The Grey is being put back into Grey’s Anatomy in Season 21. Ellen Pompeo is set to appear in seven of the long-running ABC drama’s 18 episodes, our sister site Deadline reports (and TVLine has confirmed). What’s more, that number could grow to as many as 14 shows.
The actress, who has played Meredith Grey since the series’ premiere, ceased to be a full-timer midway through Season 19, when her character moved to Boston with her children. (Scott Speedman’s on-again/off-again love interest Nick Marsh soon followed.) However, Pompeo continued to serve as Grey’s narrator and an executive producer. In the writers’- and actors’-strikes-shortened Season 20, she appeared in five of the 10 episodes that were produced.
The news of the OG’s increased presence in the upcoming season comes as Grey’s Anatomy faces what could be a significant cast overhaul. Already, it’s been disclosed that Jake Borelli (Levi Schmitt) and Midori Francis (Mika Yasuda) will only be returning for long enough to wrap up their characters’ story arcs. And in April, TVLine confirmed that new contracts had yet to be drawn up for the series’ vets, Chandra Wilson (Miranda Bailey), James Pickens Jr. (Richard Webber), Kevin McKidd (Owen Hunt), Kim Raver (Teddy Altman), Caterina Scorsone (Amelia Shepherd) and Camilla Luddington (Jo Wilson).
On the positive side, Jason George will be crossing his Station 19 character — Bailey’s husband, Ben Warren — back over to Grey’s Anatomy, where the surgical resident-turned-firefighter started. He won’t just be a guest star, either, but a series regular.
Grey’s Anatomy is the longest-running primetime medical drama in (U.S.) TV history, a milestone it reached in 2019. It also is the longest-running primetime series in ABC’s history.
