Ellen Pompeo has been talking a lot of late about the end of Grey's Anatomy.
But you know what else talks?
Aside from this beloved actress?
Money. Money often talks louder than anything else or anyone else in the room.
For this reason, despite what Pompeo recently said about the long-running ABC series, a source now says negotiations are underway to bring the drama back for yet another season.
Just a few days ago, Pompeo told The Insider that she's actively been pushing for the show to come to an end in the near future.
"I've been trying to focus on convincing everybody that it should end," Pompeo confessed while promoting her company, Betr Remedies.
In this same interview, a very candid Pompeo added that executives wish to keep the program going -- not for artistic or creative reasons, but forr monetary ones.
"I feel like I'm the super naive one who keeps saying, 'But what's the story going to be, what story are we going to tell?'" Pompeo said to the outlet.
"And everyone's like, 'Who cares, Ellen? It makes a gazillion dollars.'"
Cut to a new report from Deadline.
Wrote journalist Nellie Andreeva on December 22:
Renewal talks are underway for a potential 19th season of ABC’s flagship scripted series though sources caution that conversations are in early stages.
I hear series star and co-executive producer Ellen Pompeo also has been approached about continuing on the show for another season.
Pompeo agreed last spring one-year deal for Season 18.
At the time, she was one of three remaining original cast members whose contracts were up at the end of Season 17; the other two, Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr., signed multi-year pacts.
This means they're already contractually on board for potential Season 19.
Why might a renewal make sense?
Because Grey's Anatomy has enjoyed a truly iconic run on broadcast television.
When it does come time for the show to finally conclude, it's safe to assume the network would want to give it a huge send-off, announcing way ahead of schedule that the final season was on tap.
“We’re thrilled to have it on the lineup. It’s a gift,” Craig Erwich, President, ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals, told Deadline in September.
“As long as all of the producers and Ellen feel like there are meaningful stories to tell, we’re going to continue to do the show.”
Last month, creator Shonda Rhimes said she really wasn't sure how to end Grey's Anatomy.
Such as admission also lends credence to this rumor that Season 19 will be the last.
Otherwise, Rhimes and showrunner Krista Vernoff would need to come up with an appropriate way to wrap things up ... very, very quickly.
“I’ve written the end of that series, I want to say, a good eight times,” Rhimes told Variety in November.
“I was like, ‘And that will be the end!’ Or, ‘That’ll be the final thing that’s ever said or done!’
"And all of those things have already happened.
"So I give up on that, you know what I mean?”
The last time we saw Grey's Anatomy, meanwhile, the life of a main character was left literally hanging in the balance.
Following a Covid-themed 17th season, which garnered a bit of backlash, fans have mostly been satisfied with Season 18.
The same can be said for many cast members, too.
Caterina Scorsone, who portrays Amelia Shepherd, told Us Weekly a few weeks ago about how much she “loves” this run of episodes because the writers keep “reinventing” the series to “keep the stories fresh.”
She added:
“I feel like Grey’s is like everyone’s family member, and we don’t just want to get rid of our family member because they turned 18.
"So we just keep loving everybody.”
0 Comments