ABC recently offered a first look at the cast of season 23 Grey's Anatomy – but Ellen Pompeo significantly lacking after booking a new program.
The network shared a set photo on Friday, July 24, featuring Chris Carmack, Jen Landon, James Pickens Jr., Debbie Allen, Camilla Luddington, Niko Terho, Caterina Scorsone, Trevor Jackson, Adelaide Kane, Chandra Wilson, Harry Shum Jr., Alexis Floyd, Anthony Hill again Jason George.
Pompeo, 56, however, was not among the cast as the show opted for a rerun. The actor is no longer the lead character, so it is possible that Meredith Gray (Pompeo) will appear later in the season.
The last time fans saw the fan-favorite character, she was engaged to Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman). The fictional couple lives in Boston, however, so Meredith has been off the show since season 19.
Pompeo is booked again and busy after Deadline confirmed in June that he will appear and produce Hulu's Chicks. The family comedy drama is based on an original idea from writer Katie Robbins, who developed the idea “directly” for Pompeo. It was inspired by conversations between the two on the set of their first show together, Hulu's A good American family.
“Chicks is set in a charming neighborhood in old Boston. It follows Chickie (Pompeo) and Doreen, two sisters who both know each other and are struggling when their wisecracking father suddenly kicks the bucket,” reads the official synopsis. Their only legacy is two criminal histories that encourage them to commit more and more fraud. As their deception grows, so does their odd-couple bond, as each begins to fill the father-shaped hole in the other's heart.”
Production on Chicks will likely begin in September in New York. News of Pompeo's next gig comes as ABC viewers await updates on who is — and isn't — returning for season 23 of Grey's Anatomy.
Pompeo first played Meredith in 2005 when Grey's Anatomy premiered on ABC. After talking about his exit for years, Pompeo confirmed in September 2022 that he will have a reduced role for season 19.
“I'll always be a part of that game,” he told Deadline at the time. “I am a great producer, I have spent two decades of my career [Grey’s Anatomy] – it is my heart and soul. I will never really leave like this [it’s] in the air.”
The actress played eight episodes in that season before exiting the show as a series regular in 2023. “I'm only going to Boston, and you know, I'll probably be here next week,” Meredith told her friends and colleagues before boarding the plane with her three children.
Grey's Anatomy recently reduced the minimum guarantees for veteran actors to 14 of the show's 18 per season. Some fan favorites didn't appear in up to four episodes each season Caterina Scorsone'absence doubled after her character, Amelia Shepherd, chose to take a sabbatical.
Kim Raver again Kevin McKidd later he left the show, but it is not clear if there will be many characters who will not return for the 23rd season.
Despite the shakeups, ABC remains committed to the business, with the network ordering a spinoff Grey's Anatomyto be set in rural West Texas. The upcoming series will be coordinated, written and produced by Shonda Rhimes and showrunner for Grey's Anatomy Meg Marinis. Pompeo is also executive producing the new offshoot, which will debut midway through the 2027 season.
