Production for 'Country Comfort' Shut Down for Months Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Netflix's latest feel-good family comedy is Country Comfort, which is a cross between The Nanny, Melissa & Joey, and Nashville. American Idol alum and powerhouse singer Katharine McPhee Foster plays Bailey, an aspiring country music star who takes a nannying gig to make money while awaiting her big break. 

Her new boss is hunky, unmarried dad Beau (Eddie Cibrian), whose five kids are, coincidentally, all musically inclined. 

Bailey ends up being somewhat of a mother figure to the kids, and they become the band members she needed to succeed in music.

When was Country Comfort filmed? Find out whether the show was shot pre-pandemic below. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began affecting TV production and safety protocols in the spring of 2020, many often wonder when exactly  new shows were filmed. 

In addition to the potential pandemic conflicts, Country Comfort viewers have also wondered whether the series was shot while star Katharine McPhee Foster was pregnant. 

As fans of Katharine will know, she welcomed her first child with husband David Foster in February of 2021.

Interestingly, production for Country Comfort actually began before the pandemic (and prior to Katharine's pregnancy) in February of 2020. 

Four episodes were filmed in front of a live studio audience before production had to shut down due to the COVID-19 crisis. It resumed several months later, after Katharine was showing in her pregnancy. 

Beginning in the fifth episode, viewers can be on the lookout to see Bailey wearing looser clothing, and to be covering her stomach with props.

"You're really short of breath when you're pregnant, so it was a bit of a challenge for me," Katharine told USA Today about returning to set while pregnant. "I felt I looked more pregnant than I actually did, so I definitely was holding a purse a certain way [to cover]. My costumes changed a little bit: I was in very tight jeans and little crop tops in the first four episodes, and then you come back for Episode 5, and things just become a little more drapey." 

Country Comfort ended up wrapping filming in September of 2020.  

Though the series takes place in Nashville, Tenn., it was mostly recorded at a sound studio in Los Angeles. There were some on-location shots that were recorded in Music City.

Country Comfort, which dropped on the streaming service on March 19, has not yet been renewed for a second season. It could be several months until Netflix makes a decision about the future of the series.

The first season did conclude with a few unresolved storylines, which does leave things open for more episodes. 

Though Beau is ready to really give his relationship with Summer (Janet Varney) a serious chance by the end of the first season, there's an undeniable chemistry that he has with Bailey. 

Plus, with her music career finally taking off (with the help of Beau's kids), Bailey's days as a nanny could be numbered.

Season 1 of Country Comfort is available to stream on Netflix now.