‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Shows No Sign Of Stopping Anytime Soon, Series Eyeing More Seasons Than ‘ER’

Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda Rhimes’ flagship drama, shows no sign of ending anytime soon. Considered to be one of the longest-running shows on TV, the medical drama series might still be around for a few more seasons.

Currently in its 13th season, Grey’s Anatomy continues to provide an engaging storyline, which definitely helps maintain its popularity despite being around for quite a while now. This makes ABC Chief Channing Dungey look forward to more seasons of the series.

Recently, Dungey expressed his optimism about Grey’s Anatomy’s future in primetime television. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dungey revealed that he hopes the series will do more seasons, enough to rival the phenomenal hit ER.

“That’d be lovely. I’ll take even more! Honestly, I think that the show is going to continue as long as Shonda and the gang have a creative passion for telling those stories. At the moment, it feels like we’re full steam ahead.”

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ER, which ran a total of 15 seasons, already left its mark in the history of primetime television as the longest-running medical drama series. Aired on NBC from 1994 to 2009, the series aired a total of 331 episodes. With Grey’s Anatomy’s current success, it’ll only take a matter of time before Meredith Grey and the rest of the gang surpass the said record.

In fact, season 13 of Grey’s Anatomy already recorded an average of 11.6 million views, enough to land them the fourth most watched entertainment show. The series was also hailed as the Favorite Network TV Drama at last year’s People’s Choice Awards, the same award the series won in 2015. As for this year, Grey’s Anatomy was nominated for Favorite TV Show, Favorite Network TV Drama, and Favorite Dramatic TV Actress for Ellen Pompeo.

Despite all the achievements and positive response from its viewers, Grey’s Anatomy also faced criticism particularly with its main character, Ellen Pompeo. Ellen, who portrays the role of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital’s renowned surgeon Meredith Grey, has been the subject of negative reports.

Apparently, there were claims that some fans of Grey’s Anatomy expressed their dismay about Meredith always taking the spotlight. Rumors suggest that fans are now sick and tired of her storyline and that they are worried there’s not much left for her to tell. Considering the fact that Ellen’s character narrates every single episode in the series, the flow is becoming too “repetitive and predictable.”

"It can't be just me. It can't." #GreysAnatomy pic.twitter.com/uxKdEOIh2K

— Grey's Anatomy (@GreysABC) November 18, 2016

However, Ellen doesn’t seem fazed by the said issues. The 47-year-old actress expressed her desire to continue portraying her role on Grey’s Anatomy as long as she can. She also pointed out that as long as there are viewers enjoying their show, there’s no reason to stop doing it.

“I don’t want to walk away from the golden goose. I want to put a leash around it and take it everywhere with me.”

On the other hand, Dungey acknowledges the fact that Shonda and the team have been able to bring in new life and color to Grey’s Anatomy while keeping the core characters. And there are still new stories to unfold in the upcoming episodes.

“When I’ve been looking at the fan feedback and reaction from this season, people are more interested than ever in the relationship between Meredith and Alex [Justin Chambers], and these are two characters that have been around since season 1. But we’re now experiencing them in a totally different way than we have before. That’s just what the writers do so well; they continually peel back new layers of these characters that we get to expand and explore.”

Catch Grey’s Anatomy Season 13 as it returns on January 26 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

What do you do when your life is on the line? #GreysAnatomy is back with #TGIT 1.26. pic.twitter.com/9cycEsK16u

— Grey's Anatomy (@GreysABC) January 12, 2017

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]