Kate Walsh to Star in Grey's Anatomy Spinoff; Pilot Episode Planned For May
In a bold and controversial move, ABC is surgically removing part of Grey's Anatomy to see if it can survive on its own.
The Wall Street Journal reports that ABC has decided to pursue a spinoff of the hugely successful drama, and that leaving Seattle Grace to head the cast of the new show will be one of its most popular doctors:
Addison Montgomery, the sexy neonatal-surgeon played by Kate Walsh.
The plot is still a work in progress and Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes - who will lead production of the new series - hasn't settled on a title, says an ABC spokeswoman.
A two-hour pilot of the series is likely to air in May, the Journal said.
Rhimes recently told the cast about the project and agreed to write the special two-hour episode that will serve as the series pilot. This type of old-fashioned spinoff is rare in the risk-averse TV business.
ABC will likely air the show in May so that it is broadcast in time for the network to decide whether to pick up the spinoff before unveiling its fall schedule to advertisers and media buyers.
ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson declined to comment. ABC confirms it has inked a deal with Walsh, but said Rhimes and Walsh are both unavailable to comment further at this time.
No new show is a safe bet in the fickle TV business, but a spinoff is a safer bet. Rather than launching cold, spinoffs come with a built-in audience already invested in the concept or character.
There's a strong marketing hook - a crucial element as networks battle an
expanding array of entertainment options for viewer attention. And some
of TV's most popular shows have been spinoffs, including The Jeffersons, spawned by All in the Family, and Frasier, a spinoff of Cheers.
Although McPherson has dramatically transformed ABC over the past two years from the last-place broadcaster to a contender for No. 1, the network still has holes on its schedule that would benefit from a new hit.
Wednesday night has started to struggle - the castaways drama Lost is down 23 percent among adults age 18 to 49 this season compared with last - and the network has been keeping some Friday slots warm by airing reruns.
In many ways, a Grey's Anatomy spinoff would mark a departure for the modern TV industry. True spinoffs - where ancillary characters leave an established show to become the leads of a new one - are less common today than in decades past.
A big reason: There are fewer smash hits, particularly comedies, to spin off. The TV schedule is replete with strong dramas, but shows such as CSI tend to spawn new franchises with entirely new casts of characters, notes TV historian Tim Brooks, author of The Complete Guide to Prime Time.
Indeed, networks rarely have confidence to pursue a character spinoff of an hour-long drama. One of the few successes was in 1979 when Gary and Valene Ewing departed Dallas to launch Knots Landing.
More often, attempts have been spectacular flops, such as the 1987 bid to spin off Hill Street Blues by sending detective Norman Buntz, played by Dennis Franz, and his snitch Sid, played by Peter Jurasik, to California.
Beverly Hills Buntz failed within a season, although Franz went on to greater things in NYPD Blue.
With Grey's Anatomy, ABC has a white-hot hit, fueled by complex story lines and charismatic characters. Despite moving to highly competitive Thursday from Sunday last fall, Grey's Anatomy is notching some of its best ratings ever. Last week, 26 million people tuned in to watch "Drowning On Dry Land," in which the Seattle Grace team copes with the fallout of a ferry crash.
The ensemble show, now in its third season, also has an abundance of strong characters, including Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey and Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd. Indeed, Rhimes recently told a gathering of critics that it is getting more and more difficult fitting all 12 Grey's Anatomy regulars into storylines.
She wants to be intimately involved in the potential spinoff and, to free up her schedule, has shelved another pilot of hers about a group of female journalists, which Jeffrey Dean Morgan was scheduled to appear in.
Walsh's Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd joined the show in May 2005, appearing in the last few minutes of the Season One finale. She abruptly showed up at the Seattle hospital looking for her estranged neurosurgeon husband, Derek, and discovers he has a girlfriend.
Addison confronts him with a pointed - and explicit - remark.
Although Rhimes and ABC think Walsh's character can continue to evolve on Grey's Anatomy, it became clear in recent months that her position on the show was changing, say people familiar with the matter. Now divorced from Derek and friendly with Meredith, Addison has had fewer ways to keep busy - and fewer fireworks to entertain viewers.
ABC is approaching the spinoff in a smart way, says Norman Lear, the TV producer who refined the art of the spinoff in the 1970s when his All in the Family spawned a record five new shows.
Too often networks try to force audiences to embrace a character just because they have an actor amenable to a spinoff - NBC's ill-fated Friends spinoff Joey, starring Matt LeBlanc, for instance. Instead, networks should "see who's popping and try to build something" around them, he says.
His advice to Rhimes: "Trust your instincts and don't force anything." He also notes that successfully juggling monster-sized egos - particularly those of the cast members not getting their own show - is a crucial to the spinoff process.
If the Grey's Anatomy special episode doesn't lead to a new series for ABC's fall schedule, the network has several high-profile projects in the pipeline to fall back on. One of them is Life on Mars, a remake of a BBC drama about a modern-day detective who finds himself transported back to 1973.
ABC also has hopes for a pilot called Dirty Sexy Money, a drama from Greg Berlanti (Dawson's Creek, Everwoo) focusing on an idealistic lawyer hired to tend to the legal - and often illegal - needs of a megarich New York family.
Talk about your Wednesday morning bombshell. While we'll miss Addison on Grey's Anatomy, we're hopeful that with Shonda at the helm, the new series will be a success. Congratulations to Kate for landing her own show!
February 21st, 2007 8:16 AM
as long as she will visit SGH, she can go.
February 21st, 2007 8:18 AM
So is this the same show that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is going to be on??
February 21st, 2007 8:31 AM
wow this is a shocker! i wonder if alex or mark will leave too?? and a pilot being shown already?? that's awfully quick.
February 21st, 2007 8:32 AM
At least they are not killing her off, eh?
but stupid move, Shonda. Seriously.
February 21st, 2007 8:37 AM
Well, this is interesting...it makes me wonder HOW she will transfer. Will she be written off as moving back to NY or will she be tomarrow nights death?
Well, what do you mean by "spin-off?" Will it be related to GA at all? Or is it it's own story altogether?...(so many questions)
February 21st, 2007 8:43 AM
This is the dumbest thing EVER.
I'm pissed.
February 21st, 2007 9:01 AM
oh man, what are they thinking. NOOO!! addison has become a big part in what makes greys so great. ill admit i couldnt stand her when she first come onto the show. but as her character has evolved out of the wich who cheated on derek then came back and took him from mer to this great but also flawed person that adds so much depth to the story. how can they just take her away. i mean yay for kat walsh she gets to star in her own show. but they cant take her away from sgh they just cant
February 21st, 2007 9:14 AM
Personally I think Kate Walsh is a good choice for a spin-off. Wasn't there a comment somewhere a while back about how we know bits and peices of her story...enough to make us curious for more. Weren't we kind of left hanging in that area? Didn't that comment go on to say that we hope to have her unfold a bit along the way? Instead of going any deeper with Addison she went sideways and crashed into Karev becomeing Addisex. We have seen enough depth in her character to know that she has a complexity that might be worth following. She came on as the "witch," and also showed us a very real broken heart. She snaps up the attention of an intern with her strong authority, but shows clearly puts forth a very touching nuturing quality as well. She's good. She's watchable. Personally I wonder what her life was like in NY. I wonder what she was like before Derek, with Derek, and what she would be like trying to hold her head high in the midst of a people who probably assumed she would have come back dragging Derek behind her in triumph....or maybe floated back to continue happily ever after. I'm curious....you?
February 21st, 2007 9:18 AM
Well, hell. I guess this just provides further evidence that Meredith is not going anywhere.
February 21st, 2007 9:26 AM
Okay, seriously.. getting rid of Addison? How about Addisex! Theres spark, we need spark, everyones coupled up already and then they get rid of Alex's girl. This is horrible..
February 21st, 2007 9:35 AM
okay. I don't understand this whole thing. So what's a spinoff again? Is it a way of getting Kate Walsh out of the show? Is it just to do an entire episode about her? Is it to do another episode for another series? I really don;t get it. They can't kick Kate Walsh out though. I love her, and the way she plays Addison. If someone needs to go, first in the list I think would be Burke, even though it would be a great loss for the Yang+Burke fans.
February 21st, 2007 9:46 AM
nooo , burke should not go. john... i love burke he is fantastic.. i think callie should go if somebody needs to go....
February 21st, 2007 9:51 AM
What I don't understand why do people take a good thing and trash it. I understand its a great opportunity for Kate, but SERIOUSLY how many spin off's really are all that successfull? The ones that are really successful are few and far between like... The Jeffersons, Frasier, Knots Landing, Andy Griffith, Facts of Life, The 20 different Law& Orders and CSI's, Laverne & Shirley...I just don't see how it will work.
February 21st, 2007 9:59 AM
ok...i am done with GA now..
it is fucking up big time
February 21st, 2007 10:06 AM
Shucks. I was really looking forward to the Jeffrey Dean Morgan show. Kinda upset that it got shelved for a spin-off.
February 21st, 2007 10:19 AM
people ...people....alll the negativity....seriously? Lets trust Shonda.....she's good. Really good. I mean good in a way that has millions of viewers counting down hours til the next Greys Anatomy.
I say we can't bash it, until we've seen it. And i say that Addison will more than likely move back to Boston, and her show will take place there!
February 21st, 2007 10:22 AM
When people mess with a good thing, it usually means the demise of that good thing. There's a reason the cliche "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" exists. But apparently Shonda didn't get that memo.
At this point, I just hope they don't try to take anyone else with her. This is an "ensemble" cast for a reason. No one character could stand on his/her own. It's the chemistry and balance between them all that makes this is a good show. So why mess with that?
I don't see the spinoff being successful. In fact, I hope it's not. That way, they'll bring Kate/Addison back to Grey's Anatomy where she belongs.
Let's hope ABC smartens up before it decides to actually PICK UP the series for the fall. Right now, all we're talking about is a pilot.
February 21st, 2007 10:24 AM
MEREDITH is from Boston.
Addison came from NYC.
I just can't picture a successful show centering around an OBGYN. I mean, come on. What was that show about infertility/pregnancy? It lasted all of three episodes or something.
February 21st, 2007 10:33 AM
I think we are all against the spinoff because we actually like Addison. I know I sure the hell didn't in the beginning. But Kate is a wonderful actress that actually has really great comdical timing. I think since Mer and Der are together we can finally don't see her as a threat and we generally like her. Im on the fence on this one.
February 21st, 2007 10:33 AM
Great idea. I hope it's true.
February 21st, 2007 10:38 AM
Let's see what happens...I don't think this new show will catch on...what types of 'exciting' storylines can Shonda come up with for Addison? I'm thinking this will be a show for Eric Dane (Sloan) to go to as well...he followed Addison to Seattle, after all. He's not really Derek's friend anymore.
I think both Walsh and Dane will unfortunately be out of a job. That leaves 10 people on GA for the writers to write for. Also wonder how the egos of the other actors and actresses will handle this.
Boy, I'd like to be a fly on the wall on the set of GA! Interesting times!
February 21st, 2007 10:39 AM
I like what Addison adds to Grey's, and I hope the spinoff does go well. However, they usually don't, so if things don't go as planned, I hope they leave Kate Walsh the opportunity to come back.
February 21st, 2007 10:45 AM
okay so I've read this article about 5 times now and I think I udnerstand what's going on. They're going to take Addison's character and make it into a new show just for her.
Personally I think that there are MANY risks to that. First of all Grey;s would loose a major character who has become wildly popular lately, and what about Addy and Alex. They were just starting up and they need to develop some kind of plotline to their relaitonship. I doubt that Addy would be appearing on Gryes anymore then, which I also think would be a BIG mistake. I've never been a fan of these kinds of things. I think that Greys is well off as it is, right now, with the big success, extraodrinary cast and everything.
February 21st, 2007 10:47 AM
I wholeheartedly admit that the reason I don't want to see this spinoff happen is because I LOVE Addison. I think her scenes with the other characters on Grey's are some of the most entertaining. The writing for her has been great... but I just don't see that same chemistry carrying over to a spinoff. 'Cause it's chemistry. The other cast members have to be around, too.
February 21st, 2007 10:49 AM
WHAT!? How in the world! NOOOOO. I want it to stay the way it is! No changes! This can't be! What will they call it? Mer, Izzie, Christinia, George, Derek, burke, and bailey better be in it or im not watchin it. I love this show and i want it to stay GREY"S ANATOMY! :(