Season 15 made Grey’s Anatomy the longest-running medical drama on television (sorry, ER!), and it looks like ABC is determined to keep it that way for a while. Per Variety, Grey’s was just renewed through record 16th and 17th seasons with showrunner and EP Krista Vernoff at the helm. But that’s not the only good news for Grey’s fans. In addition to announcing subsequent seasons, ABC also revealed that a few recurring characters are getting promoted to series regulars. Hint? Broken bones may have to make more room for broken hearts.
As fans well know, Grey’s stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, Justin Chambers as Alex Karev, Chandra Wilson as Miranda Bailey, James Pickens Jr. as Richard Webber, Jesse Williams as Jackson Avery, Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt, Kim Raver as Teddy Altman, Caterina Scorsone as Amelia Shepherd, Camilla Luddington as Jo Wilson, Kelly McCreary as Maggie Pierce and Giacomo Gianniotti as Andrew DeLuca. But there are also several recurring characters in the form of interns and residents who don’t appear every episode.
And in season 15, three have been at the center of some of Grey’s most dynamic storylines: Chris Carmack as Atticus “Link the Ortho God” Lincoln, Greg Germann as Thomas Koracick and Jake Borelli as Levi Schmitt. Now, moving into the newly announced seasons, all three will apparently play an even larger role, having been bumped up to series regulars.
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“Chris, Jake and Greg have been recurring for us as guest stars and have popped as fan favorites,” Vernoff told Deadline. “We are excited to continue revealing their characters and we are beyond thrilled to welcome them to the Grey’s Anatomy family.” Of course, this means fans are in for all kinds of juicy relationship drama. Germann’s Koracick is currently the third leg of a Teddy-Owen love triangle, which in turn connects to the sort-of-still-triangle-like Amelia-Owen-and-now-Link story. As for Borelli’s Schmitt, he’s head over heels for Dr. Nico Kim (Alex Landi), who is currently pushing him away hard while trying to deal with the guilt of accidentally killing a patient.
Whew! While that’s a lot to take in, longtime fans of Grey’s can at least breathe a small sigh of relief. The fate of Grey’s has been uncertain — although not due to poor ratings, by any means. It remains the top-rated drama series on the network, averaging nearly seven million live viewers each week.
The uncertainty stems from the potential commitment of series headliner Pompeo. Creator Shonda Rhimes has said the series will go as long as Pompeo wants it to, and Pompeo has recently expressed that she has been mulling over other options and creative outlets. Fortunately, it seems that (for now at least) Pompeo is down to keep wielding her trademark scalpel as Meredith Grey. Per Deadline, Pompeo will star in both season 16 and season 17.
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