Grey’s Anatomy, more commonly referred to as Grey’s, has easily been one of television’s most iconic shows since the pilot in March of 2005. Now, more than 15 years later, the medical drama remains one of the top ten longest-running scripted television shows with its 17th season release this past week.
Grey’s has also had a long-standing history of using the show for political commentary on pressing social issues such as gun reform, racial biases, affordable healthcare, the LGBTQ+ community and many others. This has caused quite a few controversies in the past, as some audience members don’t appreciate these underlying political tones; however, most of the show’s producers, actors, and writers fully support the use of their platform to highlight these problems as many of them deem it necessary.
In late April, Krista Vernoff, an executive producer of Grey’s Anatomy, said the show would be addressing COVID-19 in season 17. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise and as she put it: “there’s no way to be a long-running medical show and not do the medical story of our lifetimes.” The inclusion of the pandemic as a plot in the show is where the controversy occurs. Before the production of each new season, the show’s writers typically meet with real doctors to learn more about the ins and outs of the medical emergencies that they will be depicting in that season to make it as accurate as possible. Vernoff stated that, during the meetings for this season, this process “felt more like therapy” than discussions on the depicted emergencies.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19, the pandemic has quickly become a heavily controversial topic, so it’s not surprising that its inclusion in a fictional medical drama is going to upset some of its audience members. Some are offended by the simple inclusion of what they believe to be a political hoax, and others are not thrilled with having to relive this time through their entertainment as people use television to escape from the real world. For example, healthcare workers—who have already criticized the show for years for being inaccurate and misrepresenting the medical field—might not be all too excited to see the pandemic as a side story to the drama in the show rather than the tragedy it truly is.
Personally, as a fan of the show, I’m interested to see how the creators of Grey’s represent the insanity of our current situation within the show, and whether they’re going to do it in a tasteful way that highlights the sacrifices that healthcare and frontline workers have gone (and are still going) through. Ellen Pompeo, the lead actress in the show who plays Meredith Grey, somewhat recently shared an Instagram post announcing that the cast and crew had begun filming season 17; in the post, she also pays her respects to the healthcare workers that have been lost during this crisis, writing “I hope we do you proud.” I hope this sentiment carries out through the rest of the show.