#Grey’s Anatomy: What’s Holding Up a Renewal?

Grey’s Anatomy has just a handful of episodes remaining in its current season.

The series, which remains ABC’s top-rated scripted series in the demo, has yet to be renewed or canceled.

Fans have been waiting with bated breaths for word on the future of the Ellen Pompeo-led medical drama.

For its part, ABC has only just started renewing scripted series, with The Good Doctor Season 5 and Big Sky Season 2 confirmed for the 2021-22 TV schedule.

Pompeo has been vocal about this potentially being the end of the road.

“I can’t say. Can’t say,” Pompeo said recently on CBS Sunday Morning.

“We honestly have not decided. We’re really trying to figure it out right now,” before adding that she wants to do justice to the series with a big ending.

“It’s, what story do we tell? To end a show this iconic, you know, how do we do it?” she added.

“I just want to make sure we do this character and this show and the fans – I want to make sure we do it right.”

The good news is that the upcoming season finale is being planned as a potential series-ender.

“I’m planning a season and a finale that could function as either a season finale or a series finale,” Showrunner Krista Vernoff told The Hollywood Reporter in March.

“I’m planning for both contingencies and it’s hard and it’s not ideal. It’s not where I wish we were.”

In order for the show to return, Pompeo and some other cast members would need to ink a new contract with ABC, and a new report by TV Line states that negotiations are heading in the right direction.

This means that an 18th season should be ordered before long, but we must stress that contract negotiations are no easy task, and what is going in the right direction one day could go in the other the next day.

There’s a desire to continue the series. It’s been a cornerstone of ABC’s schedule for almost two decades, and ending it without a pre-planned final season would not sit right with the fans who have invested so much time into it.

In addition to Pompeo, the current cast includes. Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey, James Pickens Jr. as Dr. Richard Webberm Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt, Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery, Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd, and Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson.

Also starring is Kelly McCreary as Dr. Maggie Pierce, Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman, Greg Germann as Dr. Tom Koracick, Jake Borelli as Dr. Levi Schmitt, Chris Carmack as Dr. Atticus “Link” Lincoln, Richard Flood as Dr. Cormac Hayes, and Anthony Hill as Dr. Winston Ndugu.

Do you want the series to return?

Remember, you can watch Grey’s Anatomy online right here via TV Fanatic.

Catch new episodes Thursdays at 9/8c.

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.