- Shonda Rhimes revealed she had “a bunch” of concepts for spinoffs for her hit sequence, Gray’s Anatomy
- The Shondaland founder shared that she been cautious not “to rebuild the identical world” time and again
- Rhimes additionally shared her plan for a derivative that by no means occurred for one more certainly one of her beloved sequence, Scandal
Shonda Rhimes has present pitches to final a lifetime.
All through her 20 years of screenwriting and producing, the Shondaland founder revealed she has by no means had a scarcity of latest tales to inform. In terms of a few of her most profitable sequence, like Gray’s Anatomy, Rhimes instructed Leisure Weekly that she had much more spinoff ideas than what finally got here to fruition.
“On Gray’s, there have been a bunch,” she mentioned. “I felt like we may have finished Chicago Anatomy, Boston.”
She defined that she has been cautious not “to rebuild the identical world” repeatedly regardless of the record-breaking recognition of the longest-running primetime medical drama.
Nonetheless, some concepts stemming from Gray’s Anatomy — which was initially centered on Ellen Pompeo’s titular character Meredith Gray till she shifted away from being a sequence common in 2023 — got here to life. In 2007, Rhimes created Personal Follow, and over a decade later got here 2018’s Station 19.
“I assumed that there may very well be a derivative with Amelia that was the Shepherd sisters,” Rhimes shared, referring to Caterina Scorsone’s Gray’s character and her sisters Nancy (Embeth Davidtz), Kathleen (Amy Acker) and Liz (Neve Campbell). “They’re all medical doctors. It may have been a Shepherd sisters present, which might’ve been very fascinating.”
Rhimes additionally teased what she had in thoughts for a derivative of her anther certainly one of beloved sequence, Scandal.
“We needed to do a B613 spinoff on Scandal,” she recalled, which might have honed in on the key authorities company led by Rowan Pope (Joe Morton) on the Kerry Washington-led drama.
Rhimes famous that there have been a number of potential offshoots, however reiterated, “We actually tried to search for exhibits that would stand on their very own two toes, that had been their very own factor. Should you spin off a personality, what individuals need is extra of the identical.”
“They’re like, ‘Oh, I’ll get one other present the place Addison’s (Kate Walsh) the mistress,’” she added of the Personal Follow and Gray’s Anatomy character’s storyline. “Instinctively you need extra of the identical as a result of that actually labored. And to construct a brand new world is extremely troublesome.”
That has by no means stopped her, although. For the reason that 2020 premiere of Rhimes’ Netflix hit Bridgerton, for instance, she has launched Queen Charlotte — a prequel reasonably than a derivative.
“I really like that as a result of it’s of the world, but it surely’s not the world,” she identified. “I may inform the tales I needed to inform and discover nice pleasure in that.”
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Gray’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. Seasons 1-3 of Bridgerton, and its spinoff, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, are streaming on Netflix.
