Grey’s Anatomy season 17 will ‘address coronavirus pandemic’ and writers are already meeting with doctors to discuss real life cases: ‘They’re talking about it as war’
The upcoming season of Grey’s Anatomy will take on the current coronavirus pandemic.
Krista Vernoff, the executive producer of the long running ABC drama, revealed that the show’s writers are already in talks with doctors learn more about their experiences dealing with COVID-19.
Vernoff discussed the future storylines during a Television Academy panel, Quaranstreaming: Comfort TV That Keeps Us Going, which will air on Emmys.com Tuesday evening.
COVID-19: The upcoming season of Grey’s Anatomy will take on the current coronavirus pandemic according to executive producer Krista Vernoff who added that the show writers are already meeting with real doctors on the front lines
‘We’re going to address this pandemic for sure,’ Vernoff said according to People. ‘There’s no way to be a long-running medical show and not do the medical story of our lifetimes.’
Krista was joined on the upcoming panel by two of Grey’s biggest stars, Chadra Wilson who plays Dr. Miranda Bailey and Kevin McKidd who plays Dr. Owen Hunt.
McKidd’s character will likely play a pivotal role in the future coronavirus story arcs as his Dr. Hunt is a former U.S. Army trauma surgeon.
‘That’s been one of our big conversations about Owen, is that he’s actually trained for this in a way that most of the other doctors aren’t,’ Vernoff said.
Coming soon: Vernoff discussed the future storylines during a Television Academy panel, Quaranstreaming: Comfort TV That Keeps Us Going, which will air on Emmys.com Tuesday evening
The ‘really painful’ true experiences of the actual doctors on the front lines of the crisis are more like war than what the staff writers on Grey’s are used too.
‘Every year, we have doctors come and tell us their stories, and usually they’re telling their funniest or craziest stories,’ Vernoff said.
‘It has felt more like therapy,’ she added. ‘The doctors come in and we’re the first people they’re talking to about these types of experiences they’re having.
‘They are literally shaking and trying not to cry, they’re pale, and they’re talking about it as war — a war that they were not trained for.’
‘The doctors come in and we’re the first people they’re talking to about these types of experiences they’re having,’ she explained. ‘They are literally shaking and trying not to cry, they’re pale, and they’re talking about it as war — a war that they were not trained for.’
The Shonda Rhimes series starring Ellen Pompeo as the titular Dr. Meredith Grey premiered in 2005.
Over the course of its 16 seasons, the show has taken on every sort of ripped-from-the-headlines trauma like mass shootings, plane crashes and overdoses.
‘I feel like our show has an opportunity and a responsibility to tell some of those stories,’ Vernoff said. ‘Our conversations have been constantly about how do we keep alive humor and romance while we tell these really painful stories.’
Production for the next season of the medical drama has been postponed due to the pandemic with no current plan in place to resume.
Waiting game: Production for the next season of the medical drama has been postponed due to the pandemic with no current plan in place to resume