Grey’s Anatomy moved to a new, later timestamp for its milestone 21st season.
The long-running medical drama now airs at 10 p.m. ET, following new episodes of the Ryan Murphy-helmed 9-1-1 and Doctor Odyssey.
Grey’s previously held the 8 p.m. hour, once shepherding in the three-hour block of “TGIT” programming, which referred to three of Shonda Rhimes’ hits. After Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder both wrapped, Grey’s moved to 9 p.m. with its firefighter spinoff, Station 19, taking the lead-in hour.
With Grey’s new scheduling position, it affords certain changes to story lines.
“This is our first year at 10 p.m. I mean, I’ll push whatever boundaries they’ll let me push,” showrunner Meg Marinis told The Hollywood Reporter in a Thursday, September 26, postmortem interview after the season premiere. “I’ll say, the show will still be the show.”
She continued, “If we can get a few more risqué subject matters or steamy scenes, we’ll do it. But I won’t do it just for the sake of a time slot. We’re Grey’s Anatomy, people will find us wherever we are.”
Marinis, an OG writer on the medical series, became the showrunner last season after Krista Vernoff’s exit. Vernoff had helmed the show for years after Rhimes stepped back from the day-to-day. (Rhimes’ Shondaland now has an overall deal with Netflix, the home of Bridgerton, Inventing Anna and the upcoming The Residence.)
Thursday’s premiere picked up where the season 20 finale left off with the interns (namely Niko Terho’s Lucas Adams) and attendings still fighting Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) for their jobs at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
“A lot of people’s jobs are on the line. How do we get those jobs back? Can we get them back? And it’s easier for some than others,” Marinis told the outlet. “We are really paying off this standoff between Catherine and Meredith, and with Catherine and Bailey. Catherine has become this villain that we’ve learned to love, and we’re kind of flipping the story on her a little bit this season. She’ll still be that villain but with a different flavor.”
While Catherine remains in a standoff with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Bailey (Chandra Wilson), she is also facing new medical challenges. It was revealed in the premiere that Catherine recently learned her cancer had spread.
“We’ll see a little vulnerability this year, and how do our characters react to the villain who’s vulnerable?” Marinis explained to THR.
Most of Allen’s scenes in Thursday’s episode were with Pompeo, 54, who had recently stepped back from headlining the show. (Pompeo still remains a producer, makes cameos and provides voiceover narration.)
“I don’t think we have a confirmed number right now, and we don’t typically do it all in one run,” Marinis teased of Pompeo’s return. “But I will say, her story does continue at the beginning of this season. With Ellen, we’re an open-door policy. When we can have Ellen on set and in the episodes, we love to have her. She’s always present in the show, even if she’s not in it, in it.”
According to Marinis, she does “respect [Pompeo’s] decision to have a “reduced role,” adding, “It is nice to have her for more than we had her for last season.”
James Pickens Jr., who plays Catherine’s husband, Richard Webber, previously teased the drama between Catherine and Meredith will continue throughout the early episodes of the season.
“He’s not gonna be a referee per se, but I think he’s there to navigate this little rocky patch they have,” Pickens, 69, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month. “And I’m sure the audiences will be really intrigued by how this thing moves forward — but you know where my allegiance lies.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays on ABC at 10 p.m. ET.
