Grey's Anatomy boss on premiere shocker: We wanted to "bring joy, and escape...

[TMC]

: We wanted to "bring joy, and escape, and fan candy"

https://deadline.com/2020/11/patrick...te-1234613511/

Showrunner Krista Vernoff, Ellen Pompeo and a certain other person discussed filming the "jaw-dropping twist" to end Thursday's two-hour season premiere. "I have to say that it was an epic feat, the keeping of this secret," says Vernoff. "I didn’t send cuts to the studio and network that included that last scene. I didn’t have writers’ assistants in the writers’ room for the last couple of months. There were writers who didn’t know we were doing this on that staff. Most of the actors didn’t know we were doing this. The crew didn’t know we were doing this when they showed up on the day... I was like a crazy person with this secret. And Ellen and I were texting at all hours of the night, like, who knows, I think this person." Vernoff adds: "From a writer’s perspective, it happened because it was my job to find a way — once we determined that we were doing the pandemic — to also bring joy, and escape, and fan candy, and all the things that at Grey’s Anatomy we give people. We give them romance, and we give them humor, and we give them joy, and a lot of that is lacking for the medical community in this pandemic. And so, I was walking on the beach one day, and I was like, what if there’s a Meredith dream motif?" For her part, Pompeo says of the twist: "There’s just so much darkness, and we knew that coming together would be a little ray of light. And so, I think we had the same idea, at the core, to want to help people and bring a smile to people’s faces. So, he loved the idea, and we were just so excited, and we had a ball filming it." ALSO: Pompeo discussed the shocking twist on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Grey's Anatomy showrunner on Patrick Dempsey: "This was not just a cameo. He will appear three more times"

Krista Vernoff talks to the Los Angeles Times about keeping Dempsey's cameo a secret, filming during the pandemic and juggling three shows (including Station 19 and Rebel) at the same time. "Pre-pandemic, we used to have 12-hour days minimum," says Vernoff. "Now we’ve got 10 10-hour days and a crazy amount of wait time on turnarounds. We had to go into all the scripts that were in the pipeline and go, 'How to reduce it? How do we shoot fewer scenes that are longer? How do we put fewer people in the scenes?' You’re not going to see all the series regulars in every episode this season because you can’t do those scenes that are six and seven and eight people — and it’s a different show."

ALSO:

• Patrick Dempsey on his surprise return: "It’s crazy how much time has passed, but it really was so comforting, and lovely, and inspiring to go back, and to work together, to see everybody"
• Grey's Anatomy's season premiere ratings slip despite McDreamy surprise
• Ellen Pompeo recalls not being able to say "vagina" on Grey's Anatomy

Kevin McKidd on directing Patrick Dempsey on Grey's Anatomy: "I sort of had to keep that secret so tight"

"That was really hard. I couldn't tell my wife. I couldn't tell anyone," says McKidd, who directed this week's episode. "But I'm glad it came off because I think it gave -- we've all been through so much with COVID, it was like a huge Christmas gift to the fans. And I think it was worth all the effort." McKidd says it was great catching up with Dempsey. "I was like, 'Wow, I can't believe this, that we're getting an opportunity to do this, you know?'" he says. "And I gotta say, those days down by the beach were very... it was almost like being at summer camp. It was this really nostalgic, warm feeling. It felt very cathartic and healing, and we all got to reminisce about all those years that we worked together. It was really, truly lovely."

Patrick Dempsey: I visited Grey's Anatomy's Meredith Grey in her "COVID dream"

“I was like, what a great opportunity for people and how great it would be for the fans, really, to see everybody reunited in this sort of bizarre way," Dempsey tells Ellen DeGeneres. "And (showrunner Krista Vernoff) came up with this concept where I would come and visit (Meredith) in her COVID dream.” ALSO: Dempsey says fan rection to his Grey's return has been "overwhelming."