Here's What Shonda Rhimes Says About Grey's Anatomy Ending
Looks like the iconic medical drama is nowhere near done.
Season 19 of Grey's Anatomy wrapped with a two-hour finale that featured Meredith Grey as a series regular for the very last time. Ellen Pompeo, who plays Meredith, may appear as a guest star in future episodes and will continue to narrate the show, which was renewed for a 20th season this February.
However, with Pompeo's character moving to Boston to research Alzheimer's disease, viewers probably won't see her face in the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
As Pompeo passes the Grey's Anatomy baton to new cast members, long-time fans are wondering if the show will be coming to an end any time soon. Many think it's long overdue and should have ended years ago, either in 2015 when Patrick Dempsey left the show, or in 2017 when creator Shonda Rhimes handed over her showrunner duties to Krista Vernoff, or at least this year when both the lead star and Vernoff decided to move on.
Rhimes has said in previous interviews that Grey's Anatomy would end with Pompeo's departure.
'The show will exist as long as both [Ellen and I] want to do it. If she wants to stop, we're stopping,' she told E! News.
But Pompeo is gone, and the finale is still nowhere in sight. Today, Rhimes says the time has not yet come to end the iconic medical drama. It looks like the creators have plenty of stories left to tell.
'I'll have a feeling the same way I knew Scandal [was going to end]. I'll have a feeling of like, "We've done what we needed to do here",' Rhimes told ET when asked about when Grey's Anatomy will finish.
The former showrunner and current executive producer added that she has written several endings for the series over the years, but they have not been used.
'I knew how that story will end when we were in Season 6, in Season 7, and maybe Season 10, and after that, I just gave up because I would write those endings and the show just kept going,' Rhimes said.
It seems that neither ABC nor Shondaland are willing to lose big bucks, and while the ratings for Grey's Anatomy remain consistently high, Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital won't be closing its doors.