'Grey's Anatomy' Boss Says No One Has Told Her the End Is Coming

As budgets shrink, showrunner Meg Marinis is also building a West Texas spinoff with Shonda Rhimes.

Twenty-three seasons into "Grey's Anatomy," its boss still doesn't know whether this one is the last. "No one's told me that the end is coming, so for that I'm grateful," showrunner Meg Marinis told Variety in an interview published Thursday night, after ABC aired the Season 23 premiere. TheWrap, which ran its own interview with her the same night, reported that the season is expected to come in under the show's usual 18 episodes, and that two longtime cast members have already left over budget limits.

Marinis isn't counting on Season 50, and she told Variety the chance that this year is the final one stays on her mind. The premiere turns that squeeze into plot: Grey Sloan opens a luxury VIP floor, backed by a new chief of surgery who's a doctor turned businessman.

Marinis is also co-creating an untitled spinoff with Shonda Rhimes, set in rural West Texas, where her father is from, and TheWrap reported it's expected to premiere midseason in 2027. She told Variety the idea grew out of medical deserts, where birthing centers have closed and some people drive two hours to have a baby. One show is selling luxury suites to keep its hospital open, and the next one goes where the hospitals are closing.

Source: Variety, retrieved October 16, 2026. Other sources: TheWrap.