With two months to go until the premiere, Grey's Anatomy creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes is opening up about the transitional new season ahead, as well as how Ellen Pompeo's pregnancy fits into the mix going forward.
Here are excerpts from EW's spoiler Q&A today ...
Q: Hey, do you have any Grey's Anatomy news that doesn't involve George or Izzie?
A: Yes - the entire cast will be following T.R. Knight out the door. At least series creator Shonda Rhimes is braced for them to. Eventually. She got to thinking about it both because of Knight's departure and Ellen Pompeo's impending maternity leave.
“It's going to be tricky,” Rhimes says. “Ellen is incredibly optimistic and somehow thinks she will be back and ready to rock 'n' roll. [But] I have a child, so I know that that's not true. [So] we have a lovely story [on deck] that will take us into her maternity leave."
"And we have plans for some really interesting stand-alone episodes for [while she's gone]. But we're heading towards the future of the show and eventually, unless we are extremely lucky, everybody's going to go. That's what the end of Season 5 taught me."
"So we're looking at, How do we mess with that structure now while we have everybody and figure out ways in which, 'What would we do without Ellen? What would we do if we had an episode without Patrick Dempsey?' So Season 6 is important."
"A lot of shows don't make it because they don't know how to transition."
Can Rhimes envision Grey's Anatomy someday going on with Pompeo (and Mer) completely out of the picture?! "I don't know" she hedges. "I clearly want Meredith Grey on the show for as long as Ellen Pompeo wants to be on the show; that's not even a question."
"But I think that there's a possibility of [her leaving the series good at some point]. I haven't even thought that far. That's the one blank spot I have in my head. I can't really picture Mer Grey not appearing on the show. But [at least] we have Lexie Grey."
But would anyone watch Lexie Grey's Anatomy?
Q: Will Ellen Pompeo's pregnancy be written into Grey's Anatomy?
A: No. "Ellen is pregnant, but Meredith is not," Rhimes says. "Meredith wouldn't be pregnant."
Q: Now that Grey's Anatomy has finally started production, you got anything?
A: Look for Owen's PTSD to possibly flare up in the September 24 opener. I say this because a Grey's Anatomy mole says that Seattle Grace's go-to shrink, Amy Madigan, will appear in the second hour of the two-hour premiere.
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65 Comments
July 23rd, 2009 10:27 AM
Definitely true what Shonda is saying about the whole "transitional" thing..
as much as i dont want any of the charcters to leave and cant imagine a greys anatomy without derek and meredith or any of the other original cast members for that matter..what she said makes sense
if the show goes say "ER time" most of the original cast probably wont be there at the end..and they need to explore what the show will be like then..
this is the problem the OC had..once they killed marissa...they kind of lost it in the beginning of S4 coz they didnt really know what to do without the central character of the show..(the same if meredith left)
can lexi be the GREY in GREYS ANATOMY??
July 23rd, 2009 10:29 AM
Definitely true what Shonda is saying about the whole "transitional" thing..
as much as i dont want any of the charcters to leave and cant imagine a greys anatomy without derek and meredith or any of the other original cast members for that matter..what she said makes sense
if the show goes say "ER time" most of the original cast probably wont be there at the end..and they need to explore what the show will be like then..
this is the problem the OC had..once they killed marissa...they kind of lost it in the beginning of S4 coz they didnt really know what to do without the central character of the show..(the same if meredith left)
can lexi be the GREY in GREYS ANATOMY??
July 23rd, 2009 10:39 AM
Oh, looks like there wouldn't be a McBaby after all. :( At least not yet...
July 23rd, 2009 11:10 AM
I hope this might mean more time for Callie and Arizona. And no, Lexie can't hold the show as the main character. She's boring. I'd rather see Callie get her own spinoff if that were to happen.
July 23rd, 2009 11:34 AM
THE REAL REASON BEHIND TR LEAVING....
T.R. was recently interviewed about his departure and, frankly, his decision was based purely on the bad blood he has been harboring for series creator Shonda Rimes.
Knight admits that problems originally arose during the "Isaish" incident.
T.R. remembers the incident as "frustrating," more so since it took Shonda three months to publicly condemn Isaiah Washington for his use of an anti-gay slur. Then, there was even more turmoil between the two as T.R. suggests Shonda wanted him to keep his sexuality hidden, despite his feelings that coming out of the closet would help the "Isaiah" situation.
But the boiling point for Knight was his lack of screen time and lack of connection with his character during the last few seasons. He resented and loss respect for his character and the people behind it: “My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given [about his character, George]…It didn’t seem like an ebb to me. No other series regular’s character had ever disappeared like mine did this past season.”
And if you are hoping T.R. will return to the series in flashbacks or something - don't, because it ain't gonna happen. He flat out refused them and their big check to pursue other projects: “There just comes a time when it’s so clear that moving on is the best decision.”
July 23rd, 2009 11:49 AM
No Mer, No Der, No me!
July 23rd, 2009 12:13 PM
ARE YOU KIDDING ME
ARE YOU KIDDING ME
OWEN IS GOING TO FLARE UP AGAIN??????
NO
no
NO
HE JUST GOT BETTER
they are happy now, they need to be happy for a while before any conflict happens. Owen is my favorite character, and he deserves to be happy for at least one full episode.
seriously
July 23rd, 2009 12:35 PM
First of all, I hope that Grey's is on the air for MANY years to come! I hope that all of the actors will stay as long as the show lasts! I guess now that T.R. decided to leave, it has made Shonda realize that any of the actors at this point could decide to leave especially after their contract expires at the end of season 7. Then there will probably be alot of questions on who is staying and who is leaving at that point. As Shonda also stated, I'm sure she hopes that Ellen would stay for the duration of the show too, but I guess now that she is having a baby that she may decide to leave before then. I'm also wondering if Patrick is the actor that asked for alittle more free time and more of a creative role in the show. We all know that Patrick will be in a couple of movies coming up and possibly working on his on movie next summer, so you could see that he may want alittle more time to do these things especially since Ellen will be out for a short period maternity leave. I just hope that these two in particular decide to stay for the duration of the show and will still continue to have a big storyline.
I just want everything to stay as it is but I guess SHonda has to start thinking about theses characters and where they are headed and especially the actors playing them. I feel that Patrick will hang in there for the duration. He has commented so many times that he is so lucky to have a job and he gets to race when he can and his acting helps pay for that. So, hopefully he will remain with the show and I think Ellen (hopefully) will too! Lets hope so! What is everybody else thinking?? Am I worring for NO reason right now??......Kathy
July 23rd, 2009 12:41 PM
No meredith , no grey´s anatomy!!!
July 23rd, 2009 12:59 PM
I think people are reading into this way to much. SR is talking past S8, when negotiations would start up again on their contracts.
SR meant that maybe EP isn't going to be all tough and all (like she says she is right now) once she delivers her baby, as natural as it is. EP is going to have to find a balance between baby and show and that may take time. However, if PD and JC have managed to do so, I have no doubt that she'll be able to find a balance.
So this actually mean that there are going to be some MerDer-less episodes. Well, I just hope that they are able to make it up later.
Just one request: Instead of Izzie's Anatomy...put Owen and Cris front and center during this period. I knew Hunt couldn't be cured that fast.
I don't think that GA is going to go as long as ER. Doesn't really seem like a possibility to me. I think that they'll make 10 seasons top and leave it. The show should go out on a high note, not after its forgotten.
@ dodo_daniel,
Actually, in The OC it was Ryan the central character, Marissa. The show went back to him during S.4 and it was a shame that nobody got to see that. It was among their best seasons. Due to the good amount that loved Marissa, lots of people lost interest, which again, such a shame.