June 2009 News Archive (Page 2)

T.R. Knight has booked his first role since negotiating an early release from ABC's Grey's Anatomy. He will star in a Los Angeles theater production of the musical Parade.

The show opens October 4 at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A.

Parade, penned by Alfred Uhry, is a true story of Leo Frank, an Atlanta pencil-factory manager who was convicted of raping and killing a 13-year-old female employee in 1913.

When doubt was cast on his guilt, Frank's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Soon after, he was kidnapped from prison and lynched by a group of citizens.

We'll sure miss T.R. Knight and all he brought to Grey's Anatomy.

In his first role after exiting the Grey's Anatomy cast following five great seasons, T.R. Knight will star as Frank, while Lara Pulver (Robin Hood) will play his wife, Lucille.

"I am very fortunate to return to the theater playing Leo Frank in this incredible, acclaimed production of Parade," Knight said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

"After a five-year break, it feels great to be on stage again."

T.R. Knight's previous plank work includes Broadway's Tartuffe.

After months of speculation surrounding the fate of Grey’s Anatomy’s George O’Malley, T.R. Knight, who plays the lovable doctor, is breaking his silence about his departure.

“The decision to leave Grey’s Anatomy was not an easy one for me to make,” T.R. Knight said in a statement today. “I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to play this character and will miss my fellow cast and crew very much."

"I continue to wish them the very best, and wholeheartedly thank all of the Grey's Anatomy fans who have supported me and the show with such passion and enthusiasm.”

T.R. Knight was an integral Grey's Anatomy cast member for five seasons.

Producer Shonda Rhimes simultaneously released her own statement, saying:

“I think I speak for the entire Grey’s Anatomy family when I say we wish T.R. Knight the best in his future endeavors. He is an incredibly talented actor and a person whose strength of character is admired by all of us.”

While T.R. Knight may be happy to depart from the show following a season of sparse screen time for George, co-star James Pickens, Jr., says the actor will be missed.

“He’s a good man, and a great actor,” Pickens, who plays Chief Richard Webber, says. “We have lots of laughs. I’m going to miss his sense of humor.”

The official confirmation comes just hours after word leaked that Knight's co-star and real-life BFF Katherine Heigl will be sticking around next season.

Knight is currently in talks to headline a Broadway revival of Lend Me a Tenor.

All of us here at Grey's Anatomy Insider would like to say thank you to T.R. Knight for his contributions to our favorite show over five seasons and over a hundred episodes. Best of luck wherever the future takes you, T.R.!

Welcome to the 163rd edition of the Grey's Anatomy Insider Caption Contest! This week's winner is mcdreamteam. Congratulations! The winning entry appears below.

Honorable mentions in this week's Caption Contest go out to Monica and David. Thanks to all for playing and good luck again next week! Here's the winning caption...

Arizona: Let's get married.
Callie: Only if you pay for the wedding and we can combine bank accounts.
Arizona: I'm fine with that.
Callie: Push aside Alex and Izzie, momma's getting paid.

The Season Six cast of Grey's Anatomy is becoming clearer by the day.

Following reports that original cast member T.R. Knight is leaving the series for good, a fact that has been long-rumored but finally confirmed this week, comes an inside source confirming to E! Online that Katherine Heigl "will be back" next season.

Heigl had been said to want off the show for an entire season.

Official comments from the show bosses or Katherine Heigl has not been issued, however, E! is one of the more reputable celebrity news sources around, so if we were forced to take a guess as to this story's legitimacy, we would believe it.

Season Five ended on a double-death cliffhanger, as T.R. Knight's character, Dr. George O'Malley, struggled to survive massive trauma inflicted by a bus accident, and Heigl's Dr. Izzie Stevens was enduring life-threatening complications of her cancer treatment.

One could say that the split decision - T.R. Knight goes and Katherine Heigl stays - was sort of telegraphed in the fifth season finale's episode-ending dream sequence.

In that scene, Izzie seemed drawn back to the voices of friends trying to save her life, while George seemed serenely ready to move into the new phase of existence.

What do you think? Are you happy Katherine is coming back? Do you not believe anything until you see her on screen in the Season Six premiere?

We may have seen the last of the talented T.R. Knight on Grey's Anatomy, following this week's sad announcement that accounts of his leaving the series are official.

But at least we still have Justin Chambers.

Here, the 38-year-old who plays Alex, a father of five, is seen enjoying some rest and relaxation in Hawaii, where he's on a nice vacation with his wife, Keisha Chambers:

Justin Chambers enjoys down time in between Grey's Anatomy seasons.

On the same day that Grey's Anatomy bid farewell to T.R. Knight, some good news has emerged: Jessica Capshaw has been promoted to a full-fledged cast member and series regular.

Her promotion news hardly comes as a surprise.

Last month, series creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes all but signed off on Capshaw's promotion in an interview after the shocking Season Five finale.

"I love Jessica Capshaw," she gushed. "And when I say love I mean love. She couldn't be a more wonderful person, and I feel like the chemistry Arizona and Callie have feels like the Meredith and Derek chemistry to me. I find them delightful to watch."

For her part, Jessica Capshaw said she hoped to join the cast full-time in Season Six, having only good things to say about her experience so far. Glad she got her wish!

The ex-Practice star joined Grey's Anatomy last February as Dr. Arizona Robbins, a recurring love interest for Sara Ramirez's Callie. Her arrival came on the heels of the controversial dismissal of Brooke Smith as Callie's girlfriend Dr. Hahn.

Are you happy Capshaw is sticking around? Do you like Calzona together or would you prefer them to play for the other team? Share your thoughts!

The sixth season premiere is still months away, but one of last season's bigger Grey's Anatomy cliffhangers has already been resolved. Sources have confirmed to Entertainment Weekly the following: T.R. Knight's wish to be released from his contract has been granted.

He will not return to the show.

The official decision, according to Michael Ausiello, came down in the past few days, just as many of his castmates began receiving their formal pickup letters from ABC.

The actor's exit closes yet another rocky chapter for the embattled show, one that opened with Isaiah Washington-gate and worsened when, amid rumors that Knight was clashing with series creator Shonda Rhimes, George O'Malley was back-burnered.

Finally, Knight grew so fed up with his character's lack of storyline that he asked if he could check out three years before his deal expired. After that, indications were that he would be let go, although Rhimes didn't make a final decision until recently.

Contractually speaking, she had until June 30 to make up her mind.

Last month, Rhimes said George's relatively light storyline this year was the result of the normal "ebbs and flows" of ensemble television. But Shonda did acknowledge that he was intentionally written lighter during the last half of the season.

That way, viewers wouldn't think it odd that he was absent from the season finale - something that was necessary to preserve the episode's biggest twist: that George O'Malley was actually the disfigured John Doe who had been hit by a bus (above).

"I really wanted you to not notice that he wasn't there for most of this episode," she said. "I don't think anybody noticed because of the way we laid it out this season."

TR Knight's departure would seem to indicate George's demise as a character, however, some fans have wondered if Rhimes is planning to pull an Elizabeth Reaser (Jane Doe/Rebecca from Season Three) and have him live, only to be replaced by another actor.

That's "hilarious, ridiculous," the boss has said.

However, rumor has it that Rhimes was indeed interested in having Knight appear in next season's first three episodes, but a short-term deal could not be brokered.

Reps for Knight and ABC declined to comment.

Now that the question of George O'Malley's future seems to have been answered, albeit sadly, another puzzler moves to the forefront: What's going to happen to Katherine Heigl and Izzie, whose life also hung in the balance in last May's capper?

Sound off on both topics below ...

Patrick Dempsey took a back seat, but still enjoyed a world-class view from a parade route in Le Mans, France, on Friday. The Grey's Anatomy star, who says his dream is to take his kids racing one day, was in town for the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race ...

Welcome, Grey's Anatomy fans, to the 162nd edition of the Grey's Anatomy Insider Caption Contest! Who won this week's edition of the Caption Contest? Let's take a look ...

After careful consideration, we're going with LanieCroft. Congrats! The winning entry appears below. Honorable mentions go out to David and i luv me some mcsteamy.

Thanks to everyone for playing and best of luck again this week ...

Meredith: Why are Cristina and Dr. Robbins fighting?
Owen: No idea. We'll stop them.
Callie: Stop them?! Hello?! Free hot catfight to watch!

The sixth (!) season of Grey's Anatomy gets underway Thursday, September 24 at 9 p.m.

Amazing that Grey's Anatomy has been on that long - and we don't know how we're expected to wait that long for the show we love to resume with new episodes again!

The official premiere date for Private Practice has not been announced, however one can safely assume it will follow Grey's Anatomy that same evening at its usual 10 p.m.

Preceding Grey's on that Thursday evening will be ABC's much-hyped sci-fi drama Flash Forward. By the way, it has now been reported that Dominic Monaghan will be starring on that series, and not our beloved Grey's Anatomy, which some had speculated.