NETFLIX’S hit reality series “Terrace House” is halting production of its current season in Japan in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“We are suspending production of ‘Terrace House Tokyo’ 2019-2020, giving top priority to the health and safety of our cast and staff,” the show said Monday over its official Twitter account.

Fans of the hit series were quick to both lament and endorse the move. “Nooo, I’m so sad, but it’s a good decision to protect the crew and participants’ health,” said one Twitter follower. Other followers were surprised to hear that the show was even still in production, since the pandemic shuttered film and TV shoots elsewhere in the world weeks ago.

Hollywood shoots in Japan, such as HBO Max’s “Tokyo Vice,” directed by Michael Mann, suspended production in Japan in mid-March. Many local productions were continuing as recently as last week though.

“Terrace House” follows three men and three women from different walks of life as they temporarily live together in a modernist house somewhere in Japan. Fans of the show have been attracted by its relative subtly and realism. Many critics have commented on how the civil and subdued social dynamics of the Japanese cast stand in stark contrast to the dramatic histrionics of traditional U.S. reality TV formats.

The ongoing 2019-2020 season premiered on May 14, 2019, and featured a cast living in Tokyo’s Setagaya ward. Thirty-nine episodes had aired on Netflix so far, with the most recent dropping on the streamer on April 6. It is unclear when the show will resume and how the producers will pick up from the coronavirus-imposed hiatus.

“Terrace House” was created by Tokyo-based Fuji TV in 2012 and began streaming on Netflix in 2015. It quickly became Netflix’s first major breakout original from Japan. The show is now co-produced by Netflix and Fuji TV.

(SD-Agencies)