the legendary TV show Friends, told Los Angeles Times that although Netflix is no longer focusing on long-term series, “We are really lucky that we got the seventh season”.
The show, which has a very distinct and positive feel to it, shows the challenges and beauty of ageing. Despite dealing with the older generation, it has struck a chord with millennials and Gen Z worldwide, who are absolutely in love with the purity and warmth exuded by the characters.
The filming for the seventh season had originally commenced in January 2020, but production was stalled for an unprecedented time period due to the coronavirus pandemic. This caused the initial date of release to be pushed back from January 2021 to an unknown date.
After the cast did a table read in April 2020, fans feared that the show would possibly be scrapped off.
However, to everyone’s relief, filming commenced on June 21, 2021, adhering to all safety guidelines, and will continue until October 2021. Since the last three seasons, namely 4, 5 and 6, have all been released in January, we anticipate a January 2022 release for this 16-episode season.
While we wait patiently for the showrunners to update us on the production schedule and release dates, here is what Jane Fonda had to say about returning to acting after such a long hiatus due to the pandemic on her blog: “Frankly, I’ve been worrying about the possibility that in the 15 months since we were last filming Grace & Frankie I may have lost the ability to act. My main activity during those 15 months was hosting Fire Drill Fridays and interviewing climate experts and that’s really different than acting.”
Adding: “But last Monday we went back to the set and, turns out, I can still do it and I’m happy doing it. Some of our crew is new but most of the main people are from before COVID and it was really sweet to see them. Our Unit manager and producers have a knack for hiring nice and diverse people, so the set has always been chill.”
