Grey’s Anatomy season 20 will happen, as ABC officially confirms a renewal, but with one change to the long-running medical drama series.

Grey’s Anatomy season 20 will happen but with one major change. The long-running hospital drama has experienced some major changes in recent months. Ellen Pompeo has taken on a reduced role as Meredith Grey, with the actor focusing on other projects. It was also announced that showrunner Krista Vernoff is stepping away from the show, and its spinoff Station 19, once the current installment ends. More recently, Grey’s Anatomy will see the character Maggie Pierce exit as actor Kelly McCreary also announced that she’d be leaving the show after nine seasons.

Now, per The Hollywood Reporter, it’s been confirmed that ABC has renewed Grey’s Anatomy for season 20. Meg Marinis, who has been with the series since season 3, will take over the role of showrunner from Krista Vernoff. Grey’s Anatomy is the first ABC scripted drama to receive a renewal. It joins the popular sitcom Abbott Elementary as the first of ABC’s programs to be confirmed for a return.

What Marinis As Showrunner Means For Grey’s Anatomy

As expected, Grey’s Anatomy season 20 chose from within its ranks in terms of its next showrunner. Marinis has a long history with the medical drama series, beginning as a writer’s production assistant before working her way up as a writers’ assistant and medical researcher. She then was promoted to the position of executive producer, a role she’s had for the past four years. In addition to these roles, Marinis is an experienced writer on Grey’s Anatomy.

She’s credited with 35 episodes of the show. Her first credit came with the season 6 episode, “Hook, Line, and Sinner,” which saw the characters work on a captain that was stabbed with a giant shark hook. More recently, she wrote the second episode of Grey’s Anatomy season 19, which continues to slowly set Meredith’s overall exit into motion and focuses on her relationship with Nick.

In more than one way, the ascent of Marinis as the showrunner of Grey’s Anatomy ensures continuity for the series. The show continues to deliver strong ratings, both in a traditional sense and on streaming. If that success holds, there can certainly be a future with less Meredith Grey.

 

Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Gets Exciting Update: When Will It Release?

Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 was the center of a release update as fans wait to return to Seattle Grace Hospital.

With an astonishing 420 episodes already under its belt since its debut in 2005, Grey’s Anatomy stands as the longest-running medical drama in TV history, and it was renewed for its 20th season in February 2023.

Despite only three original cast members remaining by Season 19 (Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Wilson, and James Pickens Jr.) and popularity slipping, the series is still one of ABC’s top-watched programs.

In fact, Variety reported that Season 19 was the network’s highest-ranked show amongst adults ages 18-49 before it was renewed for another year.

How Far Along is Grey’s Anatomy Season 20?

Deadline revealed that the writers’ room for Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 officially opened its doors on Monday, October 2 after the summer-long WGA strike came to an end.

Writers’ rooms also opened for Fire Country Season 2, Ghosts Season 3, NCIS Season 21, Abbott Elementary Season 3, and Yellowjackets Season 3 on the same day.

As of now, there is no official confirmation for who will be part of the cast for Season 20, although the show will move to more of an ensemble focus with Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey leaving in Season 19.

Longtime crew member Meg Marinis will also take over as the showrunner for Season 20 with Krista Vernoff stepping down.

When Will Grey’s Anatomy Season 20 Begin?

Season 19 of Grey’s Anatomy began filming on August 3, 2022, before it premiered on ABC in early October 2022, giving the series a pretty short turnaround for its 20-episode season.

Taking that timeframe into account, things could get going quickly for Season 20 as well, although it all depends on when the still-running SAG-AFTRA strike comes to a conclusion.

Should Grey’s Anatomy begin filming in either late 2023 or early 2024, the expectation would be that the series comes back on air for a Spring 2024 premiere, which would be its first spring premiere since Season 1.

But with the writers’ room now underway for Season 20, things should be able to progress fairly quickly once the actors have the green light to return to their work.

Then, there’s also the question of just how much longer Grey’s Anatomy can continue its run, especially after the titular Meredith Grey left the story in Season 19.

Even so, considering the excellent viewing numbers and ratings the show continues to earn this late into its run, ABC appears to be holding off on that decision.

Season 20 of Grey’s Anatomy is currently being written, although it doesn’t have an official release date set yet.