Topline
Grey’s Anatomy, the eternally popular ABC medical drama, was renewed for its 19th season Monday, making it the sixth-longest-running primetime show in television history—here are some of the careers it’s launched and the success it’s had during its prolific run.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA – AUGUST 04: Executive producer Shonda Rhimes (L) and actress Ellen Pompeo speak … [+]
Key Facts
Grey’s was the launchpad for creator Shonda Rhimes, who has gone on to become one of the most influential producers in Hollywood, bringing in more than $2 billion for ABC with additional hits like Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder.
Rhimes left ABC in 2017 to sign an exclusive deal with Netflix, where she is making at least $30 million a year to create successful dramas like the Emmy-nominated Bridgerton.
Ellen Pompeo, who has portrayed the titular Meredith Grey since the show’s 2005 pilot, has become one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood—raking in about $550,000 per episode along with about $6 million a year in syndication profits, totaling $19 million a year as of 2020.
Sandra Oh, who left the show in 2013, went on to star in the BBC drama Killing Eve, for which she received three consecutive Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy nominations.
Patrick Dempsey starred in the film Bridget Jones’s Baby following his 2015 exit from Grey’s, and was a two-time runner-up for People magazine’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive.’
Sara Ramirez, who portrayed Dr. Callie Torres on Grey’s for 11 seasons, now plays Che Diaz on the Sex and the City revival And Just Like That.
Chandra Wilson, who has played Dr. Miranda Bailey since the show’s beginning, has crossed over into other medical dramas like General Hospital as well as Grey’s spinoffs Private Practice and Station-19, for which she has reprised her role.
The show has welcomed myriad guest stars during its run, such as Elizabeth Moss, Demi Lovato, Sarah Paulson and Kyle Chandler.
While the show’s ratings have fallen off since its heyday—it reached 22.57 million households at its peak in 2007—ABC says it is still its highest-rated scripted show and tied for the no. 1 broadcast drama among adults ages 18-49, bringing in an average of 12.8 million viewers per episode after 35 days of delayed viewing across platforms.
The show has nabbed 39 Emmy nominations and five wins over the course of its 17-year run, with Heigl taking home Outstanding Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Izzie Stevens in 2007.
Key Background
Pompeo, 52, who is now a producer on Grey’s, told Insider last month she’s been “trying to focus on convincing everybody that [Grey’s Anatomy] should end.” The show is the longest-running primetime medical drama in TV history, and is ABC’s longest-running current show. Rhimes told the Hollywood Reporter in 2018 “the show will go on as long as Ellen wants to do it.”
Surprising Fact
Pompeo revealed in a 2019 Variety interview that Dempsey was earning nearly twice as much money as her per episode during the show’s early years. Pompeo said to the Hollywood Reporter in 2018 that the network would often use Dempsey as leverage—“We don’t need you; we have Patrick,” she recalled executives saying to her—in salary negotiations. She requested to be paid $5,000 more than Dempsey on principal, pointing to her character’s name in the show’s title as a reason she should be earning the highest salary, though she said ABC never adhered to that demand while Dempsey was a cast member. Dempsey left Grey’s in 2015, though made a guest appearance on the show in 2021.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2022/01/10/greys-anatomy-renewed-for-19th-season-here-are-the-careers-launched-by-the-show/