Rhimes has launched successful ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ spinoffs ‘Private Practice’ and ‘Station 19’ in the past
Shonda Rhimes has show pitches to last a lifetime.
Throughout her 20 years of screenwriting and producing, the Shondaland founder revealed she has never had a shortage of new stories to tell. When it comes to some of her most successful series, like Grey’s Anatomy, Rhimes told Entertainment Weekly that she had even more spinoff concepts than what ultimately came to fruition.
“On Grey’s, there were a bunch,” she said. “I felt like we could have done Chicago Anatomy, Boston.”
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CATERINA SCORSONE AND MATTHEW CASE IN GREY’S ANATOMY
Caterina Scorsone in Grey’s Anatomy. Disney/Anne Marie Fox
She explained that she has been cautious not “to rebuild the same world” time and again despite the record-breaking popularity of the longest-running primetime medical drama.
Still, some ideas stemming from Grey’s Anatomy — which was originally centered on Ellen Pompeo’s titular character Meredith Grey until she shifted away from being a series regular in 2023 — came to life. In 2007, Rhimes created Private Practice, and over a decade later came 2018’s Station 19.
“I thought that there could be a spinoff with Amelia that was the Shepherd sisters,” Rhimes shared, referring to Caterina Scorsone’s Grey’s character and her sisters Nancy (Embeth Davidtz), Kathleen (Amy Acker) and Liz (Neve Campbell). “They’re all doctors. It could have been a Shepherd sisters show, which would’ve been very interesting.”
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Rhimes also teased what she had in mind for a spinoff of her anther one of beloved series, Scandal.
“We wanted to do a B613 spinoff on Scandal,” she recalled, which would have honed in on the secret government agency led by Rowan Pope (Joe Morton) on the Kerry Washington-led drama.
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Rhimes noted that there were several potential offshoots, but reiterated, “We really tried to look for shows that could stand on their own two feet, that were their own thing. If you spin off a character, what people want is more of the same.”
“They’re like, ‘Oh, I’m going to get another show where Addison’s (Kate Walsh) the mistress,’” she added of the Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy character’s storyline. “Instinctively you want more of the same because that really worked. And to build a new world is incredibly difficult.”
That has never stopped her, though. Since the 2020 premiere of Rhimes’ Netflix hit Bridgerton, for example, she has launched Queen Charlotte — a prequel rather than a spinoff.
“I love that because it is of the world, but it’s not the world,” she pointed out. “I could tell the stories I wanted to tell and find great joy in that.”
