This damn hospital just can’t catch a break. Grey’s Anatomy will be incorporating the coronavirus pandemic into the story line of its upcoming 17th season, in which Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo, getting hers) and her team of doctors mask up to tackle the invisible killer together. “We’re going to address this pandemic for sure,â€Â executive producer Krista Vernoff confirmed to EW. “There’s no way to be a long-running medical show and not do the medical story of our lifetimes.†Vernoff also mentioned that, in order to help add more credibility to the show’s COVID-19 episodes, the producers will be consulting doctors to learn more about their experiences during the pandemic. “Every year, we have doctors come and tell us their stories, and usually they’re telling their funniest or craziest stories. This year, it has felt more like therapy,†she explained. “The doctors come in and we’re the first people they’re talking to about these types of experiences they’re having. They are literally shaking and trying not to cry, they’re pale, and they’re talking about it as war — a war that they were not trained for.â€
In March, Grey’s had to abruptly conclude its 16th season due to the coronavirus pandemic, which capped off an already messy season. Vernoff confirmed that a writers’ room is working on new scripts — though it’s too early to know when the show will resume production. “Our conversations,†she teased, “have been constantly about how do we keep alive humor and romance while we tell these really painful stories.†Like ghost sex?