Barry is one of the best shows on TV, but unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait a bit for the third season. Production was scheduled to begin in April, but then everything had to be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the show remains one of HBO’s biggest hits, and they're likely eager to move forward.

Christina Radish recently spoke to Stephen Root for Perry Mason, and asked him about what happened with Season 3 of Barry. He explains that they had a table read and then everything shut down, so now they may not be back until January, although he hopes that if HBO pays for Season 4 scripts, there’s the possibility of doing those two seasons in quick succession:

Had you started filming Season 3 already? 

 

ROOT: We wish we had. We were gonna start April 1st. We had our first table read on the Thursday before the Friday that everything happened. So, we had a table read for the pilot of the third season, and the next day, everything fell apart and we stayed home. And then, by Monday, everything was as you see it. So, I think we're not probably gonna be doing back until January to do this, but hopefully HBO is going to let the powers that be write Season 4, and maybe we can do those real quick together. We're gonna try to do that.

Root is a veteran of the industry, and he thinks that should Barry come back during the pandemic, the way they approach the series will probably have to change a bit with regards to crowds and the number of actors in a given scene:

Had you been given hints, as to what would happen, over the course of Season 3? Are you aware of where things will go, when you do get back?

 

ROOT: We're aware of where they start 'cause we were able to read a couple of scripts, that first day. So, we're aware of where the season's gonna start and where everybody starts. We have some idea of what's gonna go on. Obviously, just for safety's sake, we haven't been allowed to look at other scripts, which I get. I think as it gets later in the year, we'll be able to maybe have some kind of a table read again, whether that's a Zoom table read or not. I think we'll be able to get a little more information, when it comes closer to the time of actually doing it. But it's such a hard thing to even imagine doing because all of the unions have gotta get together on how they wanna do it, and all of the studios have to implement the changes that are gonna happen. In Perry Mason, we had 200 extras, every day, for those courtroom seats. You won't see that anymore. You're gonna see smaller scenes with fewer people in them. That's just the way it's gonna be for awhile. But I think we'll manage to do it. I think everybody will do what they have to do to get back to work. We all wanna get back to work. You wanna work on great projects, and you wanna get back to it, at some point, so we'd love to do that.

We love Barry, but we love the cast and crew of Barry not getting coronavirus even more, so I hope they take their time and come back when it's safe.