During the 2009 Summer Press Tour, ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson spoke briefly about Grey’s Anatomy, stating that the show is “evolving” and that Shonda Rhimes “hit her stride” at the end of season five. So far, McPherson and the rest of the ABC suits seem to be “happy” with what they’ve seen of season six, which for us can mean just about anything. But hopefully good things!

In terms of what’s to come next season (avert your eyes if you don’t want to know anything!) he stated that the show would be seeing a few additions to the cast (interns maybe?) to fill the void left by Ellen Pompeo’s maternity leave. While there’s no confirmation yet how long her absense might be, McPherson said it might take the actress out for “a couple of episodes.” I wouldn’t necessarily count on the two episode estimate though, as it’s really hard to say how long it might take.

In a statement regarding Katherine Heigl’s commentary on her cruel and mean return to Grey’s, McPherson said that the whole thing was “unfortunate” and made the good point that, “There are so many people who work unbelievably hard on Grey’s… so I think it’s really hard for them to hear [her complain about working a 17-hour day].” No doubt!

Aside from the usual dose of Heigl-drama, it looks like season six is going to be an interesting challenge for the writers, particularly with Ellen Pompeo’s temporary absence and T.R. Knight’s more permanent one. I’m interested to see what they mean by “evolving.”

Via | Ausiello Files

Image: Newscom

Post from: Grey\'s Anatomy News

We knew, too, that Shonda Rhimes stated around the time of the announcement that she really wanted T.R. Knight to come back to film an episode of season six, but that Knight declined the offer. This left us wondering what exactly Rhimes might’ve wanted to film and whether it meant that George had a chance of survival, or not.

Well we now know for certain exactly why Shonda Rhimes wanted T.R. Knight back and what we won’t get to see.

I’m going to put the next part after the cut, and also warn anyone seeing this page directly that there are spoilers and would-be spoilers ahead so please stop reading if you don’t want to know anything for certain regarding George.

Ready?

Set.

Spoilers!

By now it’s probably no secret to most of us that George is dead. But for those holding out hope, there’s now confirmation that he does indeed die and does not instead survive and get tranferred to another hospital indefinitely, or get taken over by a different actor altogether, or anything of the sort.

The reason why Shonda Rhimes wanted T.R. Knight back is because she wanted to shoot an episode that took us back to the last day of George’s life, so we could see what happened in his day, so we could watch his decision to save the girl’s life at the risk of his own, all the while knowing exactly what would happen. “I wanted to see his last day [alive] really badly,” [Shonda Rhimes] says. “What I thought was interesting was the idea of, we now know it’s the last day of someone’s life, [so we’re] looking at it differently than [we] would any other time.”

She says that she “kind of” gets why T.R. Knight decided not to return to the show, but she’s disappointed that she won’t get to show this episode and feels the fans would’ve really appreciated the closure.

I admit I’m disappointed as well, as I think that the episode sounds like it would’ve been a beautiful tribute to the character.

What about you? Are you glad that T.R. Knight decided to stay away or do you wish he’d come back to film this?

Via | Ausiello

Image: Newscom

Post from: Grey\'s Anatomy News

So, the first obstacle was the fact that T.R. Knight had gone ahead and shaved his head, thinking he was done with Grey’s. But as luck should have it, part of his storyline included enlisting in the army so Shonda decided to just stick him in a military uniform. Problem solved.

The other problem, is that Katherine Heigl wasn’t available to return for a re-shoot, since she was all the way in Atlanta working on a different project. So T.R. Knight phoned up Heigl and discussed what Heigl had done in that scene so that he, in turn, could match her facial expressions. “I was like, ‘What did you do in that scene?’” he says with a laugh. “It’s nice when you’ve worked with someone for five years. There’s a shorthand.”

Concerned, Heigl called up Shonda to make sure that it would work, but Rhimes assured her that it would be “perfect.”

And indeed, had we not been told that this was not the original ending, I doubt any of us would’ve thought differently.

I’m glad that it all worked out in the end, as I think seeing George standing there was a much more powerful ending than Denny standing there.

Thoughts?

Via | Ausiello

Image: Bauer-Griffin

Post from: Grey\'s Anatomy News

According to Ausiello, the scene was originally shot with Denny standing in George’s place. But Shonda Rhimes had a last minute epiphany that it should be George not Denny standing there.

Since production had wrapped up by that point, some issues got in the way of them reshooting that scene. The first is that Katherine Heigl was somewhere else entirely. The second involves T.R. Knight’s head. Ausiello says to pick up the new issue of EW for further details.

My guess is that T.R. Knight got a hair cut right after production wrapped and that’s the reason we see him in a military uniform rather than scrubs.

What do you think of the change? Would you have had an entirely different reaction had it been Denny standing there, rather than George?

Via | Ausiello

Image: Newscom

Post from: Grey\'s Anatomy News

The full interview can be read at Entertainment Weekly but here’s a few highlights:

• The last ten minutes of the season were pitched from the very beginning and were not a result of press rumors or contract negotiations.
• Shonda knows what “happens” with Izzie and George, but she’s not sharing. She’s also not telling us whether the actors themselves know.
• Shonda implies the reason we didn’t see a lot of George this season was because she didn’t want anyone to notice that he wasn’t really there in the season finale.
• Was that really the big MerDer wedding? Yes. It doesn’t look like there will be an “official” wedding between Meredith and Derek because the writers don’t envision Meredith walking down the isle. So Post-Its it is.
• They’ve not yet worked out what they’re going to do about Ellen Pompeo’s maternity leave.
• The writers are all on break until June.
• Is Jessica Capshaw back as a season regular? Contracts haven’t been signed yet, but Shonda states that she loves (looooves) Jessica and compares Callie/Arizona to Meredith/Derek in terms of romantic chemistry.
• Shonda’s really proud of the addition of Kevin McKidd and Jessica Capshaw to the show. As far as things she would’ve done differently: “That would mean I have to admit that we made some mistakes, and I’m not going to do that.” [Laughs].

So there you go, my friends. We’re not going to get the answers we really want any time soon, but we can always speculate about what’s to happen. We have a very long summer ahead of us and a lot of waiting to do.

If you haven’t already done so, check out the Grey’s Anatomy season finale discussion post where fans have been sharing their thoughts.

Got a scoop? Or a cool link? Hit me up on Twitter.

Image: Newscom

Post from: Grey\'s Anatomy News

I hope everyone’s strapped in, for season finale night is finally here! Grey’s Anatomy concludes its fifth season tonight with its final two episodes, which are airing back-to-back on ABC. Don’t forget to tune in for both! (As if you could forget!)

I’m opening the floor to thoughts, comments and questions about the finale, so feel free to drop your thoughts into the comment section. I’ll keep the main post free of spoilers so everyone has a chance to catch up on the episode without worrying about seeing something they shouldn’t. But the comments section will be laden with spoilers, so watch for those.

Tonight we should hopefully get some answers about what’s happening with Izzie. Or, they might just leave us hanging all summer. I really hope not. Will Katherine Heigl leave? Will she survive through a medical miracle? I don’t know! And T.R. Knight’s George – what will happen to him? We should hopefully have answers to that too.

MerDer should at least get their happily ever after. Well, I’m crossing my fingers for that.

If you’ve already seen the episode, drop your opinions into the comments and we’ll see what everyone has to say!

Image: Newscom

Post from: Grey\'s Anatomy News

Well, we’ll hopefully find out during Thursday’s back-to-back airing of the last two episodes of the season. Can’t wait!

In the meantime, to help feed your impatience and addiction, here’s a whole bunch of sneak peeks and clips from episode 5.23 “Here’s to the Future.”

Enjoy!

Post from: Grey\'s Anatomy News

Highlights:

• What’s your favorite of the 100 episodes? (She has a lot of them…)
• Will there be a Grey’s Anatomy movie? (Hadn’t even thought about it! Doesn’t think so. Never say never, though).
• After MerDer get married, what’s next? (She’s not going to tell us…)
• If you could have another acting legend guest star, who would it be? (She doesn’t know … we’ll see).
• The episode titles are song titles. What’s the significance? (The writers pick the songs and they sometimes pick them just because they like them, but they try to go with the theme of the episode).
• What shows do you watch when you’re not making Grey’s? (A lot of reality television – but shh, it’s a secret. Also addicted to Lost, and 30 Rock).

Post from: Grey\'s Anatomy News

Are you ready for the finale?

Post from: Grey\'s Anatomy News

Whatever your thoughts, it’s likely you’re still looking forward to the last two episodes of the season, which will be airing back-to-back on May 14. And to keep you anticipating what’s to come, here’s a couple of promos of the 2-hour event.

One more after the jump!

One more week!

And if you’ve got thoughts on the 100th episode, drop by the discussion post to share your thoughts!

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