Grey's Anatomy recently bumped two characters up to series regular status (while losing one to Station 19), but the futures of no fewer than three were still in question, as actors' contracts expired with the premature end of Season 16. Well, Season 17 may not hit the airwaves any time too soon, but three stars will officially be back when the show does return, and they won't go anywhere for quite a while. Kim Raver, Kevin McKidd, and Camilla Luddington will all return.
Kim Raver, Kevin McKidd, and Camilla Luddington play Dr. Teddy Altman, Dr. Owen Hunt, and Dr. Jo Wilson, respectively, so Meredith Grey won't be losing several of her fellow surgeons when the action picks up at Grey Sloan in Season 17. Deadline reports that the new contracts are for another three years, with considerable salary bumps for the actors.
Although Grey's Anatomy is currently halfway through its two-season renewal from back in May 2019, new three-year contracts for three of the most prominent stars indicate that ABC is planning on Grey's lasting far beyond Season 17. Considering what these characters went through in Season 16, the likelihood of all three of them not leaving the show anytime soon is somewhat surprising.
Kim Raver's Teddy ended Season 16 on a controversial note, as she slept with Tom just hours before she was supposed to marry Owen. While she did tell Tom that they couldn't be together because of Owen, she still had sex with another man on what was supposed to be her wedding day, and the hookup was recorded onto Owen's phone via voicemail.
Frankly, Grey's Anatomy went so far in tearing down Teddy's character in what turned out to be the final episode of Season 16 that I wouldn't have been shocked if she departed within the span of a few episodes. Now, Teddy apparently has the span of a few seasons to show what happens next!
As for Kevin McKidd's Owen, he called off the wedding in the Season 16 finale, although he technically only delayed it due to a surgery. He did it via his mother rather than calling Teddy directly, and he was clearly devastated by what she'd done. I can't imagine it helped that she fully intended on marrying him just hours after hooking up with Tom in the hospital where they all worked. However the situation is resolved, it apparently won't involve Owen leaving Grey's Anatomy.
As for Camilla Luddington's Jo, fans had big reasons to worry about her future on the show over the midseason hiatus after news broke that Justin Chambers had already filmed his final episode as Alex Karev.
Since Alex and Jo had been on very solid ground in their relationship before Alex headed off to Iowa to care for his mom (or so fans thought at the time), it seemed like Grey's Anatomy either had to send Jo off-screen to be with Alex, kill off Alex, or invent some far-fetched reason why Alex would leave Jo. (Grey's went for the far-fetched option that may have destroyed Alex's character.)
Fortunately, Grey's Anatomy didn't have to lose Camilla Luddington or Jo just because Justin Chambers decided to leave, and she was already moving forward by the end of Season 16. Her reaction may have seemed a bit strange, but showrunner Krista Vernoff explained why she was handling the situation the way she did.
So, even if there are still no details about when Grey's Anatomy will be able to start production on Season 17, fans can count on seeing these three again. Interestingly, ABC did give Grey's Anatomy (along with Station 19) a slot in the fall TV schedule, so the plan is presumably to get Season 17 ready to begin broadcast before the end of the year.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the biggest news in the fall TV season, and be sure to check out our 2020 summer TV schedule for what still has yet to air before the fall season starts. If you're in the mood for relive the highs and lows of Grey's Anatomy, you can find the first 16 seasons so far streaming on Netflix.
