'Barry' Season 3 Is Finally In Production After Being Shut Down For Nearly A Year And A Half

The coronavirus pandemic stopped almost all film and TV productions dead in their tracks last spring. Even though many of Hollywood's projects have gotten back up and running since then, some shows have been holding out. Thankfully, HBO's Barry is no longer one of them.

Barry was on the verge of starting shooting for the show's third season when the pandemic resulted in production being totally shut down back in March 2020. Bill Hader and the rest of the cast and crew had only assembled for table reads of the first two episodes before everyone dispersed to go home and wait out out the pandemic. Now the gang is back together, and Barry season 3 production is officially underway, as confirmed by a photo from the set posted by series co-star Henry Winkler.

First day back on the BARRY set .. Season 3 pic.twitter.com/pUDwyDlamE

— Henry Winkler (@hwinkler4real) August 2, 2021

The first photo from the set of Barry reveals The Elephant Man as the latest production from the theatre run by Gene Cousineau, the character played by Henry Winkler. Not only is Gene producing and directing the show, hilariously referred to as a "holiday classic," but he's also starring in it. It's probably not a coincidence that this play is about a disfigured man who is seen as a monster, but contains kindness, intelligence and sophistication. With the exception of the physical disfigurement, that could easily be a descriptor for Barry, right?

At the end of the second season, Gene Cousineau remembered something that Barry's assassin mentor Fuches (Stephen Root) whispered in his ear. Referring to the death of Gene's lover, LAPD detective Janice Moss (Paula Newsome), Fuches said: "Barry Berkman did this." Suddenly Gene woke up from his bed in shock, and we've been waiting to see what happens next for nearly a year and a half.

This is quite a predicament for Barry to get himself out of, and we're not sure how he's going to do it. However, one thing we do know is that the pandemic allowed Bill Hader and executive producer Alec Berg to complete all the scripts for a fourth season. Even though that hasn't been officially ordered yet by HBO, it's a good sign that the cable network will keep the Emmy-winning series around for awhile longer.

Barry season 3 probably won't premiere until 2022. The second season of the show was in production from September to December of 2018, and it didn't debut on HBO until March 31, 2019. Our best best is we'll see new episodes of Barry in the spring of next year, and hopefully season 4 won't be far behind.

The first two seasons of Barry are streaming on HBO Max right now.