The long-running medical drama has been renewed for Season 21.
The Big Picture
-
Grey’s Anatomy
remains a beloved and award-winning medical drama with a focus on personal and professional lives of doctors. - The show’s move to a 10 PM time slot for Season 21 could signal changes, but Disney TV Group President isn’t worried.
- The strategic changes are set to strengthen Thursday nights on the network when the series returns.
The latest round of news surrounding long-running ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy gave fans pause. First, we found out that, for the upcoming Season 21, Grey’s would face a trim on its budget. This means that some of the series’ oldest cast members will see their screen time and episode count reduced when the show comes back for the next season. Then, ABC announced that the show is going to move from its traditional Thursday 9PM slot to 10 PM. The change is small, but could it signal the end of the line for the show? According to Disney TV Group President Craig Erwich, there’s no need to worry at all.
In an interview with Deadline, Erwich stated that Season 21 won’t be the beginning of the end for Grey’s Anatomy “at all.” The executive explained that the shift in time slots has been strategic: The idea is to put a brand-new show in the medical series’ previous slot and see if it thrives and, additionally, use Grey’s as “an incredible lead into our local news at 11.” The CEO said that the network doesn’t expect the changes to affect the series’ popularity at all, since “well over 80%” of the public watches it on multiple platforms and not necessarily tune in to ABC to check out the newest episodes.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Showrunner Also Weighed In About The Future
Back in March, Grey’s Anatomy‘s newest showrunner Meg Marinisalso talked to Deadline about the future of the series. On the occasion, the writer stated that the team receives “a tremendous amount of support from the studio and the network and from Shondaland,” and that up to then she had not been informed that the series was going to end any time soon.
Even though the budget cuts might end up shifting the characters’ dynamics over the next season, this is far from the first time that Grey’s Anatomy adds and removes members randomly from its cast. Back in 2018, fans were surprised by the sudden exit of fan-favorite cast members Jessica Capshaw and Sarah Drew after several seasons, even though their story arcs hadn’t been wrapped by then. Recently, Meredith Grey herself Ellen Pompeo announced she’d no longer be an integral part of the series (even though she’ll continue to be listed as regular). So the upcoming cast changes, although surprising, aren’t that uncommon in the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
ABC airs new episodes of Grey’s Anatomy on Thursdays. Watch past seasons of Grey’s Anatomy on Hulu in the U.S.
![Greys Anatomy TV Show Poster](https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/greys-anatomy-tv-show-poster.jpg)
Grey’s Anatomy
A drama centered on the personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors.
- Release Date
- March 27, 2005
- Cast
- Ellen Pompeo , James Pickens Jr. , Chandra Wilson , Justin Chambers , Kevin McKidd , Jesse Williams , Patrick Dempsey
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Seasons
- 20
This article was originally published on collider.com