Shonda Rhimes and Ellen Pompeo Have a Pact About When They'll End 'Grey's Anatomy'
Grey’s Anatomy has been on the air for approximately 9 bazillion years. OK, that’s an exaggeration: It’s actually only been on for 12, but it feels like way more. And for good reason: The show has ripped through dozens of doctors, hundreds of over-the-top storylines, and thousands of steamy kissing scenes. One of the M.D.s was literally nicknamed “McSteamy,” people. What were you expecting?
Grey’s Anatomy‘s constantly-moving parts make it pretty confusing to follow, but there’s one constant that keeps fans comforted: Dr. Meredith Grey, the narrator of the series, played by Ellen Pompeo. She’s the thread that weaves each bonkers season of Grey’s Anatomy together. Without her, there’d be little narrative direction: Each episode would just be 42 minutes of random doctors sometimes doing their jobs but mostly boning. Meredith is an indispensable component.
And Rhimes will continue making Grey’s Anatomy so long as Pompeo wants to do it. That’s the only thing needed to keep the show going, according to her. When Pompeo wants to exit, that’s when Rhimes says she’ll end Grey’s Anatomy.
“Ellen and I have a pact that I’m going to do the show as long as she’s going to do the show,” Rhimes told E! News. “So the show will exist as long as both of us want to do it. If she wants to stop, we’re stopping. So I don’t know if we’ll see 600 [episodes], but I want to keep it feeling fresh. As long as there are fresh stories to tell and as long as we’re both excited about the stories being told, we’re in. So, we’ll see where that takes us.”
This makes sense, to be honest—and it’s sort of a given. I mean, Meredith Grey’s name is in the title of the show. It’d be ludicrous to produce it without her. The show would just be called….Anatomy…and that sounds ick.
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