The coronavirus pandemic forced films and television series across the globe to grind to a halt which had a major impact on the entertainment industry, but now it looks like there’s a slight silverlining as doctor drama Grey’s Anatomy has found a way to use COVID-19 to its advantage.
Executive producer Krista Vernoff has revealed that the pandemic will be a major storyline in season 17, which seems fitting.
“We’re going to address this pandemic for sure,” she said during the ‘Quaranstreaming: Comfort TV That Keeps Us Going’ panel, hosted by the Television Academy, according to Entertainment Weekly. “There’s no way to be a long-running medical show and not do the medical story of our lifetimes.”
The exec producer, who participated in the panel along with Grey’s stars Chandra Wilson (Dr. Miranda Bailey) and Kevin McKidd (Dr. Owen Hunt), said that the show’s writers are meeting with real-life doctors, who have shared their stories about dealing with 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. And that’s been one of our big conversations about Owen, is that he’s actually trained for this in a way that most of the other doctors aren’t.”
Vernoff added that it’s been “really painful” to hear about the suffering that patients and healthcare workers are experiencing during the pandemic. “I feel like our show has an opportunity and a responsibility to tell some of those stories,” she said.
Though shooting on season 17 has not yet begun due to the pandemic, Vernoff says the writers are hard at work creating stories for the Grey Sloan gang.
“Our conversations have been constantly about how do we keep alive humour and romance while we tell these really painful stories,” she teased.
Grey’s Anatomy is currently streaming on Stan.
