‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Spinoff Lands Straight to Series Order From ABC
By Cynthia Littleton @Variety_Cynthia

ABC has given a straight to series order to a “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff set in a Seattle firehouse.

The new ABC Studios/Shondaland drama will be spearheaded by “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunner Stacy McKee. Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers will exec produce with McKee.

The untitled drama will revolve around a group of “heroic” firefighters. It’s expected to be launched as a planted spinoff that will air as part of an episode of ABC’s veteran medical drama.

“No one can interweave the jeopardy firefighters face in the line of duty with the drama in their personal lives quite like Shonda, and ‘Grey’s’ signature Seattle setting is the perfect backdrop for this exciting spinoff,” said ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey.

“Grey’s” previously yielded the spinoff “Private Practice,” which revolved around Kate Walsh’s character, Dr. Addison Forbes. That show, created by Rhimes, ran for six seasons from 2007 to 2013.

“Grey’s” has enjoyed a remarkable ratings resurgence during the past two seasons. The show has been a pillar of ABC’s schedule since its debut in 2005. In season 13, the show has averaged a 3.5 rating and 11.3 million viewers in Nielsen’s live-plus-7 ratings.

McKee has been with “Grey’s” since its inception, rising through the ranks from staff writer to showrunner status in the 2015-16 season. She’s repped by UTA.

SOURCE http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/greys-anatomy-spinoff-abc-series-order-1202428886/

Grey's Anatomy Might Have Just Killed Off [Spoiler]
by Lauren Piester | Thu, May 11, 2017 10:26 PM

Grey's Anatomy confirmed many of our suspicions tonight, but it still managed to shock us pretty seriously.

First, let's talk about that ending. Stephanie (Jerrika Hinton) was held hostage by a psychotic rapist patient after thinking he just wanted to be reunited with the love of his life, instead of the woman he had been trying to rape when she caused the car they were in to go off of a cliff. 

He planned to set a small fire to get the emergency doors open, but instead, Edwards set him on fire, which also lit up an oxygen tank and caused a huge explosion. 

Maybe, possibly, Stephanie could survive, but it's not looking likely. That was a pretty big explosion, and Hinton is reportedly leaving the show. Still, we're not ready to watch another one of these doctors die!

Elsewhere, Owen (Kevin McKidd) found out that his sister Megan is somehow still alive, and Alex (Justin Chambers) encountered Jo's husband (played by guest star Matthew Morrison) at a conference and first imagined beating him up and then telling him to stay away, but decided against both as he played out each scenario's unhappy ending in his head. Instead, he just watched as evil Will Schuster stole his cab, but we can't imagine he's gone for good at this point considering the strange way he locked in on Alex's face as he drove away.

In slightly better news, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Riggs (Martin Henderson) continued to get closer, though Mer is struggling with letting him stay over with her kids in the house. 

Next week's finale looks extra intense with the hospital on fire, and as Kelly McCreary told us, "Everyone is in danger." 
Remember how happy and not devastating last year's finale was? Those were some good times. 

How are you feeling? Do you think Stephanie is dead? Sound off in the comments!

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC. 

http://www.eonline.com/news/850964/grey-s-anatomy-might-have-just-killed-off-spoiler

Grey’s Anatomy recap: 'True Colors'
An explosive cliffhanger sets up next week’s season finale.
Jessica Derschowitz@jessicasara | Posted on May 11, 2017 at 10:59pm EDT

Let this be a lesson to all of us — when Shonda Rhimes says a season finale will be “on fire,” she’s not kidding around. As in, we’re gonna go into next week’s episode with the hospital actually ON FIRE.

And leave it to Grey’s to have a literal explosion not be the only shocker of the night. Let’s just scrub in and get right to all of it…

Alex tracks down Jo’s husband

Alex Karev has a particular set of skills, and he’ll use them to locate the abusive estranged husband you’re hiding from and fantasize about punching him in the face. Alex has indeed found Dr. Paul Stadler (Glee alum Matthew Morrison) and is lurking around the hotel where he’s attending a medical conference, conflicted as to whether he should approach the guy and what he should do. First, he imagines chatting Paul up at the hotel bar, introducing himself with a fake last name and getting drunk with him before throwing punches at him outside. But that daydream ends with police sirens and Alex in jail, and nobody wants to worry about him getting arrested again (raise your hand if you were glad that was just imaginary, because I’m right there with you).

Then, he imagines doing his best Liam Neeson/Taken impression to the guy before he gives a speech at the conference, casually walks over, and warns that he’s watching him, and how if he ever goes near Jo again, he’ll find him and kill him. That scenario also takes a nightmare turn when he imagines coming back to Seattle to find Paul strangling her. (Raise your hand if you were glad that was imaginary, too.)

But then we see the non-imaginary, no-one-dies-or-gets-arrested scenario play out: Paul cuts in front of Alex on the street to get a cab, then apologizes and offers to share it, if he’s heading to the airport as well. Our dear Dr. Karev stares at him, but ultimately doesn’t say anything about Jo and lets the cab drive away. Much less dramatic, but is this the last we’ll see of the two of them in the same place?

Owen’s shocking sister news

When Owen gets a knock at the door and two Army officers are waiting outside, it doesn’t look like the news is good. And at first, we think it isn’t – all we hear is that it’s news about his sister, and then Owen goes into work in a shell-shocked daze. When a mother tearfully thanks him for stopping their baby daughter from choking, he’s abrupt and non-Owen-like with them and walks off. Amelia sees this and goes after him, and once they’re alone in one of the supply closets, he tells her they’ve found his sister… alive.

He tells her Megan Hunt was found in a basement in a rebel-held neighborhood and she’s now in an Army hospital in Germany. He’s still in shock and can’t bring himself to believe it’s really her, and Amelia calmly says they’ll find out for sure.

Grey's Anatomy Season 13 Episode 23 Review: True Colors
Jasmine Blu at May 11, 2017 11:44 pm.  Updated at May 12, 2017 12:04 am.

Holy fudge that was an explosive hour!

Yes, I know, that was an awful joke, but what can I say? I have a dark sense of humor, and joking helps me cope. After everything they threw at us on Grey's Anatomy Season 13 Episode 23, coping is essential.

Kevin McKidd does such a good job directing, doesn't he?

This season of Grey's Anatomy has done the thing I absolutely abhor. It started off strong, devolved into something akin to a hot mess in the middle, and now it's coming in hot for the end of the season. Oops! I did it again. Anyway, we can all agree that Grey's Anatomy Season 13 has not been its best, and that has been disappointing. 

So, now, we have this "Megan is alive" reveal. Most of us pretty much predicted she was alive a long time ago, and we have been impatiently waiting for them to get to the revelation since last season.

Just like we have been waiting for something about Jo's husband since last season. Seriously, we were waiting sooooo long. I was channeling Judge Judy. Get on with it, already!

Naturally, Grey's Anatomy dumped both on us in the penultimate episode of the season despite not having consistent storylines leading up to either of them. Hours worth of hospital politics was more important, I guess.

Because we saw the Megan reveal coming for so long, it didn't hit the shocking mark, but it made up for it with the emotional impact. Can someone hold Owen? Kevin McKidd killed me. I am writing this from beyond the grave.

VARIETY | March 16, 2017
‘Grey’s Anatomy’: Jackson and April Reunite for an Emotional Episode (SPOILERS)
Elizabeth Wagmeister TV Reporter @EWagmeister

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watch the Mar. 16 episode of “Grey’s Anatomy,” titled “Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?”

Rejoice, #Japril fans! This week’s episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” was a one-off solely focused on Jackson (Jesse Williams) and April (Sarah Drew).

“I think that this episode is really more ‘Jackson the Movie’, than ‘Japril the Sequel,'” Sarah Drew tells Variety, referring to the episode from Season 12 that was all about Jackson and April’s relationship. “It really is about Jackson’s journey, and it made sense to have the person who knows him best be on that journey with him and show up and be strong for him in the midst of it.”

Thursday night’s hour centered around divorced duo who were assigned to a high-stakes case and had to take a flight, on the Avery family private jet, nonetheless, to perform surgery on the patient. However, the medical case-of-the-week was really the background of the episode, which heavily focused on Jackson’s personal life.

Jackson’s estranged father, who he never met, worked at the local restaurant near the hospital that Jackson and April visited, so Jackson ended up confronting him and through a series of scenes, ultimately told him he did not want to have a relationship, since he left him and never cared to be a true father.

Be sure to check the website for articles & other news about this episode that Kevin directed.
| press release | photos | promo |sneak peek 1 | sneak peek 2 | Q&A | BTS photos |

Grey's Anatomy Sneak Peek: Will Jackson and April Rekindle Their Romance?
by Liz Raftery | Mar 15, 2017 6:00 PM EDT | TV Guide

Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy finds April (Sarah Drew) and Jackson (Jesse Williams) taking a trip to Awkward Town when Catherine (Debbie Allen) sends them away to treat a young patient who needs a complicated throat transplant.

In actuality, the two docs are traveling to Montana. And in the episode, which ABC and the show's stars are dubbing "Japril the Sequel," things start to go downhill when Jackson has a hard time focusing on the task at hand because he can't stop thinking about the fact that - surprise! - his biological father lives in the area.

"When [April] discovers that his father is there in Montana and that his father is the one that is distracting him and throwing him for a loop and causing him to act strangely, she knows exactly what he needs because she knows him so well," Drew tells TVGuide.com. "She knows that he needs to go talk to his father. He needs to have that interaction. He needs to open that door... maybe close that door. But something needs to happen."

In this exclusive sneak peek, April encourages - well, more like insists - that Jackson confront his father and get whatever he needs to off his chest."The tactic that she uses, I think, is pretty brilliant because she makes it about the work," Drew points out. "She doesn't make it about, 'I care about you and I see you're hurting, and you really need to do this, and this is going to help you. I'm telling you to do this because I love you.' I think all that stuff is in the subtext, but I think what he needs in this moment is for someone to kick his ass and say, 'You're not doing your job well. You have to do this in order to do your job well, so shut up and go do it.' And that's exactly what she says and it leads to really great results."

Is it possible that "Japril the Sequel" will lead to Jackson reconnecting with not only his father, but also his ex-wife? Fans will have to wait until Thursday to find out - but according to Drew, the episode solidifies that, if nothing else, Jackson and April will continue to be there for each other to lean on, despite all their previous ups and downs.

"It really is more about Jackson than it is about Japril, but it is about April kind of showing up for Jackson in a way that she really never has so far in their relationship. That's the part of 'Japril the Sequel' that I love the most," Drew tells TVGuide.com. "She really just shows up for him over and over and over again and doesn't need him to show up for her in any way. And that is just a true mark of what love is supposed to look like."

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.

http://www.tvguide.com/news/greys-anatomy-jackson-april-father-sarah-drew-japril/

Be sure to check the website for articles & other news about this episode that Kevin directed.
| press release | photos | promo |sneak peek 1 | sneak peek 2 | Q&A | BTS photos |

TV LINE: Grey's Anatomy Preview
Sarah Drew Reveals What April Does For Jackson 'Out of Love' in #JaprilTheSequel
By Charlie Mason / March 15 2017, 3:00 PM PDT

The promos for Thursday’s Grey’s Anatomy (8/7c, ABC) have already revealed that Jackson and April’s work trip to Montana reunites him with his long-lost father. But what they don’t reveal is how what transpires on that journey impacts Harriet’s divorced co-parents going forward. “At the beginning of the episode, there is so much tension between them,” Sarah Drew, who plays Dr. Kepner, tells TVLine. “They don’t have any real sense that they are going to work anything out [during their travels]. It’s not a nice, cozy vacation.”

However, once April learns that Jackson has found his dad (whose casting will remain a secret until airtime), everything changes. “She realizes from the beginning that something’s going on with him. He’s unusually cross with her — even in terms of their working relationship,” notes Drew. “So when she discovers that [the reason] is his father, it kind of opens up a world for her of, ‘Now everything makes sense’ — his attitude, his shortness, his shutting her out.

“Because this is a very deep and intense situation,” she continues, “it gives her more empathy and patience towards him.”

It also gives her a mission to accomplish: getting him to at last have it out with his father. “I love the way that scene plays out. She doesn’t say, ‘You need to go because you’re going through something, and I care about you and want you to figure it out,'” the actress previews. “No, she says, ‘You need to go because you can’t do your job right now, and I need you to do your job.’“That’s really tough, and I don’t think it’s completely honest,” she adds. “I think [she does it] totally out of love, but she’s not going to let on that it is, because… that’s exactly what he needs to hear in that moment. She’s so firm and so strong. She’s really being a rock for him.”

So much so that, by the end of “Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?” the once-marrieds are closer than they have been in ages. “Regardless of where it goes from here,” Drew says, “there is a great healing that has happened as a result of this experience that I think would give Japril fans a lot of hope.”

Be sure to check the website for more news about this episode that Kevin directed.
| press release | photos | promo |sneak peek 1 | sneak peek 2 | Q&A | BTS photos |

E! News | Grey's Anatomy's
Big "Japril" Episode Just Might Be an Avery Family Reunion in Disguise
by Billy Nilles | Wed, Mar 15, 2017 9:05 AM

For as long as he's been in our lives on Grey's Anatomy, Jackson Avery's father has never been in the picture.

We've gotten more than our fill of his mother, the domineering and ultra-successful Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen)—especially with the mess she's created at Grey Sloan Memorial this year with the whole Minnick debacle—but we've never met the man who ran off when Jackson (Jesse Williams) was young, leaving him to be raised by a single mother. But it looks like that all might be changing—and soon.

In this sneak peek of Thursday's new episode, exclusive to E! News, Jackson and April (Sarah Drew) have traveled to Montana to treat a young patient, but when his ex-wife catches wise to what really may have brought them out to Big Sky Country, she's none too pleased.

"When are you gonna tell me that you found your father?" she unloads on her former spouse. "Your father, Jackson. Your long-lost deadbeat dad. The distinguished hippie former surgeon Dr. Avery who slings hash at the local diner. He's the whole reason we're here!"

"No, I came here to help a patient," Jackson replies, rather unconvincingly. Come on, Jackson! You're going to have to lie a little better than that.

The special episode, in which Williams and Drew are the only two series regulars to appear, is a sequel of sorts to the special season 12 episode that chronicled the pair's complete relationship history as they sign divorce papers amid April's secret second pregnancy. Could what fans are affectionately referring to as "Japril: The Sequel" be the episode to bring these until as-of-late (thanks to Grey Sloan Memorial's ridiculous civil war) happy co-parents back together for good?

While the pair aren't spilling that precious detail under fear of retribution from their boss Shonda Rhimes, they did open up to E! News' Kristin Dos Santos about the episode. "The relationship—Will they? Won't they? Are they going to stay together? They're co-parenting, being divorced, but living together. They can kind of escape through their work, but on this trip and in this episode, they're together," Williams teased during the recent TCA Winter Press Tour . "They have to face each other."

Are the actors themselves rooting for a reconciliation between their characters? "Yes, always. I'm just always rooting for them to get back together because they're great and I can't understand," Drew admitted. "There was stuff that made sense for them to be apart, but now it feels like that's in the past…Japril forever!" 

Are you still holding out hope for Japril to get their act together and reconcile? Sound off in the comments below!

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Be sure to check the website for articles & other news about this episode that Kevin directed.
| press release | photos | promo |sneak peek 1 | sneak peek 2 | Q&A | BTS photos |

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
March 15, 2017 3:00pm PT by Lesley Goldberg
'Grey's Anatomy' Star Jesse Williams Previews "Japril the Sequel"

Will a work trip to Montana help get Jackson and April back on track?

To say that Grey's Anatomy favorites Jackson (Jesse Williams) and April (Sarah Drew) have come a long way since arriving at Seattle Grace Grey Sloane from Mercy West all those years (and TV seasons) ago is a bit of an understatement.

Individually, April and Jackson arrived as surgical residents and have worked tirelessly to become key administrators at the hospital (with the latter now the board chairman). And while their professional careers have taken off, their personal lives have become more stagnant after the arrival of their daughter, Harriet.

During Thursday's episode "Who Is He (and What Is He To You)?" Jackson and April will travel to Montana for a case and, in typical Shondaland fashion, wind up tending to their personal lives and the nature of their relationship.

"All we do is test each other," Williams told The Hollywood Reporter of the episode. "But this forces them into a space together."

Indeed, while April chose to move into Jackson's house as the on-again, off-again couple adjusted to parenthood and her recovery from a traumatic childbirth, the road trip is forged from a similar place.

"Jackson didn’t plan to have her on this trip with him; he could have chosen her and he didn’t," Williams says. "We’re thrown together in a very tight space both literally and figuratively, so that forces us to figure out what the hell they are to each other. What do they want from each other? What do they not want from each other? What exhausts one about the other?"

As for what to expect, Williams remained tight-lipped about the arrival of his biological father in the episode but said that by the end of the hour, Jackson is "grateful" to have April there with him — though he downplayed if that was for personal or professional reasons.

"She knows him better than anybody; that’s just a fact," he says. "They can run from that and fight against that, but it’s just true. They do have a tremendous love for each other and reliance on each other, and that’s something that I think really comes out in this episode. It’s a bit of a pressure cooker."

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC. Stay tuned to THR's The Live Feed for more coverage after the episode airs. 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/greys-anatomy-star-jesse-williams-previews-japril-sequel-986266

Grey's Anatomy's Justin Chambers on Mer/Alex Romance: 'Personally, I... '
By Michael Ausiello / February 8 2017, 11:49 AM PST

Alex Karev is a free man, but how exactly did the hot-tempered doc dodge that multi-year stint in the pokey? This Thursday’s Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 8/7c) wastes no time answering that burning question, according to portrayer Justin Chambers.

“It happens really quickly — within the first 10 minutes,” he tells TVLine, before confirming that the reveal comes courtesy of a flashback that may or may not involve his victim (i.e. Andrew). And even though he may not be headed to prison, Alex is not walking away from the experience unscathed. “He feels really bad about” pummeling Andrew, Chambers says. “He apologizes. We’ll see if he’s receptive to it.” 

What the episode won’t provide, per Chambers, is a resolution to how Alex’s newfound freedom will impact his fractured relationship with Jo. “We’re steering clear of each other,” he shares. “But I think he has a lot of empathy for her, coming from an abusive relationship [with her MIA husband]. We all know that Alex grew up in a home like that. That opens his eyes to the possibility of forgiving her for not telling him the truth about who she is for so many years. She’s not the person he thought she was.”

And just because Alex and Jo are on the outs, don’t look for him to start kicking the tires of a possible romance with BFF Meredith. Although Chambers says “anything is possible,” he prefers to think of them “as siblings that care very much for each other.

“But that happens in life, where people who are friends become lovers,” he continues. “Personally, I don’t see that [happening] right now. I think it would be kind of strange.”

Last April, Ellen Pompeo similarly told TVLine that Alex and Meredith make better siblings than sweethearts. “I think they’re too close… too much like brother and sister,” she said at the time. “I have super-close friends who I’m not romantically attracted to at all. So I think just because you’re so in love with someone in one way doesn’t mean it’s a romantic love. But they certainly do understand each other a lot.”

http://tvline.com/2017/02/08/justin-chambers-greys-anatomy-interview-season-13-alex-mer/