Grey's Anatomy Spoilers (Page 9)

When Grey's Anatomy returns for its new season, will a matter of weeks or even months have passed since we last saw Izzie and George clinging to life?

That's been the rumor, although TV Guide debunks it in its spoiler Q&A today. Here's what the magazine has to say about the Grey's Anatomy timeline ...

Q: Is there anything to report about the new season of Grey's Anatomy?

A: I know there's been talk that Season Six might pick up a few months after the nail-biting May finale, but sources are now saying that's not the case.

In fact, the September 24 opener will find both Izzie and disfigured George still coding, and as we all know, T.R. Knight will not be returning to the cast.

Over the two-hour season premiere, watch for the outcome of this traumatic scenario to weigh heavily on a lot of people - including at least one doctor whose reaction you may have taken for granted. Now who do you think that might be?

It looks like Izzie survives on Grey's Anatomy, and we'll get to see it.

In reference to yesterday's rumor on E! Online that a priest is being cast and a wedding may take place on Grey's Anatomy, a reader asked EW's Michael Ausiello about it.

Here's what the writer had to say in his Q&A today ...

Q: Your frenemy reported that there will be a priest in the Grey's Anatomy premiere and that someone may be getting married. Care to comment?

A: Yes, there will be a priest cast on the show, but no, he won't be marrying anyone off. His presence is needed for something far less celebratory.

No further explanation should be necessary.

The Season Six premiere of Grey's Anatomy begins shooting on July 15.

According to inside sources, casting directors are currently looking for actors to play the guest roles in this episode (the medical drama's 102nd overall).

One role in particular listed in the Greys' Anatomy premiere casting call caught our eyes: Producers are looking for someone to play a Catholic priest in his 60s.

Could this possibly mean that Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) are finally getting married? Like for real married, like in a church?

Or on the flip side, could someone be receiving their last rites, like perhaps Dr. George O'Malley, since actor T.R. Knight is not returning for Season Six?

What other characters can we expect in the sixth season premiere?

The producers are also looking for an 18-year-old male patient, Andy Smith, and his mother, Pam, for a two-episode arc, in addition to what appears to be a few foreign ladies backpacking across the United States who end up in the hospital. Sounds like it'll be good.

This episode of Grey's Anatomy will be written by executive producer Krista Vernoff, one of the show's top writers over the years, and directed by Ed Ornelas.

What do you think of the above Grey's Anatomy spoilers and rumors?

As the sixth season of Grey's Anatomy draws (slowly) closer, the question of how the show is going to work around star Ellen Pompeo's maternity leave lingers.

E! Online says in its spoiler Q&A today that in regards to another ABC show, the network didn't want Rachel Griffiths (who gave birth to her third child June 21) to skip any Brothers & Sisters episodes. Production was thus pushed back a week to accommodate her.

What does that mean for Grey's Anatomy?

Well, if you assume ABC does not want an Ellen Pompeo-less Grey's Anatomy, they may seek a similar situation - however, she is due this fall, so pushing back production may not work.

Solution? Up in the air. But one possible scenario is that when Ellen Pompeo gets back, they shoot a number of Dr. Meredith Grey scenes in succession, and then work overtime to slot her scenes into the episodes that were shot/produced before her return.

Therefore, the audience gets the full Meredith experience with no gaps. Sound workable to you? Or would you rather she just take time off - or be pregnant on the show as well?

With the Grey's Anatomy cast shedding members left and right, is there any chance that the lovely Melissa George could return as Sadie Harris in Season Six?

"I don't think so," Melissa tells E! Online of a possible return engagement for Sadie on Grey's Anatomy. "I think she did so much damage that she needs to go."

Sadie, who was introduced as a Seattle Grace intern and old friend of Meredith Grey, was one of several characters to be dropped from the series last season.

Maybe it was the year's worth of rumors surrounding her leaving the show. Or a year's worth of ghost sex and battles with cancer, culminating in an afterlife scene.

But not everyone is convinced Katherine Heigl is really returning for Season Six of Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Izzie Stevens, who was left in limbo in the season finale.

On that topic, TV Guide says the following in its weekly spoiler Q&A:

Q: Color me shocked that Katherine Heigl isn't leaving Grey's Anatomy. Is it possible we're being duped in some way?

A: I must say that the lack of fanfare surrounding ABC's confirmation of Heigl's status - especially when juxtaposed with the flurry of official statements regarding T.R. Knight's departure - made me raise one of my overgrown eyebrows.

"Sure, she's staying... for just one more episode," I cynically hypothesized.

But one of my best Grey's Anatomy sources insists that this is not a case of clever semantics, and that Heigl's Izzie will have a significant presence in the fall.

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?

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 ...

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.

Dominic Monaghan is appearing in ABC's new promo campaign, but according to EW, it has nothing whatsoever to do with Charlie Pace being resurrected on Lost.

But that's what the network wants folks to think.

Why? Because they're trying to keep under wraps the real reason he was playing table soccer with Patrick Dempsey, Courteney Cox, and Ed O'Neill in that clip.

Monaghan is featured in that spot because rather than coming back to Lost, where he starred for three seasons, he's actually joining the cast of another hour-long ABC drama series as a full-time regular. And ABC wants it to be a surprise.

A big surprise.

Our question: Why on earth wouldn't ABC want people to know which of its shows' casts would be augmented by Dominic Monaghan, a popular actor from Lost, and also the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the summer blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine?

• Could it be because the show Monaghan is joining is none other than Grey's Anatomy, and making the announcement could spoil the show's summer cliffhanger?
• Could Monaghan be taking over the role of George O'Malley from T.R. Knight, or playing a new character altogether that ABC nonetheless wants to keep secret?

We have no evidence to suggest this is actually happening other than what you just read above. It's just a rumor, and we are just throwing that out there. Thoughts?