Shonda Rhimes reveals the 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Scandal' spinoffs that could have been
Shonda Rhimes has mastered the art of the spinoff (and the prequel ... and the crossover). But that doesn't mean that every spinoff idea the Shondaland founder has had made its way to air.
Rhimes' first series, Grey's Anatomy, has successfully launched two spinoffs in its time with 2007's Private Practice and 2018's Station 19, but in looking back at 20 years of Shondaland, Rhimes told Entertainment Weekly that there have been a few other ideas along the way.
"On Grey's, there were a bunch," Rhimes says when asked about spinoff ideas that didn't happen. "I felt like we could have done Chicago Anatomy, Boston. We could have done that. It just didn't appeal to me to rebuild the same world. And then we thought about a lot of things."
Related: Shonda Rhimes dishes on her best episodes, biggest battles, and the spinoff ideas that never happened
One of those things involved the Shepherd family. "I thought that there could be a spinoff with Amelia [Caterina Scorsone] that was the Shepherd sisters," she says. "They're all doctors. It could have been a Shepherd sisters show, which would've been very interesting."
Amelia, of course, is the most prominent of Derek's (Patrick Dempsey) sisters on Grey's, but the series has also introduced Nancy (Embeth Davidtz), Kathleen (Amy Acker), and Liz (Neve Campbell), though fans have yet to see all of them together — hence the spinoff idea. (And let's not forget that the great Tyne Daly plays matriarch Carolyn Shepherd.)
Related: The 31 best Grey's Anatomy episodes to guide your next rewatch binge
Another spinoff that never came to be takes us to Scandal. "We wanted to do a B613 spinoff on Scandal," Rhimes says, which was a topic of discussion when the show was still airing on ABC. The covert government agency, initially run by Rowan Pope (Joe Morton) certainly would've been able to provide its fair share of drama, though it did end up becoming a central part of the flagship series."There was a bunch," Rhimes says of spinoff discussions. "But we really tried to look for shows that could stand on their own two feet, that were their own thing. If you spin off a character, what people want is more of the same. They're like, 'Oh, I'm going to get another show where Addison's [Kate Walsh] the mistress.' Instinctively you want more of the same because that really worked. And to build a new world is incredibly difficult."
That's why, for something like Bridgerton, Rhimes says they chose to do Queen Charlotte as a prequel instead of a traditional spinoff. "I love that because it is of the world, but it's not the world," Rhimes says. "I could tell the stories I wanted to tell and find great joy in that."
But for the record, we would still watch a show about the Shepherd sisters.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
13 hours ago
- New York Post
Sarah Jessica Parker admits she was ‘shocked' the ‘And Just Like That…' audience disliked Che Diaz
And just like that, Sarah Jessica Parker found out what the fandom really thought. The 'Sex and the City' alum, 60, who reprised her role as the iconic Carrie Bradshaw in the show's spinoff 'And Just Like That…' revealed she was 'shocked' to find out the audience didn't like Sara Ramirez's character Che Diaz. 'A friend of mine brought it up to me, and it's like: 'What are you talking about?'' Parker said in an interview with The Guardian on Friday. 'And he said: 'Yeah, there's all this conversation.'' Advertisement 7 Sara Ramirez as Che Diaz and Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in 'And Just Like That…' MAX Ramirez, 49, originated the character in 2021 during season one before becoming Miranda's (Cynthia Nixon) love interest in season two. They left the show after the second season wrapped. Parker explained to the outlet that she doesn't listen to backlash against projects she stars in. Advertisement 'I've been an actor for 50 years, and I've almost never paid attention to peripheral chatter,' the 'Hocus Pocus' star added, noting that when it came to Ramirez she 'Ioved working with them.' 7 Sara Ramirez and Sarah Jessica Parker in 'And Just Like That…' During Ramirez's run, fans took to social media to share their dislike of the stand up comedian. One viewer wrote on X, 'Stop subjecting us to che, they are making it really hard to get into and just like that…. Well, them, and all the other annoying things that have ruined a perfectly good cupcake of a show.' Advertisement A second social media user wrote, 'I've started to skip the Che Diaz scenes in And Just Like That but now the episodes are like two minutes long.' 7 The HBO drama 'And Just Like That…' Rounding out the annoyance, a third watcher said: 'Trigger warning for this week's episode of And Just Like That: it opens with Che doing stand up again.' Before Ramirez concluded their run on the spinoff, the 'Grey's Anatomy' alum wrote on Instagram, 'I am not the fictional characters I have played, nor am I responsible for the things that are written for them to say.' Advertisement 'I am a human being, an artist, an actor. And we are living in a world that has become increasingly hostile toward anyone who dares to free themselves from the gender binary, or disrupt the mainstream.' Ramirez also told Entertainment Weekly that they're 'actually nothing like' the person they portrayed on the HBO show. 7 Sara Ramirez and Cynthia Nixon in 'And Just Like That…' Craig Blankenhorn 'It was absolutely exhausting to bring this person to life,' they confessed. 'I had to stay in a bit of an extroverted mode in order to do that. So the efforts that it took to bring this character forth makes me feel really proud of what I've been able to deliver.' Although Ramirez was thrilled to see their character evoke chatter. 'I love that people have passionate opinions, that Che struck a nerve,' they said. 'I think it's really interesting to play a person who elicits such strong reactions and who can start much-needed conversations. If the storylines created major watercooler moments after each episode, then we did our job.' In May, Nixon, 59, divulged that she thinks 'And Just Like That…' works best when the core group of characters aren't in long term romances. 7 Che Diaz and Miranda. Advertisement 'I think our show is always at its most quintessential when as many of us as possible are single and dating and failing at it,' the actress stated in a conversation with Entertainment Weekly at the time. Now, with season three of the drama, which also stars Kristin Davis, Nicole Ari Parker, Sarita Choudhury and John Corbett, in full swing, viewers are in store for a whole new slew of relationships. So far, Rosie O'Donnell guest starred as a virgin nun who slept with Miranda during the premiere episode. 'Rosie and I have known each other for a long time,' Nixon told the outlet. 'I was like, 'Shall I text her?' And [showrunner Michael Patrick King] was like, 'Sure!' And she was wonderfully excited about the prospect, so we had a great time.' Advertisement 7 Sara Ramirez as Che Diaz. Season 3, Episode 1, titled 'Outlook Good,' saw O'Donnell, 63, take on the role of Mary, who meets Miranda a lesbian bar. The two then headed back to Mary's hotel room where they then have sex. 'One of the things that it meant was that Miranda was single again,' Nixon told E! News last month about Miranda's breakup from Che. 'And that the tensions between Miranda and Che—and also Miranda and Steve—had been quelled and quieted.' Advertisement 7 Sara Ramirez and Sarah Jessica Parker. Craig Blankenhorn 'Just speaking for Miranda,' Nixon explained, 'it meant that she was setting out on this new dating world having decided she wanted to date women and nonbinary people, but not really quite knowing how to go about that.' Also set to guest star is 'Law & Order' vet Mehcad Brooks. Advertisement 'The part of my personality that will do anything for a laugh that has no place on 'Law & Order,' I get to do it [on this show],' the 44-year-old gushed to The Post in May. 'One of the highlights of my career is that I get to act across from Nicole Ari Parker,' Brooks added. I've known her for 20 years, we've worked together before – but never in this just a joy to be around, I'm learning so much.'
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
A 'Home Improvement' Clip Is Going Viral For Exposing Just How Backwards We Have Gone As A Society
JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images ABC Photo Archives / Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images For reference, "Home Improvement" followed the life of DIY TV show host Tim Taylor, played by Tim Allen, his wife, Jill, and their three sons. It originally aired on ABC between 1991 and 1999. ABC via Disney+ 'I don't need Angela to make me a sandwich,' Tim tells Brad, who insists: 'She doesn't mind,' which Angela echoes. Tim reiterates: 'I don't need you to make me a sandwich, thanks. ABC via Disney+ ABC via Disney+ ABC via Disney+ ABC via Disney+ When Tim says that he does, Brad asks: 'And you think that's good?' and Tim reasons: 'Well, I don't know, it works for me… But maybe having Angela as your sandwich girl works for you, your whole life is sandwiches!' ABC via Disney+ Since being posted to TikTok, this clip has been liked almost 200k times, and racked up thousands of comments — with many of them saying the same thing. 'this would be called woke today,' a popular comment reads. Somebody else echoed: 'They tried to do a story like this these days MAGA would call it 'woke' and call for a boycott of everyone involved.' 'Funny how back then the audience would have perceived the dad as a 'good man', whereas now the same audience would call him 'woke/soft/leftist,'' another user added. 'now you would have 300 guys complaining it's woke,' one more agreed, while somebody else observed: 'It's almost like 'wokeness' that people keep referring to has always been there, it just wasn't wrapped up in inflated egos fueled by political rhetoric.' And one more concluded: 'I got so many of my lessons in being a man from 90s sitcoms. Just human lessons, not activists lessons.'
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sophia Bush Says She Endured 'Every Kind of Abuse' on Show Due to Older Man
Actress Sophia Bush alleged she was was on the receiving end of 'every kind of abusive' treatment while filming a television show. The One Tree Hill veteran made the claims during an episode of Monica Lewinsky's podcast Reclaiming that was released Tuesday. More from The Hollywood Reporter Kim Raver on Steering 'Grey's Anatomy's' First Open Marriage and Directing That Almost Sex Scene Sophia Bush's Role on 'Grey's Anatomy' Revealed Sophia Bush Joins 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 21 in Recurring Role While Bush did not name the show, she gave several context clues (such as the date she left the series) so that one might assume she was talking about her years on NBC's hit procedural Chicago P.D., where she played Detective Erin Lindsay. She left the show after 84 episodes and has previously described it as a grueling experience. 'I was in this great place [after One Tree Hill], and I was ready for what was next,' Bush said. 'And I did this comedy that I loved … for CBS. Then I went to work on this other show that was on my bucket list and then I had this whole other trauma. I had a workplace ongoing trauma revolving around an unending situation with someone old enough to be my father. And I was like, what is happening?' Lewinsky then asked if Bush was referring to an inappropriate relationship that was professional or romantic, and whether she meant emotional abuse or some other kind. 'Professional — and every kind of abusive,' Bush said. 'When I look back at it, I had the opportunity after two years to go. And I did the thing I learned to do and said, 'I will not have my integrity diminished by someone else's behavior. I will be unflappable. I will come to work and do my job and I couldn't.' Continued Bush: 'The next two years were like physical hell for me. And to go through spontaneous illness, wake up covered in hives, to have a really crazy weight fluctuations, to watching my hair fall out, to struggle with insomnia, to have crippling anxiety as an extrovert who loves people, to be hit with anxiety in a way that I could barely be out of the house. If people touched me in public, I would jump out of my skin. I couldn't talk to strangers anymore. I couldn't be looked at anymore … I had to go to work ready for war all the time. I had to learn how to block a scene in order not to be touched.' Bush said she left the series in April 2017, right before the rise of the #MeToo movement. That October, she says she received an apologetic phone call from 'an executive.' 'I got a call from an executive apologizing for what they had done and not done,' she said. 'And [the executive] said, 'We're very aware that we just made it out of that unscathed.' And I was like, 'Glad you did. I'm in so much therapy. I even diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But I'm thrilled you guys didn't get dragged through the press, that's great.' Bush noted that she's told specific details of her experience to others and then 'watched the horror on their face,' which helped her realize, 'Oh, I'm not crazy. I was just in an environment where no one wanted to hear it because it was a threat to the machine.' Bush previously said on the Armchair Expert podcast, specifically of her years on Chicago P.D., 'Nearing my tenure there, I was probably difficult to be around because I was in so much pain and I felt so ignored. I feel like I was standing butt naked, bruised and bleeding in the middle of Times Square, screaming at the top of my lungs and not a single person stopped to ask if they could help me.' NBC had no immediate comment. Bush has been back on broadcast television this season with a recurring guest role on ABC's Grey's Anatomy. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
