What's news: SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild grapple with the Hollywood studios, NBC brings back Parks and Recreation for one night, what will the future of the entertainment business look like? How the pandemic hit production, Universal links up with Lego, the Paycheck Protection Program replenished, Apple grabs a Will Ferrell-Paul Rudd comedy series. Plus: How Brooklyn Nine-Nine could acknowledge COVID-19, and ESPN adds virtual baseball. --Alex Weprin

 Hollywood Labor Negotiations Heat Up

►SAG-AFTRA, studios in talks on how long actors can be held under contract. SAG-AFTRA staff are working day and night, and in concert with agents and lawyers, to resolve two tough questions raised by the entertainment production halt resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Jonathan Handel reports: how long can studios hold idled actors to their contracts and what, if anything, must the studio pay them for the hold?

--The issues are key for actors — who may need the money now but some of whom may seek the flexibility to take other projects when production resumes — and they’re key for studios, who fear losing talent in the anticipated logjam that’s likely to ensue when the industry restarts. The story.

►Writers Guild exec says no deal on studio talks, calls Alliance "despicable." Negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and major motion picture and television studios, which seemed set for May 11 at the WGA’s request after a coronavirus-caused delay, were thrown into uncertainty by an email from the WGA appearing to reject the studio alliance’s acceptance of the WGA’s proposed date.

--The WGA had proposed that the parties exchange proposals May 1 and begin talks via the week of May 11, with the current contract to be extended to June 30 from its current May 1 expiration. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers responded that it accepted those proposals. But in response, the WGA sent a one line email, which was obtained by THR. “There will be an agreement when both sides agree there’s one,” said WGA executive director David Young to AMPTP president Carol Lombardini. “You people are despicable.” Here's the story.

►How will the virus crisis impact Hollywood in the long-term? "We have a strong belief that the production and distribution of media content will be permanently changed by this crisis," Michael Nathanson wrote about the coronavirus pandemic in a Friday report entitled "Say Goodbye to Hollywood.' Among his predictions: the U.S. will end up with fewer cinema screens, and most studios will have to look for mergers and acquisitions as "only a few studios will have the right mix of assets to survive" and profit from an accelerated shift to streaming services. The story.

+First quarter filming in L.A. plunges 18 percent due to COVID-19. Filming actually got off to a strong start in January but began to slow in March following a series of voluntary cutbacks and then restrictions on public gatherings, per a FilmLA report. The 1,091 local productions filming in February 2020 dwindled to 644 projects in mid-March before filming stopped on March 20 when state and local authorities put out “Safer at Home” orders. Those have closed the region to on-location filming until further notice. The story.

 A One-Night 'Parks And Recreation' Reboot

►Parks and Recreation returns to NBC for charity special. The entire original cast will reunite for a half-hour NBC special on April 30 to benefit Feeding America. The show will find Pawnee, Indiana's most dedicated public servant, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), determined to stay connected with her friends and colleagues during a time of social distancing. The story.

+Saturday Night Live will be back with another "At Home" episode this weekend. It will be the second go-around for the normally live late night comedy show, with a mix of sketches recorded by the cast at their homes, and a Weekend Update segment led by Colin Jost and Michael Che. More.

►Verizon loses 84,000 pay TV subscribers, virus crisis hits media unit. Revenue at the media unit, which includes the likes of Yahoo and HuffPost, fell 4 percent in the first quarter, "driven almost entirely by COVID-19 impacts." The story.

+WWE says business "largely unimpacted" by coronavirus pandemic in Q1. The WWE says its revenues rose by 60 percent to $291 million in the first quarter of 2020, thanks to new distribution deals in India and Germany and “increased monetization of content” as fees tied to rights deals with NBCUniversal and Fox rose. More.

+AT&T's WarnerMedia division faces Wall Street skeptics after earnings. Analysts see investment in mobility possibly suffering as the telco giant shores up its media businesses and gets set to launch HBO Max. More.

►Paycheck Protection Program guidance issued as $321 billion more loan funds become available. Funds are expected to dry up quickly — and the Treasury Department is reminding businesses they must certify that their application is "necessary." One thing for Hollywood workers to remember: Loan-out companies are eligible, along with independent contractors and other sole-proprietors, and whether the person qualified for a stimulus check doesn't affect that eligibility. Ashley Cullins breaks it down.

►Major League Baseball will be returning to TV... sort of. ESPN, Fox Sports 1 and MLB Network will air games from MLB The Show Players League, in which pro ballplayers play the Sony Interactive game MLB The Show to benefit charity. ESPN2 and MLB Network will air games starting April 26, with FS1 airing the quarterfinals on May, ESPN2 and FS1 airing the semifinals that evening, with the championship to air on primetime on ESPN May 3.

+The context: Sports networks are desperate for original content, with every major event (save for WWE) shut down. ESPN is currently airing the NFL Draft in primetime (day one was last night), but beyond that the schedule is bare. To help fill it, the networks are turning to esports competitions, which can continue despite stay-at-home orders. 

►How I'm Living Now: Rachael Horovitz, Patrick Melrose producer. Still recovering from COVID-19, the producer opens up (via email to avoid stressing her throat), what she's learned about herself while living through a pandemic and her thoughts on what Hollywood can do: "Our industry to take better care of our community." The interview.

In other coronavirus-related news...

--Fox News has scheduled a primetime special for Sunday at 10PM called America Together, which will spotlight "inspirational stories of resiliency during the coronavirus pandemic." Pete Hegseth will host, joined by talent like Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, and Jesse Watters.

--Iowa’s $26 million contract to increase coronavirus testing was reached after the governor acted on a tip from actor Ashton Kutcher, a revelation that increased skepticism about the no-bid deal on Thursday.

--CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin has now tested negative for the novel coronavirus, after weeks of recovery following the positive diagnosis that she announced April 3.

--Andy Cohen is speaking out after learning that he is unable to donate plasma to help those infected by COVID-19.

Charitable efforts...

--Will Ferrell, Mindy Kaling, Elizabeth Banks, Ike Barinholtz, Jack Black and Tenacious D, Wayne Brady, D’Arcy Carden, Kristin Chenoweth, Mark Duplass, Gal Gadot, Patton Oswalt, Stephanie Beatriz and Adam Scott are just a few of the big names who are coming together to help health care workers on the front line with a virtual comedy festival, called COVID Is No Joke.

--Ed Helms, Taika Waititi, Wilmer Valderrama, Congresswoman Deb Haaland and Congresswoman Sharice Davids appeared in a PSA on Thursday, raising awareness on the pandemic's impact on Native communities while also urging viewers to #StayAtHomeTogether.

--In an effort to support LGBTQ nightlife workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the Stonewall Gives Back Initiative partnered with World of Wonder Productions for a live-stream concert on Thursday featuring Rufus Wainwright, Cyndi Lauper, Kristin Chenoweth, Troye Sivan and more.

 Universal Links Up With Lego

►Universal inks five-year film pact with Lego. The animated Lego feature films — The Lego Movie and sequel The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, as well as spinoffs The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie — have grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. All of the Lego movies thus far have been release by Warner Bros. Universal's interest in a pact was first reported in December, with Lego exploring its options since early fall 2019, when its pact with Warner Bros. expired. The story.

 Fox News admits error. It's now become a Constitutional issue. A federal judge has ruled that the network's decision to retract its Seth Rich story isn't privileged. Now, the cable outlet tells a federal judge that he's making a consequential mistake by refusing to stop a reporter's deposition. Eriq Gardner has the story.

►Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd comedy lands at Apple with series order. Apple TV+ has handed out an eight-episode, straight-to-series order for The Shrink Next Door, starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd that is based on the Wondery podcast of the same name. The series, which marks the first time Ferrell and Rudd will appear on screen together since Anchorman 2, landed at Apple following a multiple-outlet bidding war with other streamers and premium cable networks also attempting to land the star-studded entry. The story.

+Danny DeVito, Aubrey Plaza, Dan Harmon team for FX animated comedy. The Disney-owned cabler has given the green light to Little Demon, which will star DeVito, his daughter Lucy DeVito and Aubrey Plaza. Darcy Fowler, Seth Kirschner and Kieran Valla created the show, which has been in development for several months, and Harmon will be an executive producer. The story.

+Also: Netflix has secured rights to be the exclusive home of new episodes of the Pokémon animated franchise in the United States. More.

 Paramount is teaming with Entertainment One to make a sequel to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, the 2019 horror movie that scared up more than $105 million worldwide. Much of the creative team is returning, with director André Øvredal set to return and Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman once again writing the script. Guillmermo del Toro will be back to write the screen story. It is unclear whether he will be back in his previous role of producer. The story.

►Brooklyn Nine-Nine mulling how to incorporate COVID-19 into season 8. To hear showrunner Dan Goor tell it, brushing the global pandemic under the proverbial rug is not an option — namely because so many of the city's first responders have been impacted by the deadly COVID-19 virus. "The question is how they have been affected by the virus and the pandemic as New York City residents and as first responders in New York City," Goor says. The story.

►TV ratings: The Masked Singer and Survivor each claimed a piece of Wednesday's crown. The former topped the night among adults 18-49, and Survivor gathered the most total viewers. The numbers.

►Reviews: Frank Scheck reviews Netflix's Chris Hemsworth-starring action thriller Extraction. The review... Daniel Fienberg reviews Showtime's Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. The review...

►TV's Top 5 podcast: During this week's podcast, host Daniel Fienberg and Lesley Goldberg are joined by prolific showrunner Greg Daniels to discuss his forthcoming Amazon (Upload) and Netflix (Space Force) shows. Listen.

In other news...

--Legendary Global, Chris Albrecht's international TV venture with Legendary, has a quarantine-themed series in the works as it expands into Spain.

--Jerry Seinfeld goes head-to-head against a supervillain in the trailer for Netflix's Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill.

--RLJE Films has nabbed the North American rights to the Maisie Williams'-starring thriller The Owners.

--Taylor Swift on Thursday took to Instagram to let it be known that she does not support her former record label Big Machine's imminent plan to release an album of past live performances.

--Will & Grace creators on why the revival's unconventional series finale is a more "honest" ending.

Revolving door: Universal Pictures vet Noah Bergman has been named senior vp of content and distribution for cinema tech firm Cinionic’s premium entertainment system, Cinionic Giant Screen (CGS)... Hanno Basse, the former chief technology officer at 20th Century Fox, has been named chief technology officer for Microsoft Azure Media and Entertainment...

What else we're reading...

--"A seaside Irish village adopts Matt Damon" [NY Times]

--"The first modern pandemic" [Bill Gates]

--"Google to require all advertisers to identify themselves" [WSJ]

--"After a dim first year, Luminary is still chasing the podcasting zeitgeist" [Bloomberg]

--"Dr. Fauci thanks NFL for following social distancing guidelines with virtual draft" [CNN Business]

--"How HBO got Insecure fans to attend a virtual block party" [AdWeek]

Today's birthdays: Barbra Streisand, 78, Richard Donner, 90, Shirley MacLaine, 86, Cedric the Entertainer, 56, Jean-Paul Gaultier, 68.