It should be a more interesting year than normal when it comes to looking at Grey’s Anatomy’s ratings. Ellen Pompeo (Merideth Grey) will be off on maternity leave for a while and Katherine Heigl’s Dr. Izzie Stevens will be absent for multiple episodes while Heigl is off filming a movie.
E! Online’s Jennifer Godwin has the scoop on how Grey’s plans to get by with the absences of their big stars. Here’s a more or less spoiler-free blurb:
The shake-up also provides cover for Ellen Pompeo’s maternity leave. She’ll fade into the background while new doctors, administrators and nurses (played by the likes of Robert Baker, Jesse Williams and Nora Zehetner) fill in the gaps our MIA faves leave behind.
Producers are, however, working to keep Meredith Grey in as many eps as possible. This week Pompeo is banking footage for her maternity leave by shooting scenes for two episodes at once.
Visit E! Online for the full story and more spoiler-y version, but we look forward to seeing the ratings impact, if any, as the season unfolds.
Grey’s ratings were probably going to take a hit this fall because of the insane amount of competition on Thursdays, especially with CBS’ new 1-2 punch (CSI, Mentalist), and now with the absences of the two female leads the aforementioned hit could become a KO.
(Personally, I like the show because of Chandra Wilson, Sandra Oh, and Chyler Leigh so I don’t really care about the absences of Pompeo or Heigl but I’m not in the target demographic for the show either.)
The show is called GREY’s Anatomy and Meredith Grey isn’t going to be in every episode? That’s just dumb. I remember all those Seinfeld episodes with just Kramer, and those Mary Tyler Moore episodes with just Gavin MacLeod.
They could just rename it Grace Anatomy… seattle grace….
That’s already going to be a crowded hour. I don’t think it will help.
Kevin, Meredith’s sister Lexie Grey will still be on the show (barring any surprise deaths in the premiere) so it will not be completely devoid of Grey. And maybe Joel and/or Jennifer Grey will guest star.
Bruce, CSI isn’t the powerhouse it once was. And the only thing the Mentalist is going to affect is Private Practice since it’s really the only other show on at 10PM on network TV anymore.
I dont think Greys will be affected that much. Obviously the premiere will be very high and we’ll see how it goes from there. CSI is no competition for Greys. Im sure Private Practice will still do good.
Why didn’t they just push the show’s premiere back to midseason or later if they wanted to accommodate Pompeo’s pregnancy? It’s not like ABC doesn’t have umpteen million pilot shows that they’ve picked up this season, any of which they could launch in its place.
Although the show is called Grey’s Anatomy, I really don’t like Meredith who quite whiny so I think although she’s supposed to be the title star of the show, I think the show will do okay and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is another crossover with Private Practice while she’s away.
I’m surprised that they are allowing Katherine Helgl time off during the season as most do films between the seasons and given that she has bad mouthed Shonda Rhimes, she should be a bit more grateful that she still has Grey’s as a regular job as well as the movies.
The show is called Grey’s Anatomy, not Meredith’s Anatomy. ABC already put Grey 2.0, and improved, younger, non-whining Grey in place for the switch during S3. The fact that Pompeo is not there due to her choice to breed, is a great way to make the switch without getting an outcry of protest from the lunatic side fans. The same lunatics that phoned Dempsey’s home to insult is wife, because he was supposed to be with Pompeo in real life, and bragged about it on the ABC boards…
Heigl is polarizing, and someone that the camera loves. Having her away for a few episodes will actually be good. The people that dislike her, will welcome her return. Not a bad thing.
Will anyone really care?
From http://twitter.com/shondarhimes
“STOP OBSESSING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ. IT HASN’T EVEN AIRED YET.”
I guess the fans had been bugging her about the changes
I think that Grey’s, along with most other shows, will be down this year, and it’ll be basically impossible to say how much of the change is due to the absences of characters as opposed to what would have happened otherwise.
Darn it, I’ll miss Izzie. And Meredith. But the show has so many great characters that I’ll keep watching and enjoy seeing them get the spotlight for a while.
Though, duh, if I’d been thinking when I posted above: Obviously if the ratings drop while they’re gone and pick up again right when they come back, it isn’t hard to take some meaning out of that.
I might tune into Greys again if the 2 most annoying characters are not there !
I hope any problems with ratings for Grey’s won’t affect Flash Forward that’s airing before it….
Evil, I wish I’d have played that angle up when I posted this! But I’ll likely get around to it sooner or later in another post.
The show is not Grey’s Anatomy without Meredith Grey. She is the reason I watch the show.