Well, this is some interesting news for ABC’s pilot lineup.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co.’s television network ABC has decided to pursue a spinoff of its popular medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy”, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
It will star Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, the sexy neonatal surgeon played by Kate Walsh, the paper said.
A two-hour pilot of the show, which could add millions in additional advertising revenue, is likely to air in May, the paper said.
So Addison wins the lucky draw, does she? There was technically also Sloane in a similar position, but it’s clear that Kate Walsh’s character is perhaps the best developed and best suited to jump to her own show next season. Now, let’s ignore how this affects Grey’s storylines for a second, and try to consider other ramifications.
Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s creator, had tried to get a pilot about embedded journalists off the ground, but failed. It’s clear that ABC would much rather have a spinoff, a much more guaranteed success, than a new show. This is a fairly bad precedent to set, much akin to the recent glut of sequels in Hollywood (This year is particularly bad for that).
I also have to wonder whether there is really an entire show about Neonatal surgery waiting in the wings. While Addison is a solid character, and Walsh has done an amazing job with the character that people initially saw as a one-dimensional conniving wife, I have to worry about the ability to make a show just about one type of surgery. Grey’s gets away with its storylines because it has so much variety, and it even keeps introducing new characters to expand into neonatal, plastic surgery (Sloane) and bone-related surgeries (Callie). Left to only one discipline, will the show be able to stay as fresh?
And, really, can it seem different enough from Grey’s Anatomy? Will she be taking Karev with her? Will Shonda try to work in Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the actor who played Denny and a planned star for the journalist pilot? Whatever the case, I don’t really know what to think about the whole thing. On one hand I think that the show is getting too bloated, and less characters could be good, but can Addison carry it on her own? And, can Grey’s work without Addison?
I guess we’ll see what happens come May, should this news come to fruition.
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