Station 19 Season 7 is officially happening, and it brings with it a major behind-the-scenes change.
As reported by TVLine, the ABC action-drama series’ seventh season will see showrunner Krista Vernoff replaced by Zoanne Clack and Peter Paige. The pair issued a joint statement following their appointment in which they described themselves as “honored” to be taking charge of Station 19, which is currently the second most popular ABC show in its demographic. Clack and Paige’s statement also paid tribute to Vernoff, praising the outgoing showrunner for “modeling conscious leadership in such a powerful and deliberate way.”
Vernoff will also step down as showrunner on Station 19’s parent series Grey’s Anatomy, which ABC recently renewed for its 20th season. Executive producer Meg Marinis will take over from Vernoff. Director Kevin McKidd indicated that Vernoff is going out with a bang in a recent interview, teasing the unexpected twists and turns in store for audiences in the Grey’s Anatomy Season 19 finale. “It’s a two-hour finale this year, and I’m directing the first hour of that. It’s going to be a big one… There are going to be some things in it that people are going to be kind of surprised and shocked at,” he said.
Ellen Pompeo Says Goodbye to Grey’s Anatomy
McKidd also touched on outgoing star Ellen Pompeo’s role in the finale, describing the mood surrounding the star’s involvement in Season 19’s final episodes as “celebratory.” Pompeo, who plays Meredith Grey, announced in November 2022 that she was exiting Grey’s Anatomy after 19 seasons headlining the ABC medical drama. She broke the news of her departure via a heartfelt Instagram post in which she thanked fans for their support. “Through it all….none of it …would have been possible without the best fans in the world,” Pompeo wrote.
ABC executives will no doubt be hoping that the excitement surrounding the Grey’s Anatomy Season 19 finale will overshadow the controversy the show found itself embroiled in, late in 2022. Former consulting producer Elisabeth Finch was the source of this negative buzz, after she confessed to lying about having cancer during her stint with the show. “The best way I can explain it is when you experience a level of trauma a lot of people adopt a maladaptive coping mechanism,” Finch said at the time. “Some people drink to hide or forget things. Drug addicts try to alter their reality. Some people cut. I lied. That was my coping and my way to feel safe and seen and heard.”
