Shonda Rhimes Delegates 'Grey's' Duties

[Brian Damage]

Should "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes find herself with two shows on the air next season, she'll be ready to deal with the increased workload.

Rhimes has tapped two "Grey's" writer-producers, Krista Vernoff and Marti Noxon, as the go-to people for the medical drama and its possible spinoff come next season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Vernoff will stick with the current show, while Noxon, who joined the "Anatomy" team earlier this season, will head to the spinoff starring Kate Walsh.

The two will oversee the day-to-day work on their respective shows, while Rhimes retains showrunner status on both.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether the spinoff will have a life beyond its setup as part of a two-hour "Grey's Anatomy" next week. The show, tentatively titled "Private Practice," will follow Walsh's Dr. Addison Montgomery to Southern California, where she reconnects with friends from medical school.

Vernoff, whose past credits include "Wonderfalls" and "Charmed," has been with "Grey's" since its first season and has written several key episodes, including last season's "Into You Like a Train" and the two-part story dealing with the death of George's (T.R. Knight) father earlier this year. She was made an executive producer of the show prior to the start of this season.

Noxon is best known as a writer and executive producer of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." She joined "Grey's" as a consulting producer midway through this season and became an exec producer last month. She also wrote the final leg of the series' three-part ferry crash story that aired during February sweeps.