Admit it, when Station 19 debuted in 2018, you were probably a little skeptical about the possibility of a Grey’s Anatomy spin-off. Although Grey’s Anatomy has been widely popular for the last 15 years, that didn’t guarantee that Station 19 would become a success. However, now in its fourth season, Station 19 has taken on a life of its own and it’s been building a fan base completely separate from Grey’s Anatomy. Although the show has only been around for a little over two years, it’s undergone a lot of changes during that time. What have those changes been exactly? Keep reading to find out. Let’s get into how Station 19 has evolved since season 1.
What Is Station 19 About?
If you’re not super familiar with Station 19, here’s a quick rundown on what the show is about. The concept for the show was initially introduced in 2017, but early reports about the spin-off didn’t include a title. The series follows a group of Seattle-based firefighters. Grey’s Anatomy fans will instantly recognize one of the show’s main characters, Dr. Ben Warren, who was originally introduced to viewers as a cast member on Grey’s. Dr. Warren, who is Dr. Bailey’s husband, has chosen to leave behind the medical profession for a career as a firefighter. The show is very similar to Grey’s in the sense that it follows the characters both at work and in their personal lives.
How Station 19 Has Changed Since Season 1
In just four seasons, Station 19 has undergone more changes than some shows that have been on the air much longer. Fortunately for the series, these changes have seemed to help the show. Below are some of the ways Station 19 has evolved since season one.
Time Slot
For its first two seasons, Station 19 aired on ABC at 9pm EST, however, the show was briefly moved to the 8pm time slot which had previously been held by Grey’s Anatomy. Show runner Krista Vernoff told Deadline, “We often do catastrophes or disasters in the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy, and it felt organic to do that and then allow the Station 19 first responders to be on the scene when we come back in January. There is an incident at the end of the Grey’s episode that requires you to come back in January at 8 PM to see how the first responders handle it.” Station 19 returned to its original time slot in April 2020 after production for Grey’s Anatomy shut down due to COVID-19 and the season was forced to end early. During season four, Station 19 is airing at 8pm.
Weekly Cross Overs
In the early days of the series, Station 19 relied very heavily on crossovers with the Grey’s Anatomy cast. Not only did the characters’ professional lives overlap a lot, but there has also been a lot of overlap in their personal lives as well. While occasional crossovers are a must since the shows exist in the same universe, many viewers were starting to get sick of seeing Station 19 so heavily dominated by characters from Grey’s. As of late, Station 19 seems to be laying off the cross overs a bit. Even when characters from its sister series pop up, their roles aren’t always so important anymore. This has allowed Station 19 to really have a life of its own and become less reliant on the folks over at Grey-Sloan. Many fans are hoping that the cross overs will continue to become less and less frequent.
New Show Runner
When Station 19 debuted, Stacy McKee was announced as the show runner. McKee was a long time writer of Grey’s Anatomy and hoped to bring the same success to the spin-off. McKee not only created the series, but wrote several episodes as well. After two seasons, however, she was replaced by Grey’s Anatomy’s long time show runner, Krista Vernoff, who has been the show runner for the series ever since. With all of her experience working on Grey’s Anatomy, many believe that Krista has what it takes to make Station 19 equally as successful.
Will Station 19 Be Brought Back For A 5th Season?
Even though we’re only a couple of episodes into season four, lots of viewers are already hoping that the show will return for another season. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any official news about a renewal, but based on the show’s track record, there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing more from the fire fighters at Station 19. Of course, the series will have to evolve even more in the coming seasons if it wants to stick around for as long as Grey’s has.
