\n\tThat doesn\u2019t mean she doesn\u2019t ask. As the person charged with running ABC<\/a>\u2018s long-running, hit medical drama, Marinis wants to be prepared for whenever that day comes. \u201cBut it really seems like they want it to be a collaborative decision with Shonda,\u201d she says of show creator Rhimes. \u201cThe series has done so much for the studio and network, they [would] want to do it right. And they\u2019re not ready.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThey are in expansion mode, instead. Grey\u2019s, whose previous spinoffs were Private Practice and Station 19, is getting a new spinoff this 2026-2027 season that will be set at a rural West Texas medical center. Marinis co-created and is writing the untitled series with Rhimes, and Grey\u2019s star\/executive producer Ellen Pompeo<\/a> is also exec producing the new show.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s related to Grey\u2019s, but its stories are going to be different,\u201d teases Marinis, who counts Texas as her home state. She\u2019s always wanted to explore \u201cwhat\u2019s happening in medical deserts,\u201d as well as \u201cthe disparity between people who can afford excellent healthcare and the people who can\u2019t.\u201d The latter comes up in the season 23 premiere of Grey\u2019s, \u201cCollide,\u201d which welcomed Pompeo\u2019s Meredith back to the hospital after the season 22 ending that sparked wedding bells for her and Nick (Scott Speedman).<\/p>\n \n\tWhen Grey\u2019s returned, one month had passed since the exits of beloved doctors Teddy (Kim Raver) and Owen (Kevin McKidd)<\/a>, and the episode\u2019s ending sets up more than enough threads to follow in coming weeks. Below, Marinis talks about all of it, including more on the spinoff, how she really feels about medical show competition (we\u2019re looking at you, The Pitt) and how much Pompeo will be on screen this season.<\/p>\n \n\t***<\/p>\n \n\tCongrats on the news about the Grey\u2019s spinoff<\/a>! We know that the series (which doesn\u2019t yet have a name) will premiere sometime in the 2026-2027 season and that it\u2019s set at a rural West Texas medical center \u2014 \u201cthe last chance for care before miles of nowhere.\u201d You and Grey\u2019s creator Shonda Rhimes<\/a> are co-creating and writing the show, and Ellen Pompeo is executive producing. How has it been working on this second show amid the Grey\u2019s schedule?<\/p>\n \n\t(Laughs.) I have a great team here at Grey\u2019s that I lean on, and Shonda\u2019s doing the new one with me so it\u2019s easier when there\u2019s two of us!<\/p>\n \n\tWhere are you in your work on the spinoff? Is there a timeline?<\/p>\n \n\tWe are working away. I can\u2019t say much, but we\u2019re far enough along where I\u2019m really, really excited. We\u2019re digging into the actual communities and true stories of what happens out in rural West Texas. There\u2019s so much going on there that I haven\u2019t seen on TV. I\u2019m thrilled to be able to dive into that world. It\u2019s so different from Grey\u2019s. It\u2019s related to Grey\u2019s, but its stories are going to be different.<\/p>\n \n\tPrevious Grey\u2019s spinoffs were Private Practice and Station 19, but this feels a world away from Grey\u2019s\u2018 Seattle hospital. Were there lessons learned from those two shows that you are applying now?<\/p>\n \n\tThe only lessons are good lessons from those two. They were very successful spinoffs with hardcore fan followings. I loved both of them. This one is something dear to my heart [Marinis is from Houston, Texas] and being on a medical show like Grey\u2019s, and hearing a lot about what\u2019s happening in medical deserts, it\u2019s hard to show that in Seattle. I\u2019ve always been really interested in showing it, and in doing a small town show in Texas.<\/p>\n \n\tWill Grey\u2019s launch the Texas show in-show this season?<\/p>\n \n\tWe have thoughts based on airing schedule and things like that, but we\u2019re still working it out, also because there are so many things going on on Grey\u2019s, I want to make sure to do it where it\u2019s servicing both shows equally.<\/p>\n \n\tHow do you view this within the larger Grey\u2019s franchise? Does it signal anything about the flagship?<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s just expanding the flagship. No one has said anything to me about when the last season of Grey\u2019s is going to be. I think it\u2019s never! I always ask and they\u2019re like, \u201cNot now!\u201d You always want to be prepared, as a showrunner of a season 23 show, that you\u2019re aware of when that decision is going to happen. But it really seems like they want it to be a collaborative decision with Shonda. Because the series has done so much for the studio network, they want to do it right. And they\u2019re not ready.<\/p>\n \n\tWe last spoke after last season\u2019s finale and the exits of Kim Raver and Kevin McKidd\u2019s Teddy and Owen, respectively, which you said was a difficult decision and related to the budget, which is something shows are experiencing across the industry. How did you approach season 23 with your very large ensemble? Will there be characters we see more or less of? Are you still feeling those constraints?<\/p>\n \n\tNot yet. I mean, you always feel the general constraints of a large ensemble and what\u2019s going on in the industry, so I\u2019m mindful of how many times we go out on location and things like that. So the general constraints, yes. But no, those conversations usually are when they approach me later in the season \u2014 to drop that news on me!<\/p>\n \n\tWe\u2019re in a positive place right now. On the show, the hospital is having some budget issues as well, but that\u2019s mainly continuing on what we started last year about what\u2019s happening to research funding and funding for healthcare in general. Now Grey Sloan is just feeling more of it.<\/p>\n \n\tHow much time has passed since the finale to start this premiere, and how is the hospital rebounding from losing veteran doctors, Teddy and Owen?<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s been about a month. We did that for a couple of reasons. I\u2019ve done direct pickups for the past couple of seasons and I wanted to do something different, to start stories in different places. Also, I didn\u2019t have Nick [Scott Speedman] available to me at the beginning of this season \u2014 he was left in the hospital in the finale, and he was busy on [his ABC show] R.J. Decker. That played into the decision. And I really wanted time for this VIP floor to come into play. We didn\u2019t see that floor when we left the season last year.<\/p>\n \n\tWe don\u2019t mention Teddy and Owen a ton in the premiere, because it\u2019s been a month, and I didn\u2019t want to start on such a down note. But we\u2019re definitely feeling, and I\u2019m feeling, the loss of Teddy and Owen. I\u2019m searching for them in the scripts. We have to get a new chief. We don\u2019t have a head of trauma right now. And it\u2019s just leading to how busy the hospital is, maybe how our ER is not functioning as well as it should be. Winston [Anthony Hill] can do what he can, but he\u2019s not a military trauma surgeon.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tJames Wolk in the season 23 premiere.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Ser Baffo<\/p>\n \n\tJames Wolk is a new character who was announced with a four-episode arc. Now we know his role \u2014 he\u2019s the new chief. Will that arc extend? And how extensive was your search for the new chief?<\/p>\n \n\tI love having him, but, you know, chiefs can come and go quickly on this show! But he\u2019s a great character. He\u2019s very fun to write for. He is also just a delightful human being and he seems to really enjoy his time here. We always have a long list of options [of actors] that people are sending us. He fit that suave look we wanted. He really seems like a villain you learn to love. Even when he\u2019s being snarky about money, he\u2019s still fascinating to watch.<\/p>\n \n\tYou say you got a long list of actors who want to come and play on Grey\u2019s, a network show in its 23rd season. How does that make you feel as showrunner about how appealing the show still is in the streaming era?<\/p>\n \n\tIt makes me feel great. I credit it to our show filming in L.A. If you have your family here, it\u2019s really appealing to get to do an arc in L.A. I think there\u2019s a reason we\u2019re in season 23. It works, and I think a lot of people are fans of the show and curious about the show because it\u2019s been going on for so long. And also, we\u2019re really nice over here! People tell me all the time. Guest actors will write me emails and say, \u201cThis is the nicest set I\u2019ve ever been on.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThis episode had a line that Debbie Allen\u2019s Catherine said to Ellen Pompeo, when she tells Meredith about hiring a new chief, \u201cWell, you\u2019re not here all the time\u201d \u2014 which also could apply to Pompeo\u2019s lesser onscreen role. Did those two have fun doing that scene?<\/p>\n \n\tYeah, they really enjoyed it! Sometimes we write stuff like that and we don\u2019t even really think about it, and then when you watch it on set, you\u2019re like, \u201cI didn\u2019t mean it that way!\u201d (Laughs.) But you know Debbie threw some sass into it and they were they were laughing; the two of them together laughed really hard.<\/p>\n \n\tHow much will we see Ellen Pompeo on screen this season? I ask you every year, but is it more or less? The same? [Pompeo is also working as an EP on the Texas spinoff.]<\/p>\n \n\tLike I say, every year, we take her as much as we can get. I know she has a couple of things going on in the mix, but we\u2019re scheduling around that and she really lets me know ahead of time the days she is around, and it\u2019s the same thing with Scott [Speedman]. It\u2019s a logistics game, right? You want everybody to be able to do all their other projects, because work is work and it\u2019s important right now to keep working in the industry. She and I have a good relationship. We\u2019ll plan things out, and I\u2019m more than happy to schedule around her.<\/p>\n \n\tWill you be building towards Meredith and Nick\u2019s wedding this season? <\/p>\n \n\tWe will definitely see Scott later in the season. In the premiere, we couldn\u2019t work it out. But we\u2019ll see Scott and we\u2019ll definitely tag that engagement.<\/p>\n \n\tSo engagement, but you\u2019re not confirming a wedding this season\u2026<\/p>\n \n\t[Shrugs in coy silence.]<\/p>\n \n\tMeredith\u2019s storyline in this premiere highlights the upstairs-downstairs of Grey Sloan. Meredith is fighting back against tiered treatment and Catherine is approaching this as a plan to help with their financials. How is this a larger story you want to tell this season, and why did that interest Ellen for this to be Meredith\u2019s fight, at least for now?<\/p>\n \n\tI\u2019m interested in telling that story because I\u2019m seeing it so much now across healthcare. The disparity is growing even wider between people who can afford excellent healthcare and the people who can\u2019t. I think it\u2019s also really interesting because, historically, Grey Sloan has always provided VIP care, the way we\u2019ve told it on the show. So now, are they dividing care into tiers? A lot of our doctors are going to question it.<\/p>\n \n\tBut these floors are popping up all over the country. Obviously, they\u2019ve had them in L.A. for a while, but also in New York, and even when I went to see my dad and Houston. When he had pneumonia, there was a VIP floor there. I saw the signs and I was like, \u201cWhat\u2019s the difference between what my dad\u2019s getting and what they\u2019re getting?\u201d I find it fascinating.<\/p>\n \n\tThere are a lot of stories where sometimes you don\u2019t want to be on the VIP floor because they don\u2019t have all the tools you need if something catastrophic happens. But also, if I had a very chronically ill family member and I had the means, why wouldn\u2019t I throw every dollar I had at helping? It\u2019s an interesting debate to sink our teeth into.<\/p>\n \n\tMeredith, especially, is an owner of the hospital, so she understands the business. But her whole career, she has fought for the have-nots. So it\u2019s like, do you keep the hospital doors open? What side do you choose?<\/p>\n \n\tWill Ellen be appearing in batches, like a five-episode arc to tell storylines? Or will she pop in and out in a less structured way?<\/p>\n \n\tI would love for it to be structured like that, but schedules aren\u2019t working! (Laughs.) But there are runs where she\u2019s in for more than one episode.<\/p>\n \n\tDo you have an episode count for her this season?<\/p>\n \n\tNot yet.<\/p>\n \n\tAre there any other returns you can tease?<\/p>\n \n\tProbably not. Obviously, she\u2019s been in the picture, so people know that Jen Landon is returning [as Toni]. But as for old cast series regulars, I can\u2019t tease any of that right now.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Grey\u2019s social account teased a Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) return, and the fans went wild. They were speculating Yang would maybe come back for Meredith\u2019s wedding to Nick. Anything you can say about that?<\/p>\n \n\tShe is welcome to walk in these doors anytime! I would love for her to. At one point, she was doing some theater in London, but it would be a dream come true to have her back.<\/p>\n \n\tYou also kicked this season off with a classic disaster episode, and one that picks up on a lot of relationship threads that were unfinished at the end of last season, taking a backseat to Teddy and Owen\u2019s big goodbye. Did this premiere feel more nostalgic to you \u2014 chaos and romance?<\/p>\n \n\tYou\u2019re right that a lot of stories had to take up smaller real estate in the last couple of episodes at the end of last season, rightfully so, because we were writing off two long-term, beloved characters. I love when people have relationship issues with each other, and you have to throw them on a medical case together. There\u2019s nothing more Grey\u2019s than that. I love all those looks between Amelia and Toni and them having to come together; and Simone [Alexis Floyd] and Lucas [Niko Terho] and West [Trevor Jackson]; Jules [Adelaide Kane] and Winston having to operate with Bailey (Chandra Wilson). It\u2019s quintessential Grey\u2019s when there\u2019s the bubbling underneath it as they\u2019re trying to save someone\u2019s life.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tCaterina Scorsone and Jen Landon as Amelia and Toni in the season 23 premiere.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney\/Raymond Liu<\/p>\n \n\tYou have a pregnancy reveal at the end of this premiere with Simone.<\/p>\n \n\tWe do.<\/p>\n \n\tGrey\u2019s has tackled pregnancy and abortion storylines before. How will this one be different?<\/p>\n \n\tIt is different. We\u2019ve never done it this way before. It\u2019s going to take a couple of episodes to play out. I also think this one is different because Simone was just told that she probably wouldn\u2019t be able to have children; to be able to conceive and get pregnant. So that\u2019s going to be top of mind for her. That\u2019s a struggle. She\u2019s someone who\u2019s put career first and she\u2019s worked really hard to get where she is. I think that\u2019s what a lot of us struggle with, right? Do you put the career on pause for a second and start a family? It\u2019s something so many people relate to, so we\u2019ll show that. But it is different. We\u2019ve never done it this way before.<\/p>\n \n\tThe other bomb at the end of the premiere is Jo (Camilla Luddington) quitting the hospital, as Link (Chris Carmack) is still being secretive about his pills. This couple is always tested!<\/p>\n \n\tI know, what can I do? I love torturing them! Sometimes they\u2019ll be like, \u201cReally?!\u201d They have such talent to play funny stories, and we played them very light and funny for a long time. Then I kind of tapped into this talent that I did not know they both had, and it\u2019s amazing to watch. Their performances are so great. Even Jo watching that thing in the elevator? Camilla\u2019s performance is exquisite. So yeah \u2014 we\u2019re putting them through it again. (Laughs.)<\/p>\n \n\tBlue got fired at the end of last season, and now Harry Shum Jr. is on Dancing With the Stars. Did he come to you for approval to be on that series, and is that impacting his story and all? Obviously, he\u2019s back as a series regular.<\/p>\n \n\tIt did not impact his story. It just happened to be that he was the character who was quitting, and then he, ABC and his team came to me after and I was like, \u201cOh, this really worked out, because now people are going to think once he\u2019s announced on DWTS that maybe we went through with [firing him off the show].\u201d But I think there\u2019s been so much social media of him in his scrubs that his return is spoiled!<\/p>\n \n\tWe\u2019re so happy for him. He\u2019s so talented. A lot of us have gotten to go see the live taping of DWTS. You\u2019ll see him and Jenna Johnson just rehearsing outside in between setups for Grey\u2019s. On Tuesdays, Harry\u2019s not here because Dancing With the Stars films. But other than Tuesdays, he\u2019s really been able to schedule rehearsals around the show. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s exhausted!<\/p>\n \n\tGrey\u2019s remains the longest-running medical drama on TV. But more medical shows are popping up on streaming; there\u2019s The Pitt. You could compare that to ER, which was on at the beginning of Grey\u2019s. Does that sharpen what you\u2019re trying to do? Do you ever worry about overlap? How do you feel about medical show competition?<\/p>\n \n\tI don\u2019t worry too much about it because I feel like what\u2019s good for one medical show is good for all. It\u2019s trending again. Anytime that it can trend, I think it\u2019s a great thing. We\u2019re so different than The Pitt that I don\u2019t worry about that one. I was a huge ER fan. It had a huge influence on me wanting to be a TV writer. I love medical shows. I love the better ones more. (Laughs.) And then I\u2019m excited to introduce this new [the Texas spinoff] into the fold.<\/p>\n \n\tGrey\u2019s is a streaming show too now, on Netflix, courting new generations of viewers. But 23 seasons in, what are your tricks to keeping the show fresh and keeping the cast engaged?<\/p>\n \n\tIt has been a long time and it can be difficult. It can be tricky, but I also think that medicine has changed so much and the world has changed so much. Between AI and climate change and where money goes toward research, there are always new things that we haven\u2019t explored. Often, we have an overwhelming amount of stories we want to tell and we don\u2019t get to tell all of them, so we have a huge bank of things we\u2019re interested in. Also, knowing that we have a 23-year history of characters who have come and gone and bringing them back. And, you can always introduce new interns!<\/p>\n \n\tYou have three series originals stars who are still on the show: Ellen, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. Are you never letting them go?<\/p>\n \n\tYes, I will say, I am never letting those three go! I mean, I hope they never go. It\u2019s not gonna be me who writes it!<\/p>\n \n\t***<\/p>\n \n\tGrey\u2019s Anatomy releases new episodes Thursdays at 10 p.m. on ABC, releasing on Hulu the next day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[This story contains some spoilers from the Grey\u2019s Anatomy season 23 premiere, \u201cCollide.\u201d] Twenty-three seasons in and Grey\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28290,159070,108957,113758,113757,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-467462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-abc","tag-ellen-pompeo","tag-greys-anatomy","tag-meg-marinis","tag-shonda-rhimes","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n