Grey’s Anatomy is now in its 14th season, and Ellen Pompeo is shocked we’re not sick of her and her character Meredith Grey yet. Though her surprise is understandable since the show has had such an impressively long run — it will air its 300th episode this week — Pompeo’s performance and the writers' baffling creativity have kept us not merely interested but eager to see what will happen to Meredith and the rest of the Grey-Sloan Memorial gang next. Still, during her recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Pompeo expressed disbelief over the fact that viewers are still following the show and her character's story.
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While Ellen Pompeo was hanging out on Late Night last night, host Seth Meyers took the opportunity to congratulate her on making 300 episodes of Grey's Anatomy and asked her at what point she realized this show had the potential to thrive for so long. Here, Pompeo gave a self-depreciating answer. She explained, "Well, every year I keep saying 'this is the last year. They're definitely going to get sick of us, ratings are going to plummet, and we're over at the end of this year.' I say it every single year, and it never happens. I can't believe people aren't sick of me yet. It's crazy."
The two also talked about how much the show has evolved since it started 14 seasons ago. Somehow Grey's Anatomy has been able to find renewed success after major changes, like key actors leaving the show, and Pompeo admits that everyone behind the scenes is just as shocked as the viewers are over how well the show has adapted. She told Meyers, "No one's open to letting it evolve. I think that everybody was devastated when Patrick Dempsey left, and I think that the network especially thought the show was never going to make it."
Pompeo then continued with a harsh truth about women in television. She explained that after Derek Shepherd's death, the network insisted that her character, Meredith Grey — the Grey in Grey's Anatomy — get a new love interest, and fast. The actress laughed, saying, "They rushed in a new love interest like 30 seconds later because I could never carry the show. Let's not get crazy. Let's not think Grey could carry the show."
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Despite what ABC thinks or how Ellen Pompeo feels, as far as we're concerned Grey's Anatomy is her show, and one she shares with a fellow powerful woman in television, Shonda Rhimes. We never once thought the show would die with Derek Shepherd — maybe Christina Yang but not him — and we were right. Grey's Anatomy and Ellen Pompeo are approaching the 300th episode milestone this week, and ABC even recently ordered a few extra episodes for season 14.