The release date of Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic after the same virus had shortened the previous season. However, when Season 17 comes to ABC, Meredith Grey (played by Ellen Pompeo) will indeed face the COVID 19 pandemic, along with the cast of Spin-off Station 19, which will premiere at ABC this November and air shortly thereafter.
When does Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 start?
Grey’s Anatomy Season 17, Episode 1 will begin with an oversized double episode that will also overlap with the first episode of Station 19 Season 4 before that. Station 19 will air on Thursday, November 12 at 8:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CT on ABC, followed by a double feature of Grey’s at 9:00 p.m. / 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. / 9:00 p.m. respectively.
The synopsis for this extra-long premiere is: “The season 17 premiere begins one month after the COVID 19 pandemic, and the lives of Grey Sloan Memorial and its surgeons have been turned upside down. Later, Bailey finds himself in the middle of an argument with the patients’ families as they wait for news of their children injured in a fire”.
From then on, Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 will be broadcast on Thursdays at 21:00 ET / 20:00 CT, between Ward 19 and A Million Little Things (which begins November 19).
How to watch Grey’s Anatomy Season 17 online
When episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” are broadcast on ABC, the network has a live stream on its website and app, which means viewers can follow the episode online during the broadcast.
Once the broadcast is complete, the episodes of Grey’s Season 17 will be available with advertising on the ABC website and app. They will also be available on Hulu shortly after the broadcast.
While the current season will be broadcast on Hulu, the previous 16 seasons will be shown on Netflix, and Season 17 is expected to eventually join them. Normally, each season comes to Netflix one month after it ends, which means Netflix will probably be released in June 2021.
What you can expect from Grey’s Anatomy Season 17
The next season will run over two timelines – one to fill the gap from the early end of the 16th season and a later timeline to help hospital staff fight the COVID 19 pandemic.
Krista Vernoff explained this to Entertainment Weekly: “We hear statistics on the news and read about the impact on the medical community, but it wasn’t until the writers’ room sat down with the medical consultants we’ve always worked with and saw the changes in them that it became clear to us. This pandemic is fracturing people, it is fracturing doctors, and we have the opportunity to help drive the costs of the medical community home”.
But that doesn’t mean that the writers have forgotten the cliffhangers they left at the end of last season.
In the same issue of EW, for example, teddy bear actress Kim Raver hinted at what was in store for her character and Owen (Kevin McKidd) after he discovered her scam. She said: “We didn’t want to end up with Teddy just doing the worst possible thing. I think it’s interesting that it’s a woman going through this because there seems to be more forgiveness when it’s a man. I know that the fans are very angry and I am angry at Teddy.
Grey’s Anatomy is broadcast on Thursdays at 21:00 ET / 20:00 CT on ABC….
