Grey’s Anatomy's 21st season is airing on the 2025 TV schedule, and over the years, audiences have fallen in love with so many doctors, patients and first responders who have come into the hospital. So much so, in fact, that it’s spawned two successful spinoffs. Shonda Rhimes recently revealed she had ideas for plenty of other Grey’s spinoffs, and I really wish one in particular had come to fruition.
Shonda Rhimes confirmed that the Kate Walsh-led Private Practice and firefighter-centric Station 19 (both available to stream with a Hulu subscription) weren’t the only shows she’s thought of over the years to continue certain characters’ stories outside the hospital. When asked about what other series she’d conjured up, Rhimes told EW:
On Grey's, there were a bunch. I felt like we could have done Chicago Anatomy, Boston. We could have done that. It just didn't appeal to me to rebuild the same world. And then we thought about a lot of things.
A Boston spinoff definitely would have made sense, considering all the characters who live there and work at the Fox Foundation (hello, Japril!). Meredith Grey herself relocated to Boston for her daughter to enroll in a gifted program. In Chicago, we could have kept up with Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) and the staff at the city’s Heart Center.
I personally thought they were setting up a spinoff in Minnesota when Scott Speedman returned to the series, and David Hamilton (Peter Gallagher) established The Grey Center for Meredith’s research. I also loved E.R. Fightmaster in the recurring role of Kai Bartley. But it was another of Shonda Rhimes’ spinoff ideas that really piqued my interest. She continued:
I thought that there could be a spinoff with Amelia [Caterina Scorsone] that was the Shepherd sisters. They're all doctors. It could have been a Shepherd sisters show, which would've been very interesting.
That’s just simply a stroke of brilliance. We’ve been introduced to all three of Derek and Amelia Shepherd’s sisters on Grey’s Anatomy over the years, as well as the fact that Amelia is the black sheep of the family. That turbulent dynamic and the fact that they all work in the medical field is such a good premise, not to mention the amazing actors who have played these women.
Embeth Davidtz appeared on Seasons 3 and 15 as OB/GYN Nancy; Neve Campbell guest-starred for two episodes of Season 9 as Liz (also an M.D.); and Amy Acker made her sole appearance in Season 15 as psychiatrist Kathleen. If nothing else, this spinoff would at least put the “Who is Lucas’ mom?” mystery to bed.
Unfortunately, that idea — and apparently many others — went unrealized. For a while, it looked like ABC might be setting up a police-based series to rival the One Chicago shows on NBC with its own medical, fire and P.D. trilogy. Then, in 2021, an ABC exec got fans excited when he spoke of “the next phase of Grey’s Anatomy,” only to backpedal on that comment and insist that no new spinoff was in the works.
We haven’t had a Grey’s Anatomy spinoff since Station 19, but with that and Private Practice being embraced so much by fans, I’d say as long as Grey’s is on the air, there’s always the potential for more in that universe. For now, though, tune in to new episodes of Grey’s Anatomy at 10 p.m. ET Thursdays on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.
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