GREY’S Anatomy’s boss has admitted the season 17 finale could be the end of the show as the beloved drama faces the chop.
ABC is yet to confirm if the medical drama will be greenlit for another series, so show runner Krista Vernoff has made a contingency plan in case Grey’s Anatomy doesn’t return.
She told The Hollywood Reporter: “I’m planning a season and a finale that could function as either a season finale or a series finale.
“I’m planning for both contingencies and it’s hard and it’s not ideal. It’s not where I wish we were.”
In the candid chat, Krista added how she had asked ABC to make a decision on the show’s future before filming for the finale begins.
She said: “There are a couple of character threads that will change. I’ve got plans for both contingencies.
“Either there will be closure or I will build something in that allows me to have a bit of a cliffhanger and a thread for next season.”
While Krista hopes the show will return for an 18th season, she admits the coronavirus pandemic has left her writing team running “on fumes” and so they haven’t even begun to think of storylines if the show was to be renewed.
One factor that could go against the show returning is that ABC’s multi-million dollar deal with lead star Ellen Pompeo, who plays Meredith Grey, ends with the current run of episodes.
The 51-year-old actress was tight-lipped about whether a last-minute renewal was possible.
She told CBS Sunday Morning: “We honestly have not decided. “We are really trying to figure it out right now.
“What story do we tell to end a show this iconic? How do we do it?
“I just want to make sure we do this character, and this show, the fans… I want to make sure we do it right.”
Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC in the US and on Sky Witness in the UK, with select episodes also available on NOWTV.
