As if Ellen Pompeo was ever really gone-gone from Grey’s Anatomy! Castmate and executive producer Debbie Allen confirmed for ET at the Kennedy Center Honors Monday that the OG will be back for at least a couple of appearances in Season 20 of the enduring ABC drama.
“Miss Thing is there, honey,” said Allen. “She’s in the first episode, and she’s in the one I’m going to direct. We have to let her go and do some other things, but she’s still our queen. She’s still our No. 1 on the call sheet.”
Among the “other things” on Pompeo’s to-do list is an eight-episode Hulu limited series inspired by the true story of a Midwestern couple who adopts what they believe is an 8-year-old girl with a rare form of dwarfism. Spoiler alert: It ain’t necessarily so.
Pompeo made her last series-regular appearance as Dr. Meredith Grey midway through Season 19, when the iconic character relocated to Boston with her and late husband Derek Shepherd’s three children. Season 19’s final episode — recapped here — found Mer unveiling to her former colleagues a radical new theory about curing Alzheimer’s disease and reuniting with on-again/off-again love interest Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman).
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Aside from Meredith’s return, what can viewers expect from Season 20 of Grey’s Anatomy (which kicks off its writers and actors’ strikes-abbreviated 10-episode run on Thursday, March 14)? A “hot, unpredictable, compelling” time, Allen teased. “It’s going to be the greatest season I think that we’ve done. We have a lot to look forward to” — including a new showrunner; executive producer Meg Marinis replaces Krista Vernoff at the helm after four seasons.
