Grey's Anatomy Spoilers (Page 7)

After yesterday's revelations about Katherine Heigl's leave of absence and Izzie getting fired from Seattle Grace (at least for five episodes), Michael Ausiello of EW has more spoilers and gossip for us to marinate on today. Let's get right down to it ...

Q: Grey’s Anatomy scoop on Owen and Cristina, please!

A: They’re headed for a dry spell. In the season premiere, Amy Madigan’s shrink advises Dr. Owen Hunt against making further sexy time with Cristina until he can get the voices in his head to shut the hell up. They’re not breaking up. Just taking things slooooow.

Q: Mark-Lexie scoop please!

A: “They’ve got a lot of challenges coming down the pike,” concedes a Grey's Anatomy insider and writer for the show. “The most consistent challenge is the one that’s built into the fabric of their relationship: He’s pushing 40, she’s in her early 20s.”

Q: What will happen to Patrick Dempsey's character, Derek Shepherd, on Grey’s Anatomy when Ellen Pompeo (Meredith) heads off on maternity leave?

A: He will get some much-needed alone time. As Grey’s executive producer Krista Vernoff explains, Dempsey has been “patiently” waiting to get a story that wasn’t directly tied to the Der-Mer love story. And this season he will finally get his wish.

“Derek hasn’t been a fully explored character separate from Meredith,” Vernoff adds, noting that “the fact that by necessity Ellen Pompeo is going to need a little less screen time gives us more encouragement to explore Derek as a doctor.”

This includes what Vernoff calls an “extraordinary medical story” involving McDreamy and a patient in the sixth episode, directed by co-star Chandra Wilson.

As we reported earlier today, Katherine Heigl is taking a break from Grey's Anatomy to film a movie. That news alone was enough to cause a stir among fans this afternoon.

But what's shocking, and what shapes the entire sixth season of the series, is why recently married cancer survivor Dr. Izzie Stevens is vanishing for multiple episodes.

The reason for the leave of absence?

According to inside sources, this season of Grey's Anatomy is overwhelmingly defined by the merger of Seattle Grace and its oft-mentioned crosstown rival, Mercy West.

Reportedly, Seattle Grace is about to double in size, bringing in a slate of new doctors and paving the way for shake-ups in the season(s) of Grey's Anatomy to come.

What does this merger mean for our favorites?

Well, Dr. Izzie Stevens is getting fired. Yes, fired, as in dismissed or downsized. Izzie gets laid off in the big merger and vanishes for a handful of episodes.

The shake-up also provides cover for Ellen Pompeo's maternity leave.

She'll fade into the background while new doctors, administrators and nurses (played by Robert Baker, Jesse Williams and Nora Zehetner) fill in gaps regulars leave behind.

Producers are, however, working to keep Meredith Grey in as many episodes as possible. Ellen is banking footage for her leave by shooting scenes for two episodes at once.

The Seattle Grace-Mercy West merger storyline is part of a long-term plan hatched by producers and ABC execs to make Grey's Anatomy a viable series for years to come.

They are thinking ER style here - 15 years or more.

No matter which stars are pregnant, moonlighting, looking to get out or otherwise unavailable, the writers want a large, expandable palette of characters and situations.

So, going forward, if Patrick Dempsey needs to shoot a movie (he will, later this season), a new and improved Seattle Grace offer wiggle room in schedules and stories.

Ten days, we posted the first promo for the upcoming sixth season of Grey's Anatomy.

Now ABC has released a second promo, which like the first contains a mixture of footage from the previous season's gripping finale and clips from this month's premiere.

Season Six debuts with a two-hour episode September 24 at 9 p.m.

Here's a quick sneak preview of some of what's in store for us then ...

Things are getting hairy on Grey's Anatomy. Literally.

Check out this excerpt from E! Online's spoiler Q&A today ...

Q: Any news on Grey's Anatomy? I can't wait for the new episodes.

A: Sources say Grey's Anatomy has cast two hairy new guest stars: a monkey and a bear.

Yes, in an upcoming episode, the Grey's Anatomy cast members work with a monkey and a bear for some reason, and no, those aren't euphemisms for anything.

Will the monkey and the bear fare better than Meredith's dog Doc or that deer Izzie did surgery on? We can only hope, Grey's Anatomy fans. We can only hope.

Below is the first promo for the two-hour season premiere of Grey's Anatomy. Season Six gets underway Thursday, September 24, which cannot get here fast enough.

This brief promo doesn't reveal anything big (it's mostly a recap of what took place at the end of last season in May), but it's pretty exciting to see new footage at all ...

Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly has some good quotes from Grey's Anatomy executive producer Krista Vernoff in his spoiler Q&A this morning, shedding some light on what's to come from the show's signature couple since day one, Meredith and Derek.

Here's what Michael and Krista have to say in response to a fan inquiry ...

Q: Grey’s Anatomy fans are buzzing about a possible Derek and Meredith break-up this season. Please tell me it isn’t true.

A: It isn’t true. Here’s what is true: The Mer-Der relationship, as we could have expected, will be written a little lighter during the first half of the season as a result of Ellen Pompeo’s pregnancy and subsequent maternity leave in real life, which will limit her work.

“I think we would be irresponsible writers if we didn’t give a woman who’s seven-months pregnant a little less time on her feet,” says exec producer Krista Vernoff.

“She’s waddling around seven-months pregnant about to push a baby out of herself. We have a responsibility to alleviate [Ellen Pompeo's] screen time a little bit.”

That said, Vernoff insists Mer-Der are at no risk of losing their title as Seattle Grace’s reigning super couple, promising fans that: “It would be false to say that Mer and Der are no longer the focus of the series. Derek and Mer will always be a focus of the series.”

As we know, following a tragic bus accident, one of Seattle Grace's own has passed away. The emotional impact will be wide-ranging, and the aftershocks not likely to fade quickly.

George O’Malley’s funeral on the heartbreaking Grey’s Anatomy season opener on September 24 (a two-hour affair) will reverberate through the halls of Seattle Grace long after the dead surgeon's casket has been closed, according to TV Guide.

Nearly everyone will be present - including a frail Izzie in a headscarf - to mourn George’s passing at a graveside service attended by George’s mom (but not by his ex, Callie). A show source tells me that Meredith will deal with the death in a “very Meredith-like” way.

“The doctors are processing this huge moment of grief,” Jessica Capshaw, whose Dr. Arizona Robbins will be holding down the fort and attending to patients, says.

“My character previously lost her brother, so I’ll be helping Callie process this horrible loss.”

Likewise, Dr. Owen Hunt will be assisting Cristina through her mourning.

“Owen is so used to losing colleagues that he’ll become a rock for others to help them deal with it,” says Kevin McKidd about his Iraq-vet character. “Cristina is in denial about it, and he’s there for her at that moment when she actually realizes what has happened.”

Cristina is also expected to finally open up to Owen about her baggage with her ex, Dr. Preston Burke, who left her at the altar in 2007. And later on in the upcoming season, a hospital vacancy will be filled by someone who shares a past with Owen.

That, Kevin promises, will “shake things up.”

The first three episodes of Grey’s Anatomy's sixth season have officially been shot, and original cast member James Pickens, Jr., says he is pleased with what looks to be an interesting season coming up for his character, Dr. Richard Webber (a.k.a. the Chief).

“He has to do a lot of soul-searching to do and has to make some decisions that might change the direction of hospital and/or his life," the actor told TV Guide.

"It is going to have the interns and residents on pins and needles, because they don’t know where their careers are going to go from here.”

“When we left off last season, the hospital was struggling. It had lost its good rating, and [the Chief] spent a good part of the season trying to woo new doctors, getting fancy new machines, and accepting headline-grabbing surgeries," adds Pickens.

"Seattle Grace hospital is his baby, and we know that he’ll do whatever to get that rating back up. Some of his methods will be conventional and some not so conventional."

"We will see that continue to play out over the course of this season.”

Like everyone else on staff, James Pickens, Jr., echoed previous statements when he explained that the Chief will be greatly affected by George O'Malley’s passing.

“The atmosphere has been a little heavy, somber, because they lost one of their own," Pickens said. "His death affects each member of the staff differently."

"Everyone feels responsible in some way. In typical Chief style, he will try to hold the place together and keep a stiff upper lip, but it affects him quite deeply.”

We hope you've got a box of tissues handy, or perhaps two, because you can expect to use them when Grey's Anatomy returns for its sixth season on Thursday, September 24.

Jessica Capshaw, the newest series regular (Dr. Arizona Robbins), teases the aftermath of George's departure and how things will be different on the set without T.R. Knight.

"Heavy" is the best way to describe this season, as compared to Season 5.

Also, with Amy Brenneman's comment on the drama at Grey's Anatomy, Jessica reveals how she deals with 17-hour workdays (ahem, Katherine Heigl), since she also has a child.

Most importantly, the 33-year-old actress spills on just how Callie Torres' (Sara Ramirez) and Arizona Robbins' budding relationship is going to progress in this coming season.

Check out the E! News video below to get the details on why the Season Six premiere will be the best yet, and then hit the comments below to share your impressions ...

Here's a brief Grey's Anatomy note from TV Guide's spoiler Q&A today. It looks like things are coming full circle for the former group of Seattle Grace interns we love ...

Q: On Grey's Anatomy, who will the interns be this season?

A: This year's class will include, among others, a bleeding-heart caregiver, an exacting perfectionist and a scheming underminer. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? In other words, the staff of Seattle Grace will meet their mini-mes, and much irony will ensue!

Makes us look forward to Season 6, and long for the old days ...