'Grey's Anatomy' Renewed for Season 18—But Will It Be the Final Season of the Show?

Grey's Anatomy may have spent its current season with its main actor in a coma, but the show remains in the land of the living. ABC announced Monday that it has renewed its smash-hit medical drama for a Season 18, with Ellen Pompeo set to return as Meredith Grey.

This renewal has come as a surprise to many fans, who thought that Meredith's coma, the departure of Jesse Williams and the many classic characters returning were signs that the show was coming to an end.

When Williams announced he was leaving as Dr. Jackson Avery after 12 seasons, however, Deadline reported that the show was expected to be renewed for Season 18, but ABC had to close deals with three actors—Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, who plays Miranda Bailey, and James Pickens Jr. (Richard Webber).

Though the future of Grey's Anatomy is secure for now, there are still plenty of question marks over the longer-term future of the ABC medical drama. TV Line reports that Pompeo has signed up for "at least another year," but after that, her time on the show could be over.

The makers of the show have previously said that once Pompeo wants to leave the show, then it will come to an end. In 2017, for example, show creator Shonda Rhimes told E! News: "Ellen and I have a pact that I'm going to do the show as long as she's going to do the show, so the show will exist as long as both of us want to do it."

For many years now, Pompeo has hinted the show was coming to an end. In an interview with Variety to mark the start of the current season, Pompeo said: "I mean, this is the last year of my contract right now. I don't know that this is the last year? But it could very well could be."

In February 2021, she said of the show ending in a CBS Sunday Morning interview: "We honestly have not decided. We are really trying to figure it out right now. What story do we tell to end a show this iconic? How do we do it? I just want to make sure we do this character, and this show, the fans... I want to make sure we do it right."

Of course, it was in Pompeo's interest to say that she was willing for the show to end as she began to embark on contract negotiations for Season 18—especially as her last contract made her the eighth highest-paid actress (per Forbes) of 2020.

The show remains ABC's most watched scripted series (with its spinoff Station 19 at number two), which bodes well for its future.

As for Pompeo's question about what story you would choose to end such a long-running show, Grey's Anatomy is likely to include the show's 400th episode, which might give the show a good jumping off point—though other long-running shows like NCIS and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit blew straight past their 400th episodes.

Grey's Anatomy Season 17 airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT on ABC. The current season is streaming on Hulu and ABC, and the first 16 seasons are on Netflix.