One week after unveiling its 2026-2027 primetime schedule and programming plans during its upfront presentation in New York City, ABC announced on Tuesday that it has given a straight-to-series order to a new “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff, which will be set in Texas and is co-created by the flagship series’ original creator/executive producer, Shonda Rhimes.
According to Deadline, which first reported the news, the untitled drama will follow a team of doctors working at a rural West Texas medical center, described as the last chance for care before miles of nowhere.
Co-created, written and executive produced by Rhimes and “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunner/executive producer Meg Marinis, the new series from Shondaland and 20th Television will be the fourth in the franchise, joining the mothership, which debuted in 2005, and previous spinoffs “Private Practice” and “Station 19.” “Grey’s Anatomy” star/executive producer Ellen Pompeo will also serve as an executive producer alongside Rhimes and Marinis.
With the spinoff expected to premiere in midseason 2027, some distinctions about the new offshoot have already been made: it’s the first not set on the West Coast or in a big city, and, at least at this point, the first not spun off with a series regular from the original series. “Private Practice” ran for six seasons and was headlined by Kate Walsh, who played Dr. Addison Montgomery, while Jason George (ex-Michael Bourne, “Sunset Beach”) took his Dr. Ben Warren character from the original series to battle fires for seven seasons on “Station 19.” George returned to the original series as a series regular beginning with Season 21, following the cancellation of “Station 19” in 2024.
That said, Deadline noted that the new group of doctors will potentially have a direct connection to the mothership “via one or more characters,” citing Debbie Allen‘s Catherine Fox as one of the likely figures used to bring the fictionalized world together.
Though the number of episodes ordered by the network was not known at press time, Deadline revealed ABC is expected to keep the original and the spinoff in the same time period, Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, with “Grey’s Anatomy” airing in the fall and the spinoff taking over the slot in midseason, particularly as the former is expected to see a budget reduction as part the network looks to increase its scripted output despite limited real-estate available across its primetime schedule.
Last week, the network picked up the drama “R.J. Decker” for a second season and greenlit “The Rookie: North,” a spinoff of “The Rookie,” which stars “One Life to Live” alum Nathan Fillion (ex-Joey Buchanan) as John Nolan, once the oldest rookie in the LAPD who is now using his life experience, determination and sense of humor to keep up with rookies 20+ years his junior. That series is set to enter its ninth season and is the No. 1 broadcast drama among Adults 18-34 and the No. 1 series overall among Teens 12-17, based on Nielsen’s multiplatform measurement over seven days.
“I am incredibly excited to expand the ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ universe,” Marinis said in a statement released to the outlet. “This opportunity will bring new characters and stories to life that will embody the same heart, emotion and connection audiences have loved from ‘Grey’s for more than two decades — all set in my home state of Texas. I am so grateful to Shonda Rhimes for creating this dynamic world and feel so fortunate that I get to be a part of it.”
The new spinoff sees Rhimes returning to a “Grey’s Anatomy” franchise writers’ room as a writer or co-writer for the first time since 2011, when she wrote the episode “How to Save a Life,” which saw the tragic death of Dr. Derek Montgomery (Patrick Dempsey). In recent years, Rhimes has been working under an exclusive overall deal with Netflix, where her Shondaland shingle has been based since 2017, though since the new spinoff hails from a preexisting series, she was able to take part in its development at ABC.
Concluding its 22nd season earlier this month, “Grey’s Anatomy” is the network’s longest-running primetime scripted series and remains one of its most popular, averaging 5.99 million viewers for the season finale among Multiplatform+7, up +9% from the prior week and +123% from its performance in Live+Same Day.