Los Angeles: “Grey’s Anatomy” has been renewed for season 23, making it the longest-running medical drama on American television.
Created by Shonda Rhimes, the name behind many small screen hits such as “Scandal”, “Private Practice” and Netflix’s “Bridgerton”, the medical drama also becomes the longest-running scripted primetime show ever on ABC.
Centred around Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey, the series features Chandra Wilson (Miranda Bailey) and James Pickens Jr (Richard Webber) since the beginning.
The new season will move without long-serving cast members Kim Raver and Kevin McKidd, who will leave the show following the May 7 finale of the 22nd season, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Pompeo also executive produces and narrates the medical drama about a group of doctors at the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
Over the years, the series has featured stars such as Sandra Oh’s Cristina Yang, Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd, Katherine Heigl as Izzie Stevens, Justin Chambers as Alex Karev and late Eric Dane as Mark Sloan.
“Grey’s Anatomy”, which began airing in 2005, is expected to cross 475 episodes in the new season.
The long-running series, despite many popular actors leaving the show, has remained popular with the audiences.
According to THR, “Grey’s Anatomy” more than doubles its initial on-air audience of 2.22 million viewers with a week of streaming and other delayed viewing, and it’s among the top 15 network series (barring live sports) in the key ad demographic of adults 18-49. The show’s large library, which streams on Hulu and Netflix, is also a fixture in Nielsen’s streaming ratings.
