With every update about the This Is Us season 5 release date, spoilers, and news, it’s starting to feel like the beloved NBC series is coming sooner than fans expected. But there are still some things getting in the way of the This Is Us season 5 premiere—namely, production delays due to the coronavirus pandemic. It turns out that This Is Us creator, Dan Fogelman, has decided to embrace this reality in more ways than one.

The series creator revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic would play a role in This Is Us season 5 storyline. During a Deadline Contenders stream on August 16, a fan of the series asked Fogelman: “Will the writers address COVID in present day?” Fogelman responded on Twitter following the livestream: “Yes on Covid,” he wrote. “We’ve decided to attack things head on. Very proud of @ThisIsUsWriters.” While it’s unclear exactly how the pandemic will factor into This Is Us season 5, this seems to suggest that it will be a relevant part nonetheless.

Aside from a pandemic-related plot in the new season, the truth is that This Is Us season 5 itself is still being impacted by the real-world aftermath of COVID-19. Keep on reading for details about This Is Us season 5’s release date, spoilers, and news—all of which have definitely been subject to production delays.

A version of this post was originally published in August 2020.

Is This Is Us season 5 confirmed?

This Is Us season 5 is definitely confirmed. On June 16, 2020, NBC Entertainment announced its fall 2020 lineup. This Is Us season 5 was also confirmed to return to its regular time slot: Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET.

When’s This Is Us’ season 5 release date?

NBC confirmed in August that This Is Us will return on Tuesday, October 27, with a two-hour premiere. The show airs at 9 p.m. Mandy Moore also confirmed in an Instagram Story on Thursday, September 24, that production had started on This Is Us season 5. She announced the news with a video of her and her cast separated on set by shower curtains and stalls.

Before NBC’s fall 2020 lineup was confirmed for This Is Us season 5, series creator Dan Fogelman said he wasn’t “sure” when exactly the new episodes will air. Fogelman also revealed in a tweet following Deadline Contenders that production on Season 5 has yet to begin.

In May 2020, actor Jon Huertas, who plays Miguel on This Is Us, hinted that the series was preparing to “begin shooting this fall.” He captioned an Instagram post at the time with the following: “Our writers are already working and the only reason we’d delay until January is if a bad 2nd wave of #covid19were to hit hard…safety of our cast & crew is very important to us. Don’t worry, #thisisus is raring to go!” Later in July 2020, actress Mandy Moore (This Is Us’ matriarch, Rebecca), admitted that nothing was set in stone yet.

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“I’ve heard conflicting reports. I don’t think there’s any official word,” she told TODAY host Hoda Kotb. “We would normally, historically go back to work this week. Like, right after the Fourth of July is when we typically go back. Once we get the all-clear, I think from maybe local government here in Los Angeles that it’s safe to go back, we’ll be ready to go.”

Who’s in the This Is Us season 5 cast?

Given that This Is Us season 4 brought along some newcomers, we can probably expect to see both fresh and familiar faces in season 5. The main cast is definitely set to return: Sterling K. Brown as Randall, Chrissy Metz as Kate, Justin Hartley as Kevin, Chris Sullivan as Toby, Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth, Mandy Moore as Rebecca, and Milo Ventimiglia as Jack—though we might be seeing a lot less of the latter.

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According to an interview with Dan Fogelman for Good Housekeeping, most of Jack’s storyline is already behind us. “We are starting to move towards new chapters … with the Big Three,” he said at the time about season 4. “Some of the more mysterious or dramatic pulls of the series might start falling into the hands of some of our other characters.” It’s only telling what that might mean for season 5.

What’s This Is Us Season 5 about?

This Is Us season 5 will offer “something big” from the start, according to Fogelman. The show creator spoke with Entertainment Weekly in March 2020 about the forthcoming season, calling it a “kind of rebirth.” He adds, “A lot of new beginnings. But particularly the word birth would be a big thematic part of next season.”

Those new beginnings will likely focus on major changes for Rebecca and Miguel’s relationship, along with some for each of the Big 3 siblings. Rebecca’s Alzheimer’s storyline is expected to bring fans deeper into her dynamic with Miguel. “Here’s an opportunity where we’re going to be putting them in a location together…as they undergo this treatment that they didn’t necessarily plan on trying,” Fogelman told PEOPLE in March 2020. “And it will also allow us to get towards a further understanding of how their relationship bloomed, then stalled, then kind of bloomed again, and getting really inside of it.”

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Meanwhile, there shifts ahead for Kate, who is played by actress Chrissy Metz. Metz revealed to STYLECASTER in June that viewers will finally get to “delve deeper” into Kate’s issues on This Is Us season 5. “There is a storyline that’s coming up next season, Dan and the writers called me and was like, ‘Are you going to be comfortable with this?’ And I was like, ‘Uh. Yes? It’s a very important topic to bring up and to discuss,'” she said at the time. “We get to delve deeper into where Kate’s issues really stem from aside from the shame and the guilt that she’s had about her father’s death.”

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