Spoiler alert! This story discusses the October 30 episode of Grey’s Anatomy, “Goodbye Horses,” which can be streamed with a Hulu subscription if you need to catch up.

Jackson Avery’s face is always a welcome one at Grey Sloan Memorial, and that was certainly true this week, as fans continued to enjoy a season of Grey’s Anatomy that’s already given us several guest appearances from favorite former cast members. Jesse Williams reprised the role in “Goodbye Horses,” and my only complaint is that his story set up what could be another long hiatus for one of the doctors.

The preview for the October 30 episode teased tension between Jackson and Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey, and we got possibly more than we bargained for when they not only bumped heads over the publication of Tom Koracick’s biased Alzheimer’s research but over the big medical case Jackson was in Seattle to do. By the episode’s end, Meredith agreed it was time to continue her own research, and she agreed to accompany her colleague on his private jet back to Boston.

Well, thanks a lot, Dr. Avery. Just when we got Meredith back in the operating room, imparting her vast wisdom on the young Grey Sloan doctors, she gets whisked away to go cure Alzheimer’s and, oh yeah, maybe see if she remembers what her children’s faces look like. OK, I guess we shouldn’t be too mad at him.

Ellen Pompeo has made it pretty clear she doesn’t ever intend to return as a series regular on Grey’s Anatomy, so it’s really to be expected that Meredith wouldn’t get too comfortable in Seattle. Also, it was known ahead of Season 22’s premiere on the 2025 TV schedule that budget cuts were forcing lower episode counts for its cast members.

However, this latest character exit — even if it’s temporary — comes so soon after Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) decided to take a sabbatical to deal with Monica Beltran’s death and the hostage situation that preceded it.

Deadline reports that Caterina Scorsone will miss eight of Season 22’s 18 episodes, returning sometime in 2026. As of this writing, it hasn’t been confirmed how long it will be before we see Meredith again, as she hits the lab to figure out why estrogen in female mice prevents Alzheimer’s treatment from being as effective as in male mice.

Honestly, that sounds like some pretty heavy lifting, so I’m thinking she might be gone a while. At least we have the comfort of knowing she’s with Nick Marsh (Scott Speedman) and her children, unlike with Amelia, who gave no real indication of how she was planning to spend her sabbatical.

Jesse Williams’ return marks the third big character comeback, as Kelly McCreary appeared as Maggie Pierce and Kate Burton reprised her role as Meredith’s mom Ellis Grey, who continues to haunt her daughter from beyond the grave. Cass Beckman (Sophia Bush) and Nora Young (Floriana Lima) are also back as love interests for Teddy and Owen, respectively, now that they’re officially separated.

I guess my only other complaint about Jackson Avery’s return is that he did not provide us an update on April Kepner, but in this case I’m going to assume that no Japril news is good Japril news.

Will these Grey’s Anatomy blasts from the past continue? Will the show keep writing the actors’ hiatuses into the script, and if so, who’s next? Tune in to find out when the medical drama returns at 10 p.m. ET Thursday, November 6, on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.

Jesse Williams may not be a series regular on Grey’s Anatomy anymore, having exited the show in Season 17 after 12 years, but he never strays too far. The first three episodes of Season 22 have already reunited fans with several blasts from the past, and in the next episode to hit the 2025 TV schedule, it looks like we’re getting Jackson Avery. His return is always welcome, but after seeing the preview for “Goodbye Horses,” I’m left with a couple of questions.

The logline for the upcoming episode teases a bizarre trauma for the interns, while “a complex breast reconstruction forces Meredith into a tense partnership.” Who could they possibly be talking about in regards to Ellen Pompeo’s character? After seeing the preview for Season 22, Episode 4, I’m afraid it might be Jackson. Check it out below:

Jackson is certainly acting pretty frosty toward his friend and esteemed colleague, which leads me to my first question:

What’s With The Attitude Toward Meredith?

Personally, I’ve enjoyed having Meredith Grey back in Seattle doing more surgeries, but that’s apparently posing a problem for Jackson over in Boston. It sounds like he’s upset that her lab has gone unused and she’s not publishing any new findings. Maybe I’m confused, but didn’t she just publish all of her research, which upset him and the Catherine Fox Foundation and nearly got her fired?

Either way, I’m getting big petty energy from Jackson, and I don’t love that he’s OK publishing what sounds like incomplete research. I’m intrigued to find out what’s going on in his life. Speaking of his life …

Where The Heck Is April Kepner?

Yes, it did Grey’s Anatomy fans’ hearts good when they confirmed that Jackson and April Kepner were back together when Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew guest starred in the Season 18 finale. However, next week’s episode will be the third time Jackson returns to the show sans April. You can’t have Japril without April!

I know, Sarah Drew has a whole career of her own, and I honestly love all of those Lifetime and Hallmark movies so I’m not asking for a full Japril spinoff, but couldn’t she just go with Jackson to Seattle again at some point?

It’s possible I’m getting spoiled by all of the Season 22 character returns. Three episodes in, we’ve already seen Kelly McCreary’s Maggie Pierce return with big news; Kate Burton’s Ellis Grey back to haunt her daughter as always; and Sophia Bush’s Cass Beckman heating things up again with Teddy Altman (Kim Raver).

I really can’t wait to see Owen Hunt’s reaction to that reunion!

At least we don’t have long to wait before we learn what Jackson Avery’s doing back in Seattle and why he’s so upset with Meredith. Hey, even if Sarah Drew doesn’t show up, there’s always the chance that we’ll at least get an update to confirm that everything’s good on the Japril front.

Grey’s Anatomy airs at 10 p.m. ET Thursdays on ABC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.

When the Primetime Emmy Awards aired on the 2025 TV schedule, the audience was treated to a number of cast reunions. As covered diligently on our Emmys blog (which includes a full winners list), we saw a Gilmore Girls reunion, Law & Order stars came together, and there was a musical tribute to The Golden Girls. One segment, however, didn’t go as planned, but while I’m sad Grey’s Anatomy wasn’t honored the way it was intended, I still love what Jesse Williams had to say about his “plastics posse” partner, Eric Dane.

Grey’s Anatomy Tribute Scrapped After Eric Dane Misses Emmy Awards

Jesse Williams and Eric Dane were supposed to reunite at the Emmys on Sunday to celebrate Shonda Rhimes and 20 years of Grey’s Anatomy before presenting the award for Directing for a Drama Series. When the time came, however, only Williams took the stage, skipping the tribute and going straight to the award. It sounds like this change of plans happened pretty quickly, as Emmys producer Jessie Collins told ET:

No reason was apparently given to the producers about why Eric Dane was unable to attend, and as of this writing, the Euphoria actor’s team had not made a statement.

Back in April, Dane revealed that he’d been diagnosed with ALS. He said he still planned to continue acting for as long as he could — appearing in the crime drama Countdown and the highly anticipated Euphoria Season 3 — but in June he revealed he’d lost use of his right arm.

It’s unknown if his absence was related to his diagnosis, and as disappointed as I am to not see the ABC medical drama celebrated by two fan-favorite alumni, I’m really just hoping the best for Eric Dane. The same seems to go for Jesse Williams, who had nothing but great things to say about his former co-star.

Jesse Williams Calls Eric Dane His ‘Brother’ Ahead Of Emmy Awards

Eric Dane’s absence really must have been a last-minute call, because when Jesse Williams appeared on the red carpet, there was no indication that the Grey’s Anatomy reunion wasn’t happening. Williams — who played Jackson Avery from Seasons 6 to 17 — recalled his time working with Dane — aka Mark Sloan, aka McSteamy, who was introduced in Season 2 and stands as one of Grey’s Anatomy’s most shocking deaths for his early Season 9 demise.

Jesse Williams told E! News on the red carpet:

The praise continued with ET, as Jesse Williams referenced Eric Dane’s ALS diagnosis, saying:

Our best wishes go out to Eric Dane, and hopefully the seemingly last-minute Emmys cancellation wasn’t for anything too serious. Grey’s Anatomy fans can relive the days of Jackson Avery and Mark Sloan by streaming the series with a Hulu subscription or Netflix subscription.

Meanwhile Season 22 is set to premiere at 10 p.m. ET Thursday, October 9, on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.

For its fourth season, Only Murders in the Building is exiting both its titular building and New York to head for the Hollywood Hills, and will boast a slew of A+ comedy talent in the process. Not only is Meryl Street returning with the core cast, but new stars such as Eugene Levy, Molly Shannon, Melissa McCarthy and more are joining the fun to dig into the murder of Jane Levy’s Sazz Pataki. But it sounds like one familiar Season 3 face won’t be seen: Jesse Williams’ totally realistically named Tobert.

Williams first arrived on the scene in Only Murders as the cameraman working with Paul Rudd’s Ben to capture footage for a documentary, and along the way became romantically entangled with Selena Gomez’s Mabel. They were a cute couple, even if saying their names together is kind of depressing, but chose to call it quits in the Season 3 finale, with the idea being that he was heading to Los Angeles for an indie film.

Though many fans were probably hopeful to see them rekindle their romance in Season 4, Jesse Williams shared an update with People that pretty much poisons that idea and then pushes it down an elevator shaft. Here’s what he had to say:

Not very much build-up, pomp or circumstance involved with that answer, though it’s hard to tell what the tone of the response was just from the wording. Still, Williams didn’t exactly overshare, and it doesn’t appear as if he offered up any other insight when it came to the Hulu comedy hit.

By all means, the reason there could very well be that he was speaking at the premiere of his new docuseries Distilled, which debuts on August 1 with an AMC+ subscription, and possibly didn’t want to spend too much promotional time talking about past projects instead of new ones. Which would be totally understandable, since Distilled centers on Black entrepreneurs and speaks to the actor’s personal interests.

But for all the sleuths out there, Jesse Williams’ terse response is more likely indicative of a surprise appearance somewhere in Season 4. After all, if Tobert is already going to be in Los Angeles, which is where the new murder will take Charles, Oliver and Mabel, then a meet-up between them seems inevitable. Not that L.A. is a tiny city or anything, but the show legitimately set up Mabel saying she might visit him in the third season’s capper.

So if Tobert doesn’t show up in Season 4, then all is well and we were expecting it. But if he does suddenly pop up to take Mabel out for a night on the town in Episode 5 or something, I’d like to be the first to good-naturedly wag my finger at Williams for fibbing. Let’s just hope he’s not also guilty of murder! Either him or his character.

Only Murders in the Building’s Season 4 mystery will be ready for amateur sleuths to obsess over when it hits the 2024 TV schedule on August 27.

The cast of Only Murders in the Building has always been stacked. From Oscar winners to Emmy winners, the ensemble is full of talent. However, what you might not have realized is the murderer’s row of Broadway stars who have appeared in the show. So, move over Meryl Streep – but don’t go too far, you’re on this list too – because it’s time to shine a spotlight on all the stage talent featured in Season 3 of OMITB. 

While the ensemble of Only Murders in the Building has always had impressive stage talent, including its stars Steve Martin and Martin Short, Season 3 is really loaded. Considering this installment centers around Oliver’s play-turned-musical: Death Rattle Dazzle, it makes sense that they cast people with impressive histories on the stage, so let’s talk about all these Broadway connections.   

Steve Martin 

We’ve come to know and love Steve Martin primarily for his achievements in comedy. However, the man behind Charles-Haden Savage also has quite a history on Broadway. While he hasn’t appeared on stage, he has done a lot of work behind the scenes. In 2017 he wrote the play Meteor Shower, and in 2016 he wrote the book, music and story of the Tony-nominated musical Bright Star.  

Martin Short 

Much like his pal and co-star, Martin Short also has quite a history with the Great White Way. In 1999 the actor behind Oliver Putnam won a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for Little Me, and he received a nomination in the same category in 1993 for his work in The Goodbye Girl. In 2006 he also created, wrote and starred in his one-man show, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me.  

Ashley Park 

It might feel like we’re just getting to know Ashley Park because of her work on Emily in Paris and this year’s well-reviewed comedy Joy Ride. However, before she was on screen, she was a Broadway star. She made her Broadway debut in 2001 in the ensemble of Mamma Mia! After that, she starred in acclaimed productions of The Kings and I and Sunday in the Park with George. 

However, the stage role she’s likely best known for is the original Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls the musical, which she received a Tony nomination for in 2018. So, it should come as no surprise that she absolutely thrived as Kimber as she sang alongside Meryl Streep in Only Murders.  

Wesley Taylor

Wesley Taylor might be playing Clifford, the son of the woman producing Oliver’s show on Only Murders in the Building, but in real life, he’s an extremely talented musical performer. 

When it comes to his Broadway credits all three are bangers. Taylor originated the role of Franz in Rock of Ages. He played Lucas Beineke in The Addams Family. And most notably, he was the OG Plankton in SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical in 2017. 

Jesse Williams 

We know and adore Jesse Williams for his work on Grey’s Anatomy, and OMITB loves Jackson and the show too. However, the actor behind Tobert, Ben’s cameraman, recently made his Broadway debut too. Last year, he appeared in the play Take Me Out, which received four Tony nominations, including one for him in Best Featured Actor in a Play.  

Andrea Martin 

Do you want to talk about a Broadway legend? Look no further than Andrea Martin. The woman who plays Charles's Season 3 love interest and his Brazzos make-up artist, Joy, has a storied history on The Great White Way, and we need to appreciate it.

Martin has been nominated for six Tony awards between 1993 and 2016.  Some of her credits include iconic musicals like revivals of Oklahoma! and Pippin. On top of all that, she’s also appeared in productions including, but not limited to, A Christmas Carol, Young Frankenstein and Fiddler on the Roof. 

Jeremy Shamos 

He plays Ben Glenroy's brother and manager Dickie in Only Murders, but in real life, Jeremy Shamos has spent a lot of time on the stage. He made his Broadway debut in Reckless, and went on to star in productions like The Rivals, Glengarry Glen Ross and Steve Martins’ Meteor Shower. 

Shamos also received a Tony nomination for his performance in the 2012 play Clybourne Park. 

Linda Emond

If you want to talk about a stellar track record, look at Linda Emond's stage credits. The woman behind Death Razzle Dazzle’s producer Donna has been in four productions, and she’s received Tony nominations for three of them. Emond made her debut in 1997 in 1776. In 2003 she got a nod for her work in Life x3. Then, in 2012 she got recognition for her performance in the revival of Death of a Salesman, and in 2014 she got a nomination for her role in a revival of Cabaret. Talk about impressive.  

Jason Veasey 

Jason Veasey, who plays Jonathan, Howard's love interest, Ben Glenroy’s understudy and a fabulous cabaret singer in Season 3, is also a Broadway fella. Last year, he starred in the Tony-winning musical A Strange Loop, and he was in the ensemble of The Lion King back in 2011. 

Bet You Didn’t See This One Coming: Paul Rudd 

Now, Paul Rudd’s filmography is something to marvel at, but did you know he has also spent some time on Broadway? The actor behind Only Murders victim Ben Glenroy made his debut on one of New York’s biggest stages in 1997’s The Last Night of Ballyhoo. He also appeared in productions like Twelfth Night in 1998 and Grace in 2012.  

And Of Course: Meryl Streep 

Meryl Streep can do it all, and that includes working and thriving on Broadway. While we know her for her work in film and her 21 Oscar nominations, back in 1976 she received Tony nods for her work in two plays – A Memory of Two Mondays and 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. The actress behind my OMITB prime suspect, Loretta, is a legend in every sense, and her work on the big screen, television and stage is truly iconic. 

You can watch this incredibly talented cast made up of actors from the stage and screen every Tuesday with a Hulu subscription when Only Murders in the Building drops new episodes on the 2023 TV schedule. 

Spoilers below for the latest episode of Only Murders in the Building, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched!

Three episodes into the third season of Only Murders in the Building, and nearly every one of the new cast members introduced so far is playing someone who can be considered a suspect. From Meryl Streep’s supposedly mild-mannered actress to Ashley Park’s spotlight-hungry Kimber Mia to the man tasked with capturing on film the life (as it were) of Season 3’s victim. Tobert the documentarian is portrayed by former Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams, who was absolutely aware of the ridiculous joke made at the long-running medical drama’s expense in Episode 3. And yeah, he thought it was pretty damned funny, too. 

In “Grab Your Hankies,” Streep’s Loretta Durkin successfully nails an audition to secure a role in the high-profile primetime spinoff Grey’s New Orleans: Family Burn Unit, which would presumably involve Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey moving down to NOLA to open up a new facility with a specific aim in mind. What’s more, Streep is overjoyed to be playing a mom to one of the dermatologists, since it means speaking lines and the potential to work a limp and a backstory into the performance. It’s nothing too vicious, and isn’t all that hyperbolic, all things considered. 

Only Murders in the Building’s head honcho John Hoffman talked to TVLine about the latest episode of the streaming whodunnit, and he said Williams was more than a good sport about the Grey’s Anatomy jab. In his words:  

It's not every day when Jesse Williams takes on a project that directly references the network drama he starred in for over a decade (and returned to as recently as March 2023). He starred as Jackson Avery for eleven seasons, and has been the source of various hopes for Grey's Anatomy spinoffs, presumably with Sarah Drew's April. But considering he's starring in this comedy to begin with, he's obviously not the kind of actor who takes things too sensitively and seriously. (But what if a new surgeon character moves into the Arconia whose name is Tackson Tavery?)

What's more, even though it appears as if Loretta passed on the Family Burn Unit role in order to stick with Oliver's musical revival, Only Murders apparently isn't done poking fun at the ABC mainstay. According to John Hoffman:

Please, someone tell me there was a three-way crossover between Grey's New Orleans: Family Burn Unit, Brazzos, and GirlCOP. Because until that is something that exists and I can watch it, nothing else is worth enjoying. 

All episodes of Only Murders in the Building are available to stream with a Hulu subscription, with new episodes dropping on Tuesdays. That's also how one can stream the latest season of Grey's Anatomy, which won't be back on ABC until 2024 after the entertainment industry strikes have been resolved.

Only Murders in the Building has continued to cement itself as a huge television show for Hulu. While the streaming platform has created several shows that have exploded, such as Pam & Tommy or The Handmaid's Tale, the comedy-drama, Only Murders in the Building continues to grow its audience. And now, you can watch Only Murders in the Building Season 3.

With a new season comes new cast members to join the returning stars -- Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short. If you're interested in the new members of the Only Murders in the Building Season 3 cast and where you might have seen them, check it out below. 

Paul Rudd (Ben Glenroy)

First up on this list is Paul Rudd, who plays Ben Glenroy in Only Murders in the Building Season 3. If you can recall, Rudd guest-starred in the finale of Season 2, where his character first appeared, until he suddenly dropped dead on the stage during their opening night performance. Season 3 is going to attempt to solve his murder by looking back at the past – and of course, this means that Rudd is going to have a pretty substantial role. 

Rudd appeared in many movies and television shows before his role as Ben in Only Murders in the Building. Some of the movies he has had significant roles or appeared in are Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin cast, Knocked Up, I Love You, Man, the Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, This Is 40, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. 

The actor has also stepped into the action comedy sphere in recent years with his portrayal of Ant-Man in all three Ant-Man films and several other Marvel Cinematic Universe projects. 

Rudd has also had a substantial career in television. He had a significant recurring role on Friends in its last two seasons, and ever since then has appeared in guest roles in other major shows. He's also hosted Saturday Night Live several times. In terms of starring appearances, he was the lead character in the Netflix series Living With Yourself and one of the stars of The Shrink Next Door. 

Meryl Streep (Loretta Durkin)

Next up on this list is the lovely Meryl Streep, who plays Loretta Durkin in Only Murders in the Building Season 3. Her casting in Season 3 was massive news because Streep rarely acts in television, so it's always entertaining to see her return to the small screen.

It's very likely you know who Meryl Streep is. But if you don't, she's appeared in many films as one of the most critically acclaimed actresses ever. Some of her most known projects that have won her awards include The Iron Lady, Sophie's Choice, and Kramer vs. Kramer, among other prominent roles such as Into the Woods, Julie & Julia, The Post, It's Complicated, the lovable musical, Mamma Mia!, Don't Look Up and more. 

Though Streep is better known for movies, she has been seen on TV in the past,  appearing in Big Little Lies Season 2 in a prominent role, as well as the miniseries Angels in America and Web Therapy, among some small guest roles. 

Ashley Park (Kimber)

Ashley Park plays Kimber in Only Murders in the Building Season 3. The actress started on Broadway but has since begun to appear in both films and TV at a steady pace. 

Most might know her from her role in the Emily in Paris cast, but Park has appeared in TV shows such as Girls5eva and was a part of the Beef cast in 2023. With film, she was one of the leading stars of the hilarious comedy Joy Ride and appeared in the movies Mr. Malcolm's List and The V Card. 

Jesse Williams

Next up is Jesse Williams, who is playing a documentarian who has a particular interest in the case the main trio is working on in the third season of Only Murders in the Building, according to Deadline. Most people probably know Jesse Williams from his huge role as Jackson Avery in Grey's Anatomy. Still, the actor has done many other projects besides the popular Shonda Rhimes show. 

Williams has appeared in television series such as Little Fires Everywhere and Station 19, as well as several guest roles. In film, Williams has had roles in many movies, such as The Butler, Your Place or Mine, Secret Headquarters, Random Acts of Violence, Jacob's Ladder, and more. He was also one of the stars of Detroit: Become Human, a popular video game. 

Jeremy Shamos

Next is Jeremy Shamos, who is part of the recurring cast of Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. Shamos has appeared in movies like Dedication, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Magic in the Moonlight, No Pay, Nudity, The Big Sick, Bad Education, and the critically acclaimed Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. 

Shamos has also had some experience in television. He had a guest role on Nurse Jackie, played Craig Kettleman on Better Call Saul (pictured above), and had roles in The Undoing and Dead Ringers. 

Linda Emond 

Linda Emond is another part of the recurring cast of Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. Emond has appeared in movies such as the incredible Apple TV+ film, Causeway, Trade, The Professor, Song to Song, Oldboy, The Big Sick, The Land, A Gentleman's Game, and more. 

Emond has also appeared in a few TV series, including a recurring role on Madam Secretary, a recurring guest role on Succession, and a part in The Gilded Age. She was recently in The Patient on Hulu in 2022.

Don Darryl Rivera

Next is Don Darryl Rivera, who is also a part of the recurring cast of Only Murders in the Building Season 3. Rivera has appeared in the Showtime series, Let the Right One In, and Helluva Boss. He also had a role in the film The Nice List. 

Wesley Taylor

Another recurring cast member is Wesley Taylor. He also began his career on Broadway but has appeared in the film and TV industry as well. He has been in two movies so far – Lucky Staff in a minor role and The Surrogate. 

Taylor does have more experience in television, having significant roles in both Smash, where he played Bobby, and Indoor Boys. He also guest-starred in several other shows, including I'm Dying Up Here, Difficult People, and more. 

Gerald Caesar 

Gerald Caesar is another recurring actor on Only Murders in the Building Season 3. His only film credit thus far has been Dear Evan Hansen. He also had a guest role on Halfway to Fifty, Law & Order, and Helpers.

Allison Guinn 

And last on this list is Allison Guinn. Primarily, Guinn is known for her Broadway roles, but has since started to branch out into other mediums of entertainment. She has appeared in one film before, Angelica. She's also appeared in a few television shows, including a role on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime, Divorce, Inside Amy Schumer, and The Knick. 

With such a great cast, Only Murders in the Building Season 3 is already looking to be highly successful for Hulu, and I, for one, can't wait to see all these stars kill it – well, hopefully not literally, but you know what I mean. 

Grey’s Anatomy has been beloved by TV fans for the better part of two decades, and when you think back to the MAGIC days of Meredith, Alex, George, Izzie and Cristina, it’s hard to believe how many traumas, romances, medical miracles and natural disasters we’ve witnessed. It’s tempting to want to go back and rewatch all of Grey’s Anatomy’s heart-pumping drama — especially with all 19 seasons readily available to stream with a Netflix subscription — but with 420 episodes so far, that’s a pretty massive undertaking. We’re here to help by giving you the best starting points from all of the best eras of the Shonda Rhimes drama.

Now, if those early days of Meredith and McDreamy, 007, and Cristina’s bad-assery are what you’re craving, by all means, hit play on Season 1’s “A Hard Day’s Night” and ride that wave through nearly two decades of episodes. However, if you’re more interested in a specific period of time — or a specific character — allow me to suggest these other episodes as good places to jump in. (I tried to keep the SPOILERS to a minimum, but reader beware if you’re new to the series.) 

The Denny Duquette Era (Season 2, Episode 13)  

We’re 19 seasons into this medical drama, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s appearance in Season 2 quite possibly still stands as the best guest-starring role the show has ever seen. Morgan played Denny Duquette, a heart patient with charisma to spare, who had an immediate and undeniable mutual attraction with Katherine Heigl’s Izzie Stevens. If you want to relive the rollercoaster of their complicated relationship, start with “Begin the Begin” in the second season. 

Meredith And Derek Get Together For Good (Season 5, Episode 19)  

Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey and Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd kicked off the series with a bang — literally — engaging in a one-night stand just hours before he was revealed to be an attending surgeon at her new job. However, it was quite a while before this on-off couple was finally fully "on." The way Derek treated Meredith in some of those earlier episodes was far from McDreamy, so if you want to skip the "Oh yeah, I'm still married," of it all and get straight to prime MerDer territory, fire the series up at Season 5’s “Elevator Love Letter.” 

The Mercy West Era (Season 6, Episode 5) 

The first time Grey’s Anatomy added a new batch of doctors came in Season 6, when Seattle Grace merged with Mercy West Medical Center amid a tough economic climate. Season 6’s “Invasion” introduced fans to Jackson Avery, April Kepner, Reed Adamson, Charles Percy, and while I won’t spoil the fates of Nora Zehetner and Robert Baker’s characters (IYKYK), fans of a certain would-be couple undoubtedly would want to start watching here, or skip a couple of seasons forward to … 

Japril: The Beginning (Season 8, Episode 21)  

When they were introduced in Season 6, nobody knew that Jackson (Jesse Williams) and April (Sarah Drew) would go on to become one of the most adored couples in Grey’s Anatomy history. The ups and downs of their relationship — from the most romantic wedding interruption ever to the devastating death of their baby (which actually sent Drew into early labor) — have fans so invested, we’re still begging for more. Relive the show's best love story by starting with the night of Jackson and April’s first hot hookup — Season 8’s “Moment of Truth.” 

Welcome New Interns: Meet Jo Wilson And Her Rookie Class (Season 9, Episode 1) 

Every few seasons the drama rains down a new class of characters, with a few often sticking around for the long term. Season 9 saw the hospital’s veterans still reeling from the fallout of the plane crash, but amidst the chaos, the premiere introduced new doctors Jo Wilson, Stephanie Edwards, Shane Ross, Leah Murphy and Heather Brooks. If you want to relive the origin story of Camilla Luddington’s character, or refresh yourself on what exactly came to be of the rest of these interns, start with “Going, Going, Gone” in the ninth season. 

Maggie And Amelia Replace Cristina (And Lexie) As Meredith’s Twisted Sisters (Season 10, Episode 23) 

Meredith finding support in her sisters — biological or otherwise — was huge for the character, so I don’t think it was any coincidence that Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) made her entrance as the love child of Meredith’s mother and Richard Webber, just one episode before Sandra Oh’s final appearance as Meredith’s “person,” Cristina Yang. Meredith also lost her sister, Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh), in Season 8, but with Caterina Scorsone becoming a series regular as Amelia Shepherd in Season 11, Meredith was back to having two sisters. Jump in at Season 10’s “Everything I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right” to watch the new twisted sisters’ relationship start to grow. 

The B-Team Era: Meet Levi ‘Glasses’ Schmitt And Friends (Season 14, Episode 4)  

Another group of interns was introduced in Season 14, including Jake Borelli’s Levi Schmitt (known back then as “Glasses”) and Jaicy Elliot’s Taryn Helm. The six new characters also starred in a six-episode web spinoff called Grey’s Anatomy: B-Team, which featured cameos from the drama’s main cast. Relive this era starting with Season 14’s “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head.” 

If you’re a big Jake Borelli fan, though, go ahead and start watching at the Season 14 premiere. “Glasses” was initially supposed to be a small guest role, but they chose to keep him around as part of the incoming class. Good decision, since he remains a fan favorite today! 

The Crossover Era: Station 19 Premieres (Season 14, Episode 13)  

Later in Season 14, the Seattle universe expanded when Ben Warren (Jason George) changed careers, thus introducing fans to the firefighters of Station 19. Season 14’s “You Really Got a Hold on Me” served as a backdoor pilot for the spinoff, introducing Jaina Lee Ortiz as Andy Herrera. To this day, the cast members often show up on each other’s shows, particularly when there’s romance (or tragedy, of course) involved.  

The Reboot Era: Meredith Prepares To Leave As We Meet McDreamy’s Nephew (Season 19, Episode 1) 

As we’ve seen, it’s not uncommon for Grey’s to drop a handful of interns into the hospital every so often, but Season 19 was the first time since the MAGIC days that five new characters became the focus. Ellen Pompeo’s impending exit as a series regular necessitated a reboot of sorts, and we quickly found ourselves getting swept up in the will they/won’t they of McDreamy’s nephew, Lucas Adams (Niko Terho), and Simone Griffith (Alexis Floyd), as well as the stories of Mika Yasuda (Midori Francis), Benson “Blue” Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.) and Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane). 

If you need a refresher on this newest era of our beloved show, pop on Season 19’s “Everything Has Changed.”

Nobody knows how many more eras Grey’s Anatomy will have before it closes the book, but the show has definitely proven capable of adapting its stories and characters to keep fans invested. Hopefully this list sets you on the right path for your rewatching adventure. Be sure to keep your eye on the 2023 TV schedule to see when this and all of your other favorite shows will premiere. 

Jesse Williams hasn’t been a full-time member of Grey’s Anatomy’s cast for a couple of seasons now, after he exited the show in 2021, but it’s no surprise that playing Dr. Jackson Avery for 12 seasons has left an impression on fans of the medical drama. He continues to get recognized for the role when he’s out and about, but there seems to be a bit of  confusion sometimes, as the Your Place or Mine actor revealed an “odd” phenomenon he’s encountered in regards to his medical training (or lack thereof).

The actor joined the cast of Grey’s Anatomy in Season 6, and since leaving in Season 17 has returned as a guest star in a couple of episodes and even directed one. Jesse Williams appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert recently, where he revealed that not only does he get recognized as Jackson, those around him sometimes seem to forget that he’s not a real doctor — he just plays one on TV! The actor said: 

Hearing someone shout, “Is there a doctor on the plane?” does sound like something that would definitely happen on Grey’s Anatomy, so maybe when faced with that situation in real life, people went with what they knew? What’s funny is that it didn’t just happen once, but twice.

Now, it should be noted that Grey’s Anatomy goes through a lot of trouble to make sure their depiction of the medical workers is as realistic as possible — even taking days to film those big surgery scenes — so maybe it’s a testament to their hard work paying off, as well as Jesse Williams’ acting skills. But still, 12 years of acting like a surgeon does not a surgeon make. You can check out his full Late Show interview below: 

Not only was Jesse Williams a fan favorite during his time on Grey’s (and, obviously, beyond), but he’s one half of the revered couple “Japril,” along with Sarah Drew’s April Kepner. Fans are still holding out hope that the duo will lead their own series one day (and with Ellen Pompeo’s impending exit, now would be the perfect time for a Boston spinoff). 

While Jesse Williams was featured in one episode of Season 19 so far, Sarah Drew has not been back since the Season 18 finale confirmed that Japril had rekindled their romance. It’s unknown if she’ll make an appearance on the back half of the current season, but Krista Vernoff has promised some “delightful surprises” to close out her final season as showrunner, so it’s definitely a possibility.

While we wait for Grey’s Anatomy to return Thursday, February 23, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC, you can catch Jesse Williams on the new romantic comedy Your Place or Mine, which is available for streaming with a Netflix subscription. 

More so than with pretty much every other type of film, a great romantic comedy needs to have a strong cast (both the leads and supporting characters) with a lot of chemistry to make the story seem believable and work. The best romantic comedies of all time, like When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, and The Princess Bride, all have that in common. It’s too early to say if the new Netflix movie, Your Place Or Mine, will find a spot on that list in the future, but the cast, led by Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher, could put it in the running.

If you have watched, or are planning to watch the new romantic comedy, there’s a good chance you are wondering why certain members of the Your Place Or Mine cast look so familiar. Well, buckle up, because we’re about to go through all the major stars who appear in the movie, and break down where you’ve seen them before.

Reese Witherspoon (Debbie)

In Your Place or Mine, Reese Witherspoon plays Debbie, a single mom who swaps houses with her longtime best friend, Peter (Ashton Kutcher) for a week as a nice sea change that also leads to some major discoveries about the man she’s known for so long.

Witherspoon is in a league of her own in Hollywood, having not only won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Primetime Emmy, and scores of other accolades for performances in movies and shows like Walk the Line and Big Little Lies, but also as one of the Hollywood’s most prolific producers, having worked on book-to-movie adaptations like Where the Crawdad Sings and the upcoming Daisy Jones & the Six Amazon series. The ever-growing list of Witherspoon’s best movies includes something for everyone, with popular movies like Legally Blonde, Sing, and Wild appealing to multiple age groups. With multiple upcoming projects (both in front of and behind the camera), we haven’t seen the last of her yet. 

Ashton Kutcher (Peter)

Ashton Kutcher shows up in Your Place or Mine as Peter, Debbie’s long-time best friend, who couldn’t be any more unlike the single mother living on the opposite side of the country, or so he thinks.

Though this is his first romantic comedy in more than a decade, Kutcher appeared in his fair share of rom-coms in the early 2000s, including Just Married, My Boss’s Daughter, Guess Who, and What Happens in Vegas, to name a few. Over the course of the past decade or so, Kutcher has mostly worked in TV, appearing on shows like Two and a Half Men, The Ranch, and most recently, That ‘90s Show, reprising the role of Michael Kelso from the original That ‘70s Show. 

Jesse Williams (Theo) 

Next up is Jesse Williams, who appears as Theo, a book editor who catches Debbie’s eye while she’s trading places in New York City.

Longtime fans of Grey’s Anatomy (as well as Station 19) should instantly recognize Williams from his portrayal of Dr. Jackson Avery, a major part of the show’s cast dating back to the sixth season. Sticking with TV, Williams previously appeared alongside Witherspoon on the Hulu original series, Little Fires Everywhere, in 2020. His film appearances include movies like The Cabin in the Woods, Random Acts of Violence, Secret Headquarters, and multiple others dating back a decade-and-a-half.  Williams also portrayed one of the main characters in the 2018 PlayStation game, Detroit: Become Human. 

Steve Zahn (Zen)

Steven Zahn shows up as Zen, Debbie’s retired neighbor who has left his days in the tech industry behind to focus on putting his green thumb to use with landscaping.

For more than 30 years now, Zahn has remained an incredibly busy actor in film and TV, showing a wide range in the process. Whether it’s appearing in quintessential ‘90s classics like Reality Bites, That Thing You Do!, You’ve Got Mail, and Happy, Texas, Zahn was everywhere in the first decade of his career. He only got busier in subsequent years, landing roles in Riding in Cars with Boys, Shattered Glass, Sunshine Cleaning, and National Security, to name a few. More recently, he’s put on amazing performances in shows like The White Lotus (Season 1) and The Good Lord Bird, and in movies like Uncle Frank, and 8-Bit Christmas. 

Tig Notaro (Alicia)

Comedian Tig Notaro shows up as Alicia, Debbie’s best friend in Los Angeles.

Over the years, Notaro has gone from being one of the most underrated standup comedians in the industry to a talented actor with a long list of credits to her name. One of the biggest movies she’s been in at this point is Army of the Dead, Zack Snyder’s 2021 zombie movie in which she was digitally added to replace Chris D’Elia. Notaro has also appeared on shows like Star Trek: Discovery, One Mississippi (which she created), and multiple others. 

Zoë Chao (Minka)

Zoë Chao is another hilarious addition to the Your Place or Mine cast, taking on the role of Peter’s ex-girlfriend Minka, who ends up helping Debbie when she temporarily takes up residence in New York City.

Chao has been on a roll as of late with memorable roles in everything from Richard Linklater’s 2019 dramedy, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, to the 2022 Netflix original comedy Senior Year, with multiple others in between. Since 2022, Chao has also been a major player on the Apple TV+ original series The Afterparty, including the upcoming second season of the hilarious murder mystery. Her other TV appearances include Strangers, The OA, Love Life, and the Amazon original anthology series, Modern Love. 

Wesley Kimmel (Jack)

Rounding out the main portion of the cast is Wesley Kimmel, who takes on the role of Debbie’s shy and sheltered son, Jack.

The nephew of Jimmy Kimmel, the up-and-coming actor landed his first acting gig as the “Baby Bachelor” on a segment of his uncle’s talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, which he revisited alongside Witherspoon in early 2022. He has also appeared on shows like WandaVision and The Book of Boba Fett, the latter of which saw him play a young Tusken kid. He’s also appeared on Good Girls, The Rookie, and Crank Yankers in recent years. 

But, this is just a portion of the cast, as other actors appearing in Your Place or Mine include Griffin Matthews (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law), Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Vella Lovell (Mr. Mayor), and Shiri Appleby (Roswell, New Mexico). You can see all of these actors in action in Your Place or Mine, which is streaming for anyone with a Netflix subscription. 

Stream Your Place or Mine on Netflix.

Jackson Avery and April Kepner are not even surgeons who currently work at Grey’s Anatomy’s Grey Sloan Memorial, and yet the on-again couple remain one of the most beloved by the fandom. There’s something about the combination of the characters' on-screen chemistry and the mutual admiration actors Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew have for each other that makes them simply magnetic. The pair have had nothing but complimentary things to say about each other over the years, and Williams continued that trend when recalling a couple of intimate Grey’s Anatomy scenes that left him awestruck.

Jesse Williams reflected on one of the couple’s most iconic (and hottest) scenes, which occurred in Season 8’s "Let the Bad Times Roll," and saw the two hooking up after being overwhelmed by the stress of their medical boards. He told Insider that was such a big scene for Sarah Drew, because that part of her character hadn’t been explored, and he was in awe of her performance. In his words: 

Knowing that Jesse Williams recognized that moment of sexual awakening for April — to the point where he didn’t even recognize his scene partner — makes me love the relationship these actors share even more. That kind of respect between him and Sarah Drew is part of what’s had fans clamoring for a Japril spinoff for years. (And with Ellen Pompeo leaving Grey’s Anatomy, now would be the perfect time for that spinoff to come to fruition.) 

Longtime fans know that Jackson and April’s relationship wasn’t without struggles accompanying the snuggles, though, and Jesse Williams also talked about Sarah Drew’s performance in Season 11’s “All I Could Do Was Cry.” That episode showed the birth of Jackson and April’s son Samuel, who had been diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta and lived only a few hours. Williams said he “didn’t know the difference” between real childbirth and what Drew was portraying, and even forgot he was acting. He said: 

As emotional a day as that was for Jesse Williams, the effect it had on Sarah Drew also can't be denied. Ten hours after filming that heartbreaking scene, she went into premature labor with her own baby, who was born a month early and spent two weeks in the NICU.

They may not be on Grey’s Anatomy anymore, but showrunner Krista Vernoff is aware of how beloved Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew are. The couple already made a guest appearance in the Season 18 finale, and Williams returned to direct and appear in a Season 19 episode that set up Meredith Grey’s big move, so hopefully they’ll keep feeding us these little Japril updates. 

For now, though, fans can rewatch all of Jackson Avery and April Kepner’s biggest moments, as the first 18 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy are available to stream with a Netflix subscription. 

Grey’s Anatomy fans have been clamoring for more Jackson Avery and April Kepner, practically from the moment that actress Sarah Drew’s character was written off of the medical drama after Season 14. Jesse Williams has since left the show as well, and still the demand from loyal fans has only gotten louder. With Ellen Pompeo making her exit from Grey’s Anatomy by moving her character to Boston — where a reunited Japril currently live — the powers that be at ABC have a very interesting opportunity to expand this universe, and now is the time to do it. 

Below are 5 reasons why a Grey’s Anatomy spinoff in Boston, featuring the fan-favorite couple Jackson and April as the main characters, needs to happen, and needs to happen now. 

A Boston Spinoff Would Be A Win-Win For Ellen Pompeo And Fans Of Meredith Grey 

Ellen Pompeo has long voiced her opinion about being on Grey’s Anatomy too long, and it’s easy to assume she’s ready to pursue new opportunities, like her upcoming drama on Hulu. So at first glance, it would be naive to assume that she’d be willing to leave Grey’s Anatomy just to reprise the same character on a different show. However, if Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew were to lead the series, Pompeo could pop in and out at will, and still keep Meredith’s fans apprised of what’s happening with the beloved character.

Also, if the Japril spinoff were a 10-episode drama for streaming — an idea floated by Sarah Drew herself — the filming schedule might be far less demanding than what Ellen Pompeo is accustomed to on Grey’s Anatomy, making the occasional cameo all the more attractive.

A Cast Of Potential Series Regulars Has Already Been Established 

When Jackson offered Meredith the opportunity to use funding from the Catherine Fox Foundation for her Alzheimer’s research, he pointed out that the work she’d done on Parkinson’s translated naturally to the brain. That means that all of those Minnesota doctors who were introduced in Season 18 would make sense as part of Meredith’s new research team (and could carry the weight when Ellen Pompeo’s not around). Basically what I’m saying is — and I couldn’t feel more strongly about this — make E.R. Fightmaster a series regular on this spinoff right now. 

Boston Has Already Crossed Over With Seattle On Grey’s Anatomy Numerous Times 

Jesse Williams hadn’t even been gone from Grey’s Anatomy for a whole season before Jackson Avery was back in Seattle, bringing April Kepner with him. The same goes for Greg Germann’s Tom Koracick. That’s three former series regulars who clearly have no problem continuing to jump into the Grey’s dynamic. Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) seems to regularly go back and forth between the two cities because of the foundation. 

That’s not to mention, Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) lived in Boston until she went searching for her biological family in Seattle. Now Meredith and possibly Scott Speedman's Nick Marsh — we all think he and Meredith are going to end up together, right? — are calling Massachusetts home. That’s a lot of smoke to not go ahead and stoke that fire.

Grey’s Anatomy Introduced The Perfect First Storyline For Boston 

Clearly, there’s already enough of a universe established in Boston to see how a spinoff could make sense. However, is it possible that Grey’s Anatomy already introduced its first major Boston storyline? In the November 3 episode, “When I Get to the Border,” Koracick informs Catherine that her tumor is growing and she needs to restart treatment. Determined to not spend her final days in an oncology ward, she refuses treatment and makes it clear she will be keeping that secret from son Jackson and husband Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.).

It only makes sense for this story to play out in Boston. Sure, Webber is still on Grey’s Anatomy, but Jackson is going to be the one hit hardest by this big secret, and Koracick’s role in it is not a small one. I don’t understand how they can introduce that plotline during an episode in Boston and then just send us back to Seattle to our regularly scheduled Grey Sloan Memorial programming.  

Jesse Williams And Sarah Drew Want This To Happen 

Without Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew, obviously, a Japril spinoff would be a nonstarter. That is not the case here. Both actors have expressed multiple times how much they love their characters and working with each other. Drew said as recently as September that she and Williams had spoken about a spinoff and would love to see it happen. They even pitched a spinoff years ago that became the Season 12 episode “Unbreak My Heart,” known affectionately as “Japril The Movie” and less affectionately known as one of Grey’s Anatomy’s most heartbreaking moments.

In March 2021, ABC Signature president Jonnie Davis got fans really excited when he said Grey’s showrunner Krista Vernoff and creator Shonda Rhimes were working “right now” on the “next phase of Grey’s Anatomy.” Many assumed this meant a third spinoff was coming to follow on the successes of Private Practice and Station 19. However, just hours later, Davis walked that statement back, telling fans, “There are no conversations about a spinoff of Grey’s Anatomy at this time.”

But now, all the pieces seem to be there for the universe to expand again. Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew have been on board with a spinoff for years, and fans have been consistently vocal about wanting one. Pulling the trigger on it now would allow them to capitalize on Ellen Pompeo’s exit, Catherine’s cancer storyline, and the fresh-on-our-minds Minnesota doctors who were introduced in Season 18 and would make so much sense in Meredith’s new world.

We’ll just have to continue to wait to see if we’ll ever get a continued story for Jackson and April that’s more than just the occasional guest spot on Grey’s Anatomy. In the meantime, the first 18 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy are available for streaming with a Netflix subscription, and Season 19 can be streamed with a Hulu subscription. Season 19 will return to ABC at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 23. See what else is ahead for the new year with our 2023 TV schedule. 

Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers for Grey’s Anatomy’s November 3 episode “When I Get to the Border,” so proceed with caution if you’re not caught up!

Grey’s Anatomy viewers knew going into Season 19 that we’d be seeing less of Meredith Grey this season, and “When I Get to the Border” just showed us why. Jesse Williams returned to not just guest star in this episode, but also to direct, and what an episode it was, jam-packed with emotional stories and some real game-changers for the characters. And not just for Meredith! Let’s take a look at some huge developments that went down in the November 3 episode, which certainly set the stage for a wild fall finale next week. 

Meredith Grey Is Joining Jackson Avery In Boston 

Fans thought they’d figured out why Meredith would leave Seattle, and they were right. Upon learning that her daughter Zola (Aniela Gumbs) is gifted, Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) embarked on a quest to find a better school for her. It just so happened that Zola fit right into a school in Boston. But in a twist we didn’t quite see coming, Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) also offered his old friend a job trying to cure Alzheimer’s. First Parkinson’s, now Alzheimer’s? Meredith is literally going places, and honoring a passion of her late husband Derek Shepherd in the process.

Amelia Learned That The Interns Think She’s Sleeping With Her Nephew 

Speaking of Derek Shepherd, his favorite nephew Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) is about to have his secret exposed. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) found out that Lucas is letting the other interns believe they’re sleeping together, rather than tell him they’re related. What’s worse is the way she found out, with Blue Kwan (Harry Shum Jr.) propositioning her in order to get more surgeries. Eww. Amelia gave Lucas three days to come clean, or she’ll do it for him — and honestly, that’s more generous than he deserved. Everything is about to change for Lucas once the other first-years find out he’s a Shepherd. 

Catherine Fox Is Hiding Something From Jackson And Richard 

Along with Jesse Williams, “When I Get to the Border” welcomed back Greg Germann as Tom Koracick, but there was no celebration to be had in his return. He informed Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) that her tumor had grown, and he urged her to tell son Jackson and husband Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) and begin treatment. However, she said it’s her cancer, her choice, and she wants to live out the remaining years of her life outside of an oncology ward. To that end, she's keeping the news a secret, so her family won't try to convince her otherwise.

I’m sorry, but are we just supposed to return to Seattle, knowing that Catherine is dying and Jackson’s in Boston none the wiser? Doesn’t this mean Jesse Williams almost HAS to make more appearances? (And if so, please bring April.)

Addison May Take Her Talents On The Road

Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) may have found a new calling, after a patient that she and Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) were transporting over state lines for a medical procedure died en route. When Addison said she needed to be able to travel to where she's needed, Bailey remembered Station 19's PRT (basically an OR on wheels) that the firefighters were no longer able to use. The world-renowned OB/GYN looked to be headed to southern Illinois, an area within driving distance of multiple states that had banned abortion.

The big takeaway from “When I Get to the Border” may have been that Meredith is moving to Boston, but the episode also showed that big things will continue to happen, even once Ellen Pompeo steps away. Tune in next Thursday, November 10, for Grey’s Anatomy’s fall finale crossover event with Station 19. The action starts at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. 

Even though Grey’s Anatomy’s namesake, Meredith Grey will be playing a smaller role in Season 19, it’s been revealed that viewers can expect a lot of fun surprises and old faces throughout the new season of the ABC classic. It’s already been confirmed that Jesse Williams will return as Jackson Avery at some point this season, but it’s exciting that we can also expect even more fun surprises. 

While we’ve gotten quite a bit of Meredith in the first few episodes, she will not be nearly as present in the later part of the season. Ellen Pompeo got candid about taking a step back, saying while she will always be part of the show, to do her best work she needs to “tell less of Meredith’s story.” Clearly, the show won’t be the same without the presence of Pompeo, but, showrunner Krista Vernoff told TV Line while it’s a challenge not to have her around all the time, she’s excited about what’s to come. 

While these surprises could be anything, personally I hope it's more returning characters from earlier seasons. I think this is entirely possible with Grey's history of bringing characters back for a bit, and the multiple people who are already confirmed to return.

In the Season 18 finale, we saw the return of Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew as April Kepner. While we know we’ll get Jackson back, hopefully, we’ll get April too, especially after finding out they were back together. 

In Episode 3 of this season, we saw the promised return of Kate Walsh as Addison Montgomery. She returned for an episode called “Let’s Talk About Sex,” and at the end mentioned she’d be in Seattle for a few more days, so hopefully that means we’ll be seeing a bit more of Dr. Montgomery in the coming episodes. With how the episode ended, it seems like Bailey and Addison are both determined to work toward ensuring women’s reproductive rights, so I could see Walsh sticking around for a bit longer as this story continues. 

Along with Williams and Walsh, Greg Germann, who played Tom Koracick is confirmed to come back for the Nov. 3 episode, according to TV Line. The neurosurgeon who left Grey-Sloan to work for Jackson will return in the same episode as his boss. 

I’m curious to see if other characters return to Seattle in the coming season. Will it be one of the old interns from the last few seasons? Maybe an attending from earlier seasons? No matter what, it’s always fun to see a familiar face return to Grey’s after some time away from the show.  Plus it'll be entertaining to see how returning characters interact with the new bunch of interns. 

To see these fan-favorites return and to check out the fun surprises Grey’s Anatomy has planned for Season 19, stay tuned to the fall TV schedule, and catch new episodes every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. You can also stream new episodes the day after they air with a Hulu subscription.  

Grey’s Anatomy fans got some good news in regards to what’s ahead this season, as Jesse Williams announced he will make another appearance on the medical drama during Season 19. But aside from reprising his role as the fan-favorite Jackson Avery, the actor has been making a splash on the Great White Way. While his Broadway debut as Darren Lemming in Take Me Out was met with rave reviews and even a Tony Award nomination, the actor discussed one thing that needs to change in regards to his being naked on stage every night.

Take Me Out is the story of Darren Lemming, a Major League Baseball player who comes out as gay at the height of his career. The actors appear on stage nude, showering in locker room scenes, and Jesse Williams said at Variety’s Business of Broadway breakfast that he’d love for that hot water to make its way through the pipes a little quicker. He joked: 

We certainly don't want Jesse Williams to feel short-changed, but instantly warm water coming through the Broadway theater’s plumbing might be a tall order. And probably not in specific terms of shrinkage, but the discomfort that comes with the nudity, especially as it pertains to the male ego, is part of what those scenes are about, with Williams pointing out: 

Much fuss was made about Jesse Williams baring it all on stage following his exit from Grey’s Anatomy in 2021, but the number of people checking out his anatomy grew exponentially after a theatergoer illegally recorded footage from one of his performances and leaked it on social media. While the actor refused to let the incident affect his job, the Broadway world denounced the perpetrator’s actions, with Williams’ co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson speaking out about the importance of a safe space for actors to be vulnerable. The Second Stage Theater also increased security measures following the violation.

Especially given what the actor experienced, one can’t really blame him for thinking at least a little about shrinkage. For those unfamiliar with one of George Costanza’s funniest moments on Seinfeld, check out what all the fuss is about: 

When Jackson Avery meets up with Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) on the November 3 episode of Grey’s Anatomy, he will not be accompanied by April Kepner (Sarah Drew), after Japril revealed they’d gotten back together during a guest appearance on the ABC hit’s Season 18 finale. However, with Drew and Jesse Williams both expressing interest in a spinoff for their characters, there’s always hope. Grey’s airs at 9 p.m. ET Thursdays on ABC. Check out our 2022 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming soon. 

Ellen Pompeo may be planning an early exit from Grey’s Anatomy’s 19th season, but other veterans of the medical drama keep showing back up. With Kate Walsh's Season 19 return set for the October 20 episode, it’s been reported that Jesse Williams will also reprise his role this season as Jackson Avery. That's not all, however, because as well as guest-starring in an episode, the actor is also taking on  a familiar role behind the scenes.

Jesse Williams last made an appearance in the Season 18 finale, when he and Sarah Drew returned as fan favorite couple Japril, confirming that the former spouses had indeed reunited upon the characters’ move to Boston. While Drew will not be back as April Kepner this time, Deadline reports that Williams will make a guest appearance on the November 3 episode “When I Get to the Border.” 

What's more, Williams will also be getting back behind the camera for the Season 19 episode as director. This will be his fourth time bringing a Grey's Anatomy episode to life, and likely won't be the last. 

The episode will reportedly see Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) meet up with Jackson in Boston, while Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) “take a road trip to volunteer at a family planning center, but a patient’s ectopic pregnancy leads to complications.” 

Back in the hospital, the first-year residents will apparently be trying to figure out the relationship between Lucas Adams (Niko Terho) and his aunt Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone), after McDreamy’s nephew chose in the episode “Wasn’t Expecting That” to allow his fellow interns to believe he was sleeping with Amelia, rather than allow them to know they are related.

Jesse Williams made a shocking exit from the ABC medical drama in the middle of Season 17 after 12 seasons. He said at the time that he and showrunner Krista Vernoff decided that his character needed a change of scenery, thus sending Jackson to Boston to run his family’s Catherine Fox Foundation to enact social change in medical care. Grey’s Anatomy executive producer Debbie Allen is also set to reprise her role as Jackson’s mother, Catherine Fox, in the episode.

Ellen Pompeo, who stars in and executive produces the series alongside Debbie Allen, announced ahead of Season 19’s premiere that she would not be returning full-time to the series. That reveal came after over a year of speculation brought on by the actress’ comments about wanting the show to end. 

While it will be strange to see less of Meredith around Grey Sloan Memorial, I’m all for continuing to see old favorites pop back up on the series from time to time, and Jackson Avery is always a welcome sight for the fans. Grey’s Anatomy airs at 9 p.m. ET Thursdays on ABC. Keep up with our 2022 TV schedule to see what other shows are premiering soon.

Jesse Williams has had a lot going on in the past year, with his Broadway debut in Take Me Out leading to a Tony Award nomination, not to mention his return to Grey’s Anatomy for its Season 18 finale. But behind the scenes, the actor continues to battle his ex-wife, Aryn Drake-Lee, over child support payments. The former couple appeared in court again this week, where the Jackson Avery actor scored a big win.

Back in April, Jesse Williams lobbied to have his monthly child support payments reduced due to a significant decrease in income after leaving Grey’s Anatomy. A judge agreed to temporarily reduce the payments from $40,000 to $6,413. Radar reports that after hearing arguments from both the actor and Aryn Drake-Lee in a closed courtroom on August 30, that Drake-Lee would continue to collect a reduced amount. Williams was ordered to pay $6,146 in monthly child support when he is in town to exercise their regularly scheduled custody agreement, and $7,953 when he is working out of town.

This was another huge victory for Jesse Williams, who saw his earnings — $6.2 million for the role of Jackson Avery on the ABC medical drama, plus $183,000 in residuals — reduced to just $1,668 per week when he left Grey’s Anatomy after 12 seasons for the bright lights of Broadway.

While it’s easy to see how the change in income would make $40,000 monthly payments pretty difficult, Aryn Drake-Lee argued that she and the couple’s two children shouldn’t be punished for her ex-husband’s decision to change jobs. She pointed out that the move was his decision, and Jesse Williams should not be allowed to “shed his family responsibilities” in pursuit of his “own path.”

Since filing for divorce in 2017, Jesse Williams and Aryn Drake-Lee have been going back and forth in court. Drake-Lee even accused the actor of intentionally complicating situations by filing documents over matters that had already been ruled on. She accused Williams and his lawyers of “bullying me, harassing me and having tantrums when you don’t get what you want at the very last minute.”

The former couple got married in 2012 after dating for five years. They had two children — Sadie in 2013 and Maceo in 2015 — before splitting in 2017. Their divorce was finalized in 2020. 

For now it seems like Aryn Drake-Lee will have to make due with less child support than she was accustomed to receiving. However, it will be interesting to see if his payments continue to fluctuate with his income. I wonder what would happen if he ever did sign on for a Japril spinoff with Sarah Drew?

In the meantime, Grey’s Anatomy fans should take comfort in Jackson Avery and April Kepner being back together, as they revealed in their guest spot on the Grey’s season finale, and Jesse Williams himself said “it’s possible” Japril could make another appearance on the show someday. Season 19 of Grey’s Anatomy is set to premiere at 9 p.m. ET Thursday, October 6, on ABC. Be sure to check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see when all of the new and returning shows are premiering. 

When it was revealed that conversations were being had about whether or not Grey’s Anatomy could outlive Meredith Grey, former star Jesse Williams seemed to think that scenario was “unlikely.” However, now that Ellen Pompeo has officially announced she’ll only appear in a limited role in the upcoming 19th season, the Tony Award nominee had only complimentary things to say about the hard work Pompeo has put in. As well, he shared his excitement-worthy thoughts on whether fans will see more appearances from beloved couple Jackson Avery and April Kepner (Sarah Drew) on the ABC medical drama.

It may have been hard for Jesse Williams to comprehend what Grey’s Anatomy would look like without “the heart of the show” Ellen Pompeo, but he was quick to celebrate  all the hard work she’s put in as the leading actress since 2005 and producer since Season 14. He told Extra:

No argument there! Ellen Pompeo has certainly paid her dues for 18 seasons and deserves to make whatever moves best serve her future. Though I doubt she would use the words "time off" to describe starring in and executive producing the untitled Hulu drama that she'll be working on during her Grey's absence. 

As for whether or not Ellen Pompeo's decreased presence creates more space for Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew to return again — as they did to confirm a Japril romance in the Season 18 finale — Jesse Williams claimed to have had “no idea,” but he said: 

Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew have always kept the door open to return to their Grey’s Anatomy characters in some capacity. A Jackson Avery/April Kepner spinoff has been in demand for years, and Drew actually had some fun ideas for how a Japril spinoff would work. Even though the actor couldn’t speak for what (if anything) is in store for Season 19, we can be satisfied that the opportunity remains.

It was previously announced that Ellen Pompeo would appear in only eight episodes of Grey’s Anatomy this season, as she has signed on to star in and executive produce an upcoming limited series for Hulu inspired by a bizarre 2019 news story. The case that inspired the story involved Kristine Barnett, whom Ellen Pompeo will protray, and her ex-husband Michael Barnett being charged with neglectful parenting after allegedly abandoning their adopted daughter Natalia in an apartment and then moving to Canada. In a twist that sounds like it came straight from the cult horror Orphan, the Barnetts claimed Natalia was actually a mentally disturbed adult with a rare form of dwarfism who was conning them. I’m certainly intrigued.

Jesse Williams wasn’t the only Grey’s Anatomy co-star to voice support for Ellen Pompeo amid her exciting new venture. Kevin McKidd said the fact that she’s still making time for Grey’s Anatomy, rather than just focusing on her new gig, proves how much the show still means to her. McKidd told E!’s Daily Pop: 

It will be fun to see how it all goes down in Season 19, and which familiar faces might return to grace our screens. We’re still some weeks away, though, as Grey’s Anatomy returns to ABC at 9 p.m. ET Thursday, October 6. Be sure to keep up with all of the upcoming premieres with our 2022 TV Schedule.

There still seems to be a lot of tension between former Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams and his ex-wife Aryn Drake-Lee regarding the custody agreement for their two children. The former couple, who divorced in 2020 after nearly five years of marriage, is now going back and forth in the courts over the Tony Award nominee’s time with the kids, as well as getting a passport renewed for their son Maceo. But Drake-Lee said she’s already addressed Williams’ concerns, and she accused him and his lawyers in an email of "bullying me, harassing me and having tantrums.”

Jesse Williams won a previous legal battle against Aryn Drake-Lee after the court allowed his monthly child support payments to be significantly decreased due to his change in income after leaving the hit ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. The most current issue arose after a judge granted requests made by the Take Me Out actor, ET reports, asking that his time with his children remain intact, and for his ex-wife to sign off on their son’s passport renewal. In response, Drake-Lee filed an email she’d sent Williams’ lawyers that suggested a history of intentionally complicating her situation. She said in the email:

Aryn Drake-Lee went on to say in the email that she had only received the document from Jesse Williams that was required for the passport two weeks ago, despite having been paid for since October 2021, and that her ex-husband had been told multiple times that the renewal “is in process.” As for the Grey’s Anatomy actor’s custody arrangement, Drake-Lee said:

She said the requests from Jesse Williams and his lawyers each week are causing “serious interruptions” to her work efforts, especially because their requests have often been previously addressed “with orders already in place.”

This latest court struggle comes after the actor’s child support payments were reduced in April from $40,000 a month to $6,413. The reduction was made due to Jesse Williams making significantly less money on Broadway’s Take Me Out than he did starring as Jackson Avery on Grey’s Anatomy.

However, Aryn Drake-Lee didn’t agree with the decision. Ahead of the court’s ruling, she argued that it was Jesse Williams’ choice to leave the “coveted, high-paying position,” and his wanting to pursue a different path shouldn’t mean he can “shed his family responsibilities.” Williams’ Broadway debut proved to be a success, as he was nominated for a Tony Award, with the play winning one for Best Revival and his co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson also taking home a trophy.

While he may not be on Grey’s Anatomy anymore, Jesse Williams made a guest appearance on the Season 18 finale, thrilling fans with the confirmation that his character had reconciled with Sarah Drew’s April Kepner, keeping spinoff hopes alive. Be sure to check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what new and returning shows are premiering soon.

Grey’s Anatomy will return to ABC this fall for Season 19, but its future past that is a big question mark. While everyone from network executives to longtime fans to the actors themselves seem very interested in keeping the hit medical drama going, series star Ellen Pompeo has made it known for a while now that she’s ready to leave when the time comes. It’s even apparently reached the point where the Meredith Grey actress, who also serves as executive producer, has had conversations about whether or not Grey’s Anatomy could outlive her. At least one of her former co-stars, however, doesn’t seem optimistic about that idea.

Jesse Williams played Jackson Avery on the ABC hit for 12 seasons before exiting in Season 17. He made a guest appearance in the Season 18 finale, however, making fans very happy with the reveal that Jackson had reunited with April Kepner (played by fellow returning star Sarah Drew). Fans might not be quite as thrilled with his take on Grey’s Anatomy’s chances of survival in the event that Ellen Pompeo decides to walk away. Acknowledging his lack of say-so in the situation, he told Access Hollywood:

It seems Jesse Williams has similar views to those of Jackson, who in the season finale confronted Meredith over her decision to accept a new job in Minnesota. She pointed out that if he was able to leave for new opportunities; why couldn’t she? Jackson responded by saying she couldn’t leave because her name was on the hospital. Wow, that’s not meta at all. 

The actor’s opinions weren’t as strong as his character’s, however — he pointed out that his opinion doesn’t really count — but he sounds doubtful about the chances that Grey’s Anatomy would be able to carry on long-term without its namesake. 

Jackson Avery noting that the hospital bared her name — her sister’s name, actually, as Meredith pointed out — it wasn’t the first time the star surgeon’s story seemed a little “art imitating life.” In the episode “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” Meredith went on a rant asking why it was considered disloyal that she wanted to leave Seattle, despite everything she’d done for the hospital over the course of her career. She argued that she'd earned the right to leave after working so hard for so many years.

Ellen Pompeo has been discussing the end of Grey’s Anatomy for years now, and in December 2021 she said she’d been trying to “convince everybody that it should end.” Her passion to continue to tell good stories and do right by the characters is unquestioned, but she’s expressed concern about recycling storylines after being on the show “too long” — though showrunner Krista Vernoff has explained why she doesn’t think that’s an issue.

As we wait for any updates regarding how many more seasons we can expect, fans can relive all the drama on streaming. Seasons 1-17 of Grey’s Anatomy are available to Netflix subscribers, while Season 18 is available in full with a Hulu subscription. 

Take Me Out has been receiving plenty of attention since the revival starring Jesse Williams debuted on Broadway. It opened to rave reviews, which led to the production’s run being extended and earned Tony Award nominations for three of its actors (including Williams) and an overall nod for Best Revival of a Play. Unfortunately, some of the publicity has come from nude footage of the former Grey’s Anatomy actor that was illegally taken during a performance and leaked on social media. The actor recently opened up about the leak, using an interesting word — "penetration" — when talking about how he felt.

While Jesse Williams had previously talked about the unexpected reaction he got from audiences when he appeared naked on stage as Darren Lemming in the production, he got a reaction he never asked for when nude photos and video were shared online. Fans were extremely complimentary — and not at all subtle, as even the co-hosts of The View had to be cooled off — but that’s not the point. The actor said he’s still processing how he feels about that footage being shared without his consent. While he’s tried to stay unaffected, he told THR that he’s bothered when he thinks about the person who did it:

It sounds like Jesse Williams has given this a lot of thought, and not only did the person who recorded the footage knowingly break multiple rules, they violated the actors in a sacred space — where they have to be vulnerable — and then made the decision to share that content with the world without Williams’ permission. He knows how important his job is, though, and he’s vowed not to let the incident affect his performance, for the sake of people who have traveled from all over the world to see it. He continued:

At least he acknowledged his choice of word there! It’s good to hear that Jesse Williams definitely has a sense of humor about the situation, even as he points out how wrong it was for those photos to be released. And, hey, if it improved ticket sales, that's a pretty decent silver lining.

In non-Broadway news, Jesse Williams returned to Grey’s Anatomy for the Season 18 finale, where he made social media fans happy for a whole different reason — his character Jackson Avery had romantically reunited with Sarah Drew’s April Kepner! Viewers are still hoping for the two actors to someday star in their own Japril spinoff, and Drew actually has a pretty cool idea for how to do it. Let’s make this happen, okay? While we wait, be sure to check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what shows are premiering soon.

In the past month or so a lot of fuss has been made over former Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams and his Tony-nominated turn on Broadway in the play, Take Me Out. Basically, you’d have to be living underneath a very large rock and have zero contact with the outside world to not know that one of Williams’ performances was taped by an audience member, who leaked his on-stage nudity online, which led to lots of predictably rowdy responses after folks peeped Williams’ naked work. Now, Williams is opening up about his viral nude scene and why, exactly, he made the move to theater after Grey’s Anatomy.

What Does Jesse Williams Say Now About His Viral Nude Scene?

Jesse Williams originally stunned fans in 2021, after deciding to leave his role as Jackson Avery on Grey’s Anatomy, where he’d been an audience favorite for a whopping 12 seasons. While he recently returned to the medical drama for the Season 18 finale, people are definitely still talking about Williams’ Broadway nude scene (which gets an unexpected response during shows). When asked by Women’s Wear Daily about why he decided to do Take Me Out despite the nude scene, Williams said:

The play takes place largely in a men’s locker room, with Williams starring as a baseball player who comes out to his fellow players. As he noted in his interview, being naked on stage several times a week, and in front of a live audience, wasn’t really on his to-do list. But, Williams could see that the nudity fit what the play was trying to say about a lot of important issues, and seeing as how he loved the rest of the content, he took the leap.

Take Me Out opened on April 4, leading to some awkwardness from some of Williams’ former Grey’s Anatomy co-stars like Ellen Pompeo, who wanted to support his work, but were also a bit nervous about sitting through his nude scene. However, Sarah Drew took in Williams’ show, said she loved it, and admitted that she didn’t get what all the fuss over his nudity was about.

Why Did Jesse Williams Do Take Me Out After Grey’s Anatomy?

Viewers saw the Grey’s Anatomy Season 18 ending bring Jackson and April back, with the added benefit of the reveal that Japril is finally back together romantically. With Williams’ willingness to return to the show that made him a star, many might be wondering why he did take such a professional leap after leaving the hit series. About the move, Williams said:

It just makes a lot of sense that Williams wanted to find a post-Grey’s project to really test himself. As he said, the show had been the bulk of his career until he left, and it’s pretty easy to see how he could have started to feel like he needed to at least attempt working in environments that hadn’t basically fostered his maturation as a performer to see what he was really made of professionally. Williams continued:

Jesse Williams’ run in Take Me Out ends on June 11, but you can always relive his time on Grey’s Anatomy with your Netflix subscription.

Sarah Drew and Jesse Williams returned to Grey’s Anatomy for its Season 18 finale, thrilling fans with the reveal that their characters — Jackson Avery and April Kepner — had reunited. The fandom has been screaming for a Japril spinoff pretty much since Drew left the medical drama at the end of Season 14 (if not before that), and the yearning to see the couple’s life together in Boston is stronger than ever following their on-screen in-elevator kiss. The actors seem down for a spinoff, as well, as they’ve consistently voiced their love for the characters, but Drew has an interesting idea about how she’d want to differentiate their series from Grey’s Anatomy.

The idea of a spinoff featuring Jackson and April was actually one the actors pitched when they were both still on the show. Rather than giving them their own series, the writers turned their pitch into what is now known as “Japril The Movie,” a heartbreaking Season 12 episode. Sarah Drew returned for the Season 17 episode that announced Jesse Williams’ exit from Grey’s Anatomy, with April agreeing to accompany Jackson to Boston to continue co-parenting their daughter Harriet. Drew spoke with Tommy DiDario on Instagram about how she sees that story being continued:

The Japril dynamic has been fun to watch, to say the least, but if they were the sole focus of the story, without the necessity of sharing screen time with a bevy of other Seattle surgeons, Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew would definitely have to dive deeper into Jackson and April’s complexities — much like they did for “Japril The Movie.” In that episode (officially “Unbreak My Heart”), Jackson served April with divorce papers, prompting a look at the highs and lows of their time together, with the episode ending with the reveal that April was pregnant again.

The history certainly exists for Sarah Drew and Jesse Williams to go darker and grittier with the characters. As far as sexier, let’s just say it’s a good thing Jackson and April are doctors, because I feel some heart palpitations coming on. 

The reason for their move to Boston — for Jackson to take over his family’s Catherine Fox Foundation to help provide better medical care to underserved communities — would also lend itself to some interesting and important content. Drew said that would be fun to tackle:

After his exit from the show in 2021, Jesse Williams said he and Sarah Drew “would kill it” if given the chance to do a spinoff, and Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo also said she gets why fans want to see more, and she’d watch them lead their own show. This seems to be an idea that fans (and the actors!) aren’t letting go of, so will somebody order this spinoff already? 

In the meantime, you can relive all the Japril drama on streaming, with Seasons 1-17 of Grey’s Anatomy available to Netflix subscribers, while Season 18 is available in full with a Hulu subscription. 

Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew returned to Grey’s Anatomy for the Season 18 finale, and fans were relieved and thrilled to get confirmation that love between the couple was alive and well. Before Jackson and April’s on-screen reunion, however, the actress made it out to New York to support her friend in Take Me Out, where he’s been taking it all off eight times a week as pro baseball player Darren Lemming. Drew shared her honest reaction to seeing her TV love — and his anatomy — on the Broadway stage.

A lot of fuss has been made over Jesse Williams’ nudity in his Tony-nominated debut on the Great White Way — especially since NSFW footage of the naked actor on stage leaked to social media. But April Kepner would probably be all, “Tell me something I don’t know,” and Sarah Drew had her own nonchalant response when speaking to E! News about seeing her co-star in all of his glory:

She may be playing it cool when it comes to seeing Jesse Williams naked, but Sarah Drew admitted she "bought a ticket in the balcony, because I didn't need to be super close,” so it sounds like maybe she did, in fact, feel some of the same awkwardness that another Grey’s Anatomy co-star, Ellen Pompeo, felt. 

In the end, it’s not like Jesse Williams was the only nude performer out there, as Sarah Drew pointed out, so even given her close relationship with the actor, there was no need for weirdness. That seems to fall in line with what he previously said about the audience’s reaction to his nudity. Because of the intensity of the story and the dense language, Williams said while he expected some kind of reaction to his baring it all, the theatergoers are usually so silent you can hear a pin drop. 

The nudity may not draw a raucous response, but the production certainly has. Take Me Out opened to rave reviews, and its run was extended through June 11. Along with Jesse Williams, Michael Oberholtzer and Jesse Tyler Ferguson received Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Play, and the production as a whole was nominated for Best Play Revival. Sarah Drew agreed they were worthy of the praise, lauding the performance on social media as “moving and hilarious and heart wrenching.”

The former Grey’s Anatomy actors reunited on the screen for the Season 18 finale, confirming that their characters — known affectionately to their fans as Japril — did, in fact, rekindle their romance. Sarah Drew — who left the show after Season 14 — made a guest appearance in the Season 17 episode that announced Jesse Williams’ exit. Jackson asked April to move to Boston with him to continue co-parenting daughter Harriet, and given April’s recent split from Matthew, she agreed. 

The couple’s chemistry on- and off-screen has had fans clamoring for a Japril spinoff for years, and it’s a possibility neither actor has shut the door on. We will continue to hold out hope! In the meantime, check out our 2022 TV schedule to see what new and returning shows are premiering soon.

Spoiler alert! We're about to get into details about the Grey's Anatomy Season 18 finale. 

Grey’s Anatomy delivered a packed Season 18 ending that saw multiple changes in relationship status, the return of Jackson Avery and April Kepner (much to fans’ delight), Owen’s decisions coming back to haunt him, and does anybody even still work at Grey Sloan anymore? Some questions got answered — like, what’s going to happen to the residency program? — but a lot more questions were introduced, and the stage was set for a really interesting Season 19 when the medical drama returns to ABC this fall. Let’s unpack the makeups, breakups and why the hospital lost so many doctors in the season finale.

Owen And Teddy Forced To Flee After ‘Death With Dignity’ Scandal Exposed

Owen and Teddy had their worst fears realized in the Grey’s Anatomy season finale, when the husband of a veteran showed up asking for Owen to help his wife die with dignity. Teddy put her foot down and said they weren’t breaking any more laws, prompting the husband to inform Bailey that Owen had stolen drugs from the hospital to help other terminally ill veterans end their lives.

Bailey was understandably livid, and while Owen stood by his decision, the chief told him she had to report them to the police — it was a legal issue, not a moral one. However, she accepted their resignations and said she’d give them a few hours before she contacted the authorities. The couple collected their kids from a very worried Amelia and boarded a plane to an unknown destination. 

Is that the last we’ll see of Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver? It’s unlikely, as ahead of Season 17, the actors (along with Camilla Luddington) reportedly signed three-year contracts that should keep them on the show through Season 19, but we’ll just have to wait and see. 

Catherine’s Cancer Treatment Was Successful, So She And Richard Went On Sabbatical

Catherine Fox had reason to celebrate, and it wasn’t just the fact that she got to see her granddaughter Harriet. Amelia delivered the good news that the treatment was working, and she was again merely living with cancer, not dying from it. She and Richard decided to celebrate the news by taking a sabbatical to see the Great Pyramids — interesting timing, as the hospital faced its biggest challenge yet with the shutdown of its residency program.

Bailey Quit With No Notice After The Residency Program Was Shut Down

Jamarah Blake told Bailey the working relationship between her, Richard and Meredith had become dysfunctional, after Meredith went against Richard’s orders to not perform a risky operation and Richard, in turn, refused to respect Bailey’s authority as chief. Blake tasked the chief with starting from scratch to rebuild the residency program, revoking the hospital's accreditation in the meantime. Yes, that means Levi Schmitt, Taryn Helm, Mabel Tsang, Zander Perez and the rest of the residents no longer work at Grey Sloan.

Bailey — who nearly suffered another heart attack from the events of this season and whose priorities shifted with her and Ben’s adoption of Pru Miller (RIP Dean) — said enough is enough and decided to put her own well-being first. She quit the hospital with no notice, handing Meredith the keys to her office on the way out and telling her, “You broke it, you bought it.” But wait, wasn’t Meredith moving to Minnesota?

Meredith Ascends To Chief Of Surgery: Her Birthright, Or Is She Stuck In Seattle?

With Richard and Bailey gone — and pressure from Jackson not to go to Minnesota — Meredith was left as Chief of Surgery. It practically seems like her birthright, with her family’s history there, but she really wanted to leave. Her visions of her mother’s abusive words and trying to save Derek the day he got shot indicated that her trauma will always keep her bound to Grey Sloan Memorial. 

As she sat in Bailey’s office — correction, her office — telling Nick to leave because his life was in Minnesota and her life was in Seattle, Meredith seemed to give in to the futility of it all. But in the final moments of the episode, she might have changed her mind, trying to yell for Nick to come back. Did the risk of losing him force her to push past her demons?

Relationship Roundup: Finale Makeups And Breakups

• Meredith and Nick’s status is unclear, after she tried to send him back to Minnesota following a fight over her rogue surgery. Nick suggested she may have made the wrong decisions based on her complicated feelings about leaving Seattle, and Meredith did not take kindly to that. 
• Things were looking so good for Jo and Todd, but everything changed after they slept together and he told her he loved her. Apparently she found it hard to overlook his singing after sex (it’s Skylar Astin, what do you expect?), which can’t be worse than him bringing a giant teddy bear (“It’s a sex bear.”) to her at the hospital the next day. So that’s over, but at least things are getting back to normal with Link. Will they go back to BFFs, or is there something more there?
• Amelia was reeling the whole episode over her breakup with Kai, and it turns out Kai was reeling as well. They showed up at the hospital, telling Amelia they couldn’t sleep, and the two shared a kiss. I’m interested to see where Season 19 takes this couple, because they are my favorite, but I don’t want Kai to sacrifice the life they’ve chosen.
• Last but not least, Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew did return for the Season 18 finale, and fans had to wait until the very end to see Jackson and April walk away hand-in-hand, kissing once they got in the elevator. Breathe easy, Japril fans, they are back on in Boston!

That was a whole lot of change to absorb. In the span of two hours, Grey Sloan went from being understaffed to straight-up hemorrhaging doctors, losing Owen, Teddy, Richard and Bailey, as well as all the residents. Will Meredith be forced to stay, sacrificing love? Could she even bring herself to leave if that were an option? 

We don’t know how many more seasons of Grey’s Anatomy we’ll get — or if the show will eventually continue without Meredith — but we do know that the drama will continue this fall for Season 19 on ABC! Check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what premieres are coming up in the meantime.

This story contains spoilers for the Season 18 finale of Grey’s Anatomy. Proceed with caution if you haven’t watched!

The second hour of Grey’s Anatomy’s two-part Season 18 finale opened with Jackson Avery giving a eulogy for his mother Catherine. Don’t worry, guys – it was just a fake-out. Catherine (Debbie Allen) was enjoying hearing her son say nice things about her while she was still alive, receiving chemotherapy with April Kepner and granddaughter Harriet by her side. So while that was disconcerting and macabre, fans did not have to wait long for the promised return of Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew. They did, however, have to wait to find out if the couple had reunited romantically.

In fact, it wasn’t until the end of the episode, which was jam-packed with emotion and drama and hospital shakeups, that Jackson and April met up to leave the hospital, walking away hand in hand, and sharing a kiss when the elevator doors closed. Japril fans rejoice! Many fans on social media were impatient to get a status update on the state of Japril, but by the end, it seemed like every minute was worth the wait, according to this Twitter user:

The last time we saw Jackson and April together, he had made the decision to move to Boston to run the Catherine Fox Foundation. He asked April and Harriet to come with him, and given that she and Matthew had split up, April agreed. The couple didn’t, however, give much of an indication of if they would try to rekindle their romance — even though fans definitely always thought they were endgame:

Many fans commented on the chemistry between the characters (whose actors seem to have a real-life friendship), which is one of the reasons fans have so passionately been hoping for Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew to co-star in a spinoff. It’s an idea the actors actually pitched before, leading to a fan favorite episode. It doesn’t seem like the years apart have done anything to put out the flame, as fans noted:

In the finale, Amelia cried to April about her breakup with Kai, and April had fans excited when she said that “Sometimes love comes back around.” After fans got confirmation with the elevator kiss, there might be a new Japril slogan to replace “Fingers crossed for new horizons”:

Sarah Drew was thankful for the fans’ response to her and Jesse Williams’ return, and she showed her gratitude by sharing a few behind-the-scenes shots of their happy Grey’s Anatomy family.

Despite all the happenings of the eventful Season 18 finale, Grey’s Anatomy fans can rest easy in the knowledge that all is well and good with Jackson and April in Boston. That will have to hold us over until the ABC medical drama returns for its 19th season this fall. In the meantime, check out our 2022 TV schedule to see what shows are premiering soon.

We’re only a week away from being able to see fan favorite surgeons Jackson Avery and April Kepner back in the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial on Grey’s Anatomy, but it turns out Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew occupied the same space recently, and it had nothing to do with the Seattle medical drama. The actress had the opportunity to see her co-star in the Broadway production Take Me Out, and after she raved about the performance, Drew’s on-screen love had an adorable response.

Jesse Williams made his Broadway debut in April as Darren Lemming in the Richard Greenberg production. The play opened to rave reviews, earning an extended run and garnering Tony Award nominations for the production and three of its actors, including Williams. Sarah Drew apparently thought the acclaim was well-deserved, as she posted an Instagram photo next to a Take Me Out poster, calling Williams’ performance “stunning” and admitted she was brought to tears:

Sarah Drew implored fans to go see the show if they hadn’t yet, saying she laughed and she cried, and said it was moving, hilarious and heart-wrenching. Jesse Williams’ response to the outpouring of love was swoon-worthy, as he thanked her for not causing a scene:

The actress’ appearance at the show was apparently a long time coming, as a few weeks ago Sarah Drew shared a short video of her and Jesse Williams, in which he appeared to playfully chide her for not yet having made the trip to New York:

Seriously, they’re just too adorable. The chemistry that Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew have both on- and off-screen has only fueled fans’ desire for them to reunite for a Grey’s Anatomy spinoff. Both actors have always kept the door open to the possibility of reprising the characters, and they will continue to do that for at least one more episode. In the May 12 installement “I’ll Cover You,” Catherine (Debbie Allen) revealed that her cancer had spread, which could be the reason for Jackson and April to return to Seattle in the two-hour Season 18 finale.

Sarah Drew isn’t the only Grey’s Anatomy alum to make the trip to the Great White Way in support of Jesse Williams. Ellen Pompeo revealed she wanted to support her former co-star (despite having reservations about seeing him naked on stage), and Debbie Allen also gave a glowing review, as she posted a backstage selfie with her TV son.

The actor was at the center of attention recently, after nude photos were leaked of him during a performance of Take Me Out. The theater reportedly has since heightened security, and his fellow actors denounced the fan who violated the cell phone policy. Jesse Williams didn’t let it affect his ability to do his job, but he did speak to the importance of consent.

Take Me Out runs through June 11, and you can catch Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew in their return to Grey’s Anatomy at 8 p.m. ET Thursday, May 26, on ABC. In the meantime, check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what new and returning shows are premiering soon.

Leaked photos of Jesse Williams naked on stage in his Broadway production of Take Me Out have caused quite a stir. Whether from social media users admiring the Grey’s Anatomy star’s, er, anatomy, The View co-hosts needing to be cooled off, or fellow actors denouncing the leak, lots of people have opinions, but only now are we hearing how Williams himself feels about the nude photos being circulated.

Williams' post-Grey's role is Darren Lemming, a Major League Baseball player who comes out as gay, in the revival of the Richard Greenberg play. Take Me Out opened to rave reviews, which led to the production’s run being extended and earned Tony Award nominations for three of its actors (including Williams) and an overall nod for Best Revival of a Play. While Williams told the AP he wasn’t letting the leaked photos get to him too much, he did address the fact that they were released without his permission:

The star may not be letting the leaked photos affect his ability to do his job, but he joins many fans and fellow thespians in speaking up about showing respect to the actors. In the aftermath of the photos being shared on social media, the Second Stage Theater, where Take Me Out is playing, released a statement blasting the patron who violated the “no phones” policy, and stated security was being increased. 

Audience members were already required to lock their phones in Yondr cases during performances, and Deadline reported that the theater will now install an infrared system to monitor smartphone use.

The actor appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on May 9, where he downplayed his nudity, saying, “It's a body. Once you see it, you realize it's whatever." However, that episode was recorded before the photos came out, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who co-stars in Take Me Out alongside Jesse Williams, denounced the leak, saying the theater needs to be a safe space for the people on stage:

Prior to the past week’s events, the Jacob's Ladder alum had spoken about what it’s like to bare it all in that way in front of so many people, and he joked that the reaction he got from the audience was not what he was expecting. Even his Grey’s Anatomy co-stars have talked about it, as Ellen Pompeo said she wanted to support her friend but didn’t want to see him naked.

Jesse Williams is set to make his return to Grey’s Anatomy for the Season 18 finale after leaving the show in 2021 after 12 seasons. He and Sarah Drew will reprise their fan favorite characters Jackson Avery and April Kepner, and the most recent episode might have revealed the reason for their return to Seattle. The two-hour finale will air at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 26, on ABC. Check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what shows are premiering soon. Take Me Out, meanwhile, is scheduled to run through June 11.

Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers for the Season 18 episode of Grey’s Anatomy, “I’ll Cover You.” Consider yourself warned.

Back in Season 14 of Grey’s Anatomy, a number of the surgeons at Grey Sloan Memorial accidentally ingested weed cookies given to them by a patient. Hilarity ensued as Jackson Avery rambled about perfect vaginas, including his mother Catherine’s, and April Kepner couldn’t stop giggling. As Season 18 winds to an end, the latest episode “I’ll Cover You” made a nod to that episode, with Richard being the one this time around to accidentally ingest a cannabis smoothie. Hilarity again ensued, but this time, a tragic reveal in the episode’s final minutes might have just clued the audience in to what brings Jackson and April back to Seattle.

Meredith took on the task of babysitting Richard after he drank one of the smoothies that Catherine had in their refrigerator, and after everything Richard has been through with the “Webber method” and the residency program, it was kind of fun to watch him ponder whether something was “a really big fish or a really small bear.” However, when Richard confronted his wife about the smoothie, asking how she could put his 10 years of sobriety at risk by having drugs in the house, Catherine dropped a bomb:

Since the news broke that Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew were reprising their fan-favorite roles on ABC’s hit medical show, fans have wondered what occasion would bring them back to Seattle, as they moved to Boston so Jackson could head the Catherine Fox Foundation. With just one episode remaining before their return, it seems unlikely that the timing of Catherine’s admission to Richard is a coincidence. 

This is a huge blow for fans, who were really looking forward to celebrating the return of Japril (and getting an update on their relationship). If Jackson is coming back because his mother is sick, that really puts a damper on the party. 

In Season 15, Catherine underwent surgery for a very aggressive cancer, and while they were able to get enough of it out that her life wasn’t in imminent danger, they weren’t able to get all of it, and Catherine made peace with the fact that she would likely live with cancer for the rest of her life. 

Amelia and Tom were the surgeons who saved Catherine’s life the first time, and even though Greg Germann left the show in Season 17, he has already made a guest appearance as Tom Koracick in Season 18. Will they be able to save Catherine again?

Only one episode remains before Grey’s Anatomy’s big Season 18 finale, which also coincides with the series’ 400th episode. It all starts at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 19, following the season finale of Station 19 on ABC. As many series are in the midst of their spring finales, be sure to check out our 2022 TV schedule to see what shows are premiering soon!

Twitter has been in a fit over Jesse Williams after nude photos were leaked from one of his performances of the Broadway play Take Me Out, and the roundtable of hosts on The View were among those who took notice. The former Grey’s Anatomy star goes full frontal in his portrayal of Darren Lemming in the Richard Greenberg production, and The View co-host Sunny Hostin admitted that she stared at the pics for a “ridiculously long amount of time.” Whoopi Goldberg’s assertion that nudity has been happening in the theater forever fell on deaf ears, though so she took matters into her own hands, as it were, to calm her co-host down.

The stars of ABC’s longtime daytime talk show had (predictably) differing opinions on the leaked photos of Jesse Williams in all of his glory, and as Sunny Hostin showered the actor with compliments, Whoopi Goldberg gave her colleague a cold shower of her own, telling Hostin to “Cool off!” Take a look for yourself:

Amid Sunny Hostin’s fawning, Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar tried to downplay the significance of the actor baring it all for his craft, as Behar joked that she's seen more naked men on stage than in her own bedroom. She also brought up another famous example of nudity in art — Michelangelo’s Statue of David in Florence, Italy. The Sister Act actress insisted (via the New York Post) there was nothing so unique or extraordinary about Jesse Williams taking his clothes off for a role:

However, when Whoopi Goldberg contended that “it all looks the same,” Sunny Hostin couldn’t quite agree with that. She responded: 

While a lot of their talk was lighthearted, The View co-hosts did acknowledge the serious nature of nude photos being leaked without Jesse Williams’ consent. Whoopi Goldberg said if photos of that nature had leaked of a female actress, “We’d be pulling our hair out.”

The Second Stage Theater released a statement following the leak, blasting the patron who violated their cellphone policy, and stated security was being increased. Audience members were already required to lock their phones in Yondr cases during performances, and Deadline reported that the theater will now install an infrared system to monitor smartphone use.

The actor — who will return to Grey’s Anatomy for its Season 18 finale after leaving the medical drama last year after 12 seasons — previously spoke about the unexpected reaction he received from audiences when he appeared on stage nude, and his reaction to the leak during an episode of Watch What Happens Live was rather subdued. Even his Grey’s Anatomy co-star Ellen Pompeo said she felt awkward about wanting to support her friend but not wanting to see him naked. 

With Jesse Williams earning a Tony nomination for his work, Take Me Out's run was extended after it opened to rave reviews, and performances are now set to go through June 11. Hopefully Whoopi Goldberg won’t have a reason to whip her spray bottle back out — for Jesse Williams-related reasons at least. 

New episodes of The View currently air on ABC on weekdays at 11 a.m. ET. You can also watch past episodes with your Hulu subscription. 

Jesse Williams wanted to try new things when he left Grey’s Anatomy after 12 years, and getting nude on Broadway would definitely qualify as a departure. He’s been baring it all as Darren Lemming in the Richard Greenberg production Take Me Out, and let’s just say he’s got our attention now. A photo of the actor in all his glory leaked on Twitter, and the anatomy the rabid social media users were talking about had nothing to do with Williams’ upcoming return to the ABC medical drama.

The actor best known for playing Jackson Avery on Grey’s Anatomy recently opened up about the unexpected reaction he got when appearing fully nude during the Broadway performances. He said the play was so intense that when he appeared naked on stage, the crowd went completely quiet. Well, if a rowdier reaction was what Jesse Williams was looking for, he found it on Twitter. When the NSFW photos starting making the rounds, social media users took notice:

The only thing I can think of to excuse the audiences’ silent reaction (other than, you know, being a decent person in public and at a Broadway show) is maybe they were put into a state of shock. Is there a doctor in the house? Fans were much louder about it on social media, and, some joked, on public transit:

With Jesse Williams set to make his Grey’s Anatomy return in just a couple of weeks alongside Sarah Drew, some fans said they thought he might be trending for that reason. Thoughts and prayers for all the innocent people blinded by their Twitter timelines today: 

So is Pete Davidson about to lose his place as the most famously well-endowed celebrity of our time? Kardashian family member Scott Disick previously teased Kim Kardashian about her boyfriend being a “tripod,” and one fan joked on Twitter that there might be cause for concern for the Saturday Night Live comedian:

Another joked that the actor might be in trouble if he ever found himself in need of medical treatment. At least on Grey’s Anatomy, Dr. Avery is the one giving the X-rays:

Some reactions were raunchier than others. To be sure, some of y’all out there are not subtle:

Jesse Williams’ former co-star, Ellen Pompeo, recently talked about wanting to support her friend on the Great White Way, but she was apprehensive about seeing him naked. She wondered if she maybe shouldn’t sit as close as she normally would in the theater. The average Twitter user did not seem to have that same dilemma:

Take Me Out was extended after it opened to rave reviews and is now set to run through June 11. Jesse Williams will reprise his fan favorite character for the two-hour Season 18 final of Grey's Anatomy, scheduled for Thursday, May 26. In the meantime, check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what other shows are premiering and returning soon.

Being naked on stage has got to be one of the more vulnerable positions you can find yourself in as an actor. While nude scenes on TV or in movies certainly come with their own awkwardness, when you’re live and on display in front of your audience, you witness their reaction in real time — for better or worse. Jesse Williams recently experienced that when he made his Broadway debut in Take Me Out, and he said the audience’s reaction was the exact opposite of what he’d expected.

Take Me Out opened on April 4 at Helen Hayes Theater, but rehearsals had actually started pre-COVID. The former Grey’s Anatomy actor — who will return to the medical drama with Sarah Drew for the Season 18 finale — talked on the Late Show with Seth Meyers about how seeing A Soldier’s Play left him with some high expectations for what he’d experience as Darren Lemming in Take Me Out. Blair Underwood — “legendary, most-handsome-man-in-the-world Blair Underwood,” Jesse Williams called him — was one of the stars, and he apparently caused quite a stir with the audience. According to Williams:

If Blair Underwood could cause such a commotion by simply buttoning up his shirt, Jesse Williams understandably must have expected the audience’s reaction to full nudity to be even more raucous. I can even see how that might have helped to calm the actor’s nerves a little, seeing the theatergoers react so favorably to the leading man. However, that has not exactly been his experience, as he told Seth Meyers:

As awkward as that must be, Jesse Williams seemed extremely amused by it. That dang Blair Underwood had him ready for some real mayhem from the crowd, and I can’t imagine what went through his mind the first time his nudity was met with absolute silence. 

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo previously talked on her podcast about feeling a little apprehensive to see her former co-star naked on stage. Even more, her fellow executive producer Debbie Allen, who plays Jesse Williams’ mother on the show, also wanted to support his new project. However it went down, they were all smiles in a photo taken backstage at Take Me Out, and the dance legend sang her TV son’s praises. You can see Seth Meyers’ full interview with Williams below:

Take Me Out was extended after it opened to rave reviews, and is now set to run through June 11. Jesse Williams will reprise his fan favorite character Jackson Avery for the two-hour Season 18 finale of Grey’s Anatomy, scheduled for Thursday, May 26. In the meantime, check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what other shows are premiering soon.

This is the news Japril fans have been waiting for! Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew are returning to Grey’s Anatomy to reprise their fan favorite characters — at least for one episode. And we won't have to wait very long for it. 

Deadline reports that Jackson and April will return for the two-hour Season 18 finale of Grey’s Anatomy. The episode, set to close out ABC’s spring 2021-2022 season, will air on May 26. 

Jesse Williams played Jackson Avery for 12 seasons of ABC’s hit medical drama before leaving in Season 17. Sarah Drew played April Kepner before exiting the series in Season 14. She made a brief return in the episode "Look Up Child," in which Jackson decided to "change his environment" and leave Seattle to run his family's Catherine Fox Foundation in Boston. 

Jackson and April — Japril to the well-indoctrinated — are a fan favorite couple, and viewers have long been asking to see them either return to the show or reunite in a spinoff series. When we last saw them, there seemed to be hope that they could rekindle their romance. They had been co-parenting a daughter, Harriet, and April admitted that her marriage to Matthew was over. She agreed to move to Boston with Jackson to figure it out.

Sarah Drew has talked about that final scene that Jackson and April shared, saying that the actors added a hand grab and hug when there wasn't supposed to be any physical contact between them. A kiss, however, would have gone too far, she said, given the huge transition he was asking her to make in the wake of her failed marriage:

Always leaving us wanting more! The actors have only stoked the flames of fans’ desires by never shutting the door on a possible return. Just a month prior to this news, Jesse Williams said he'd "consider it" if he was asked to reprise the role. He'd previously said if he and Sarah Drew did star in a spinoff, they would "kill it," and Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo admitted she'd watch that show. 

There’s no indication if their characters will appear for more than this one episode, but it’s still very exciting news. If we're only getting them for this two-hour block of television, we'll undoubtedly get an update on their relationship status. Will Japril have rekindled their romance in Boston? There's also the question of what brings them back to Seattle, though I guess any appearance could be explained away by visiting Jackson's mom Catherine (Debbie Allen).

We'll find out on Thursday, May 26! But before we get that exciting guest appearance, fans will get the return of Kate Walsh as Addison Montgomery. Addison will be back in the halls of Grey Sloan Memorial when Grey's Anatomy returns from hiatus at 9 p.m. ET Thursday, May 5. In the meantime, check our 2022 TV Schedule to see what new and returning shows are premiering soon.

Lots of actors have come and gone over Grey’s Anatomy’s 18 seasons so far, but obviously a lot of the relationships formed during their time on the show remain. It’s always nice to see former co-stars supporting each other in their subsequent projects, and Ellen Pompeo seemed really excited to do just that as Jesse Williams — who played Jackson Avery for 12 seasons on ABC’s hit medical show — prepared to make his Broadway debut. There was just one thing holding her back, and it sounds pretty awkward!

Jesse Williams made his Broadway debut in Take Me Out on April 4, and after rave reviews, the production was extended to run through June 11. In the Richard Greenberg play, Williams plays Darren Lemming, a professional baseball player who comes out as gay. During the episode of her podcast Tell Me that aired April 13, Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo told comedian Ms. Pat that she and fellow Grey’s executive producer Debbie Allen were looking forward to supporting their former co-star. There was just one detail that gave Pompeo pause: 

That is a pretty hilarious predicament the actresses found themselves in. Obviously they want to support the actor in his new role — especially to be on Broadway for the first time — but just how close do they want to be when the curtain rises and the pants drop? Ellen Pompeo may have seen Jesse Williams like a brother on Grey’s Anatomy, but he literally played Debbie Allen’s son. I wonder if that’s also stress-inducing to Williams, to know he’s baring it all with some really close friends in the audience?

One way or another, they must have made a decision — or at least Debbie Allen did, as the dance icon lauded Jesse Williams’ performance on Twitter following the premiere:

It should be noted that Jesse Williams was fully clothed when he took the picture with his Grey’s Anatomy mom. They looked absolutely elated to see each other again, and that kind of praise from a living legend shouldn’t be taken lightly.

It’s good to see that the actor has found success in his post-Grey’s Anatomy career. He took a pretty significant pay cut to try his hand at new projects, so this accomplishment hopefully makes that leap one worth taking. Given his ongoing relationship with executive producers Ellen Pompeo and Debbie Allen, I think the door would still be open if he ever did want to reprise the role of Jackson Avery — maybe for a spinoff with Sarah Drew's April Kepner? For now, though, he’s got other projects in the works. 

Grey’s Anatomy, meanwhile, is close to wrapping up its 18th season. The medical drama is set for a two-hour season finale to close out ABC’s 2021-2022 season May 26. Until then, Meredith’s got a big announcement to make when the drama returns from hiatus at 9 p.m. ET Thursday, May 5, on ABC. Be sure to check out all of the upcoming season finales, as well as our 2022 TV Schedule to see what premieres are headed our way!

Former Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams and ex-wife Aryn Drake-Lee haven’t had the easiest road in regards to co-parenting since their divorce. The former couple most recently traded barbs over the amount of money the actor paid in child support, with Williams requesting a reduction in his his $40,000 monthly payments to reflect his lower income since his exit from the hit ABC medical drama. Despite Drake-Lee’s strong opinions regarding his Grey’s departure, the courts have ruled in Williams’ favor.

A court ruled last week to reduce Jesse Williams’ monthly child support payments to $6,413, according to documents obtained by People. That’s a major reduction from the $40,000 he was paying previously. In his request, Williams cited “a significant change in income” since he left Grey’s Anatomy in May 2021. In 2019, the actor earned $6.2 million by playing Jackson Avery, plus $183,000 in residuals. His current gig, a lead Broadway role in Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out, only earns him $1,668 per week, he reported in court documents.

Aryn Drake-Lee, however, took issue with her ex-husband’s request, pointing out that he left the show of his own volition, and that’s not a move he should have made if he wasn’t able to keep up his end of their support agreement. According to court documents, Drake-Lee responded to her former spouse's request for reduced payments, saying:

Jesse Williams announced he was leaving Grey’s Anatomy in the middle of Season 17. He starred as Jackson Avery — one half of fan favorite couple Japril — for 12 seasons before he and showrunner Krista Vernoff agreed the character needed to change his environment. Jackson moved to Boston to run his family’s Catherine Fox Foundation, while Williams made his debut on the Great White Way. He’s starring alongside Patrick J. Adams and Jesse Tyler Ferguson in Take Me Out, and the production just received a two-week extension amid rave reviews.

Despite the seemingly valid reason for the reduction in child support payments, that’s a huge financial change for Aryn Drake-Lee, who shares daughter Sadie, 8, and son Maceo, 6, with her ex-husband. Jesse Williams filed for divorce in 2017 after five years of marriage, and in 2018 he was ordered to pay more than $50,000 per month in child support in addition to the $50,695 per month in spousal support he’d been paying. Those payments were eventually reduced, and when their divorce was finalized in 2020, Williams agreed to pay $40,000 in child support every month, as well as over $100,000 in two spousal support payments.

The couple have battled in court over their custody agreement multiple times since splitting up, with a judge ordering them to participate in a “high conflict parents” program in 2021. They most recently came to an agreement last month, as the exes attempted to work their shared custody around the star's current schedule.

It sounds like their split continues to be a tough situation, and the family seems to be going through a lot of change right now. The actor has already lined up a couple of projects for when his Broadway stint is over, including a limited TV series adaptation of Take Me Out and the Hulu drama pilot Olga Dies Dreaming. We hope the best for the former couple and the children as they adjust. 

Grey’s Anatomy, meanwhile, continues without Jackson Avery and will return to ABC on Thursday, May 5, at 9 p.m. ET. In the meantime, check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what other premieres are coming soon.

Jesse Williams was a big part of Grey’s Anatomy for 12 seasons, and when he made the decision to leave the show in Season 17 — sending Jackson Avery to Boston to effect social change through the Catherine Fox Foundation — he left behind millions of fans clamoring for a Japril reunion. The actor also said farewell to a pretty nice and dependably steady paycheck as well, which seems to be an issue of contention between Williams and his ex-wife, Aryn Drake-Lee, as the actor is now reportedly having issues making his child support payments.

Aryn Drake-Lee and Jesse Williams share two children — Sadie, 8, and Maceo, 6 — from their five-year marriage. Williams paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees when they split in 2019, and agreed to continue paying child and spousal support. However, when he later filed paperwork requesting that his child support payments be reduced to reflect his now-much-lower income, his ex-wife responded none too kindly, per court documents obtained by Radar. In her eyes, leaving the lucrative life afforded by Grey’s Anatomy was his own decision, and if he can’t pay the agreed-upon $40,000 per month, then he shouldn’t have left the show. According to the docs:

In his request for reduced payments, Jesse Williams said his current gig — starring on Broadway in Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out — only earns him $1,668 per week, compared to the $6.2 million he made in 2019 alone on Grey’s Anatomy (plus $183,000 in residuals). He also said the amount he pays should reflect his children’s “actual lifestyle and not some exorbitant/imagined version.” Williams argued (per documents obtained by ET) that their children live a modest lifestyle:

It sounds like the former couple is in a really tough situation, and there are definitely arguments to be made for each party. Aryn Drake-Lee is right that Jesse Williams chose to leave the long-running medical drama, even though showrunner Krista Vernoff apparently agreed it was time for Jackson Avery to “change his environment.” On the other hand, uncertainty about Grey’s Anatomy’s future reportedly played into his decision, as Williams said he thought the show's end could have been imminent at the time. (Honestly, this could all be solved by a Jackson/April spinoff, so will somebody pull the trigger on this already?)

No ruling has yet been made regarding the actor's future child support payments, but we always hope that no matter what happens, the judgment is in the best interest of the children first. 

Grey’s Anatomy is in its 18th season, with at least one more to go after this one. The drama continues, sans Jackson Avery, at 9 p.m. ET Thursdays on ABC. Be sure to check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what new and returning shows are premiering soon.

When it comes to Grey’s Anatomy spinoffs, it seems like a question of “when,” not “if,” that universe will be expanded again. It’s already produced a couple of successful sister stories with Private Practice starring Kate Walsh running for six seasons and Station 19 recently being renewed for its own Season 6. Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew seem to be the fan favorites to lead such an endeavor, and that must be an idea that’s floated around the actors’ minds for a while as well, as they revealed recently that they pitched a series starring Jackson Avery and April Kepner back when both characters were still on the show. 

The idea of a spinoff featuring Jackson and April — “Japril” to their fans — has been floating around the fandom at least since Jesse Williams exited the show in Season 17. Even Ellen Pompeo, who plays the eponymous Meredith Grey, said she would watch a series starring the two of them. But it seems Sarah Drew and Jesse Williams themselves might have been the first ones to voice the idea. 

The Season 10 episode “Get Up, Stand Up,” featured a classic (and hilarious) scene in which Jackson declared his love for April in front of all of their family and friends — in the middle of April’s wedding to Matthew. April and Jackson ran away from the ceremony, gleefully hand-in-hand, but when the couple returned to Seattle as husband and wife, they were forced to face the consequences of their impulsive decisions. Fights between the two sullied what should have been their honeymoon phase. Sarah Drew told Insider that she and Jesse Williams worked on an idea to fill in the gaps of their relationship, including what happened after they drove away from April's wedding: 

While we didn’t get a spinoff series showing what happened in the aftermath of one of the most romantic wedding scenes in Grey’s Anatomy history — even if it did prompt Jesse Williams to call April “the real bad guy” of the story — Williams confirmed that their pitch was turned into the classic Grey’s episode “Unbreak My Heart,” or as it’s come to be known by fans, “Japril the Movie.” 

The Season 12 episode “Unbreak My Heart” told Japril’s love story, from their meeting at Mercy West hospital all the way to their eventual divorce, after which they found out April was pregnant again. Although fans remained hopeful that Jackson and April would reconcile someday, Sarah Drew left the show in Season 14, married to Matthew.

Hope was renewed, however, when Sarah Drew returned for the Season 17 episode, “Look Up Child,” in which Jackson showed up at April’s house and asked her to move to Boston with him, so that he could take over his family’s Catherine Fox Foundation and work to improve medical care for underserved communities. She agreed! And even though they didn’t get back together right then and there, the door was left open — both for their relationship and for the continuation of their story. 

It’s pretty amazing that as popular as the idea is for fan-favorite couple Japril to have their own spinoff, it was the actors themselves who came up with the idea first. Now we’ll just have to wait impatiently to see if we’ll get to see their story continue in Boston.

Grey’s Anatomy airs at 9 p.m. ET Thursdays on ABC. Check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what shows are premiering soon.

Grey’s Anatomy has seen a lot of actors come and go in its 18 seasons so far, but one benefit of the hit medical drama’s longevity is that it's also had ample opportunities to bring long-absent characters back. Whether from beyond the grave (a la McDreamy on the beach) or a simple return to Seattle (like Addison Montgomery this season), Grey-Sloan Memorial has maintained a revolving door for its doctors. Fan favorite Jesse Williams, who played Jackson Avery from Seasons 6 through 17, is among those keeping the door open, as he recently commented on if he’d consider returning.

Jesse Williams was one of three actors to leave Grey’s Anatomy in the middle of its 17th season. Jackson left Seattle to take over his family’s Catherine Fox Foundation in Boston, taking with him Tom Koracick (Greg Germann). Their departures followed Giacomo Gianniotti’s Andrew DeLuca being murdered in the spring premiere. Germann has already made a comeback, with Tom returning to help Meredith in Minnesota with her Parkinson’s trial, so can fans expect to see Williams follow suit? The actor told ET: 

Jackson fans can continue to keep their hopes up that we'll see the doctor again someday, especially since the character is just living a normal life in Boston, while his on-screen mother Catherine Fox (Debbie Allen) continues to appear on the show. While Grey’s Anatomy has shown it’s not afraid to bring characters back from the dead to make appearances — case in point, Meredith’s hallucinations in Season 17 that reunited her with husband Derek Shepherd, sister Lexie Grey and bestie George O’Malley — it’s always going to be easier to bring a character back to the show if they were NOT killed off. 

Of course, if we’re talking about seeing Jackson Avery, April Kepner (Sarah Drew) is going to be mentioned in the same breath (regardless of some f-bomb-worthy levels of villainy), and Jesse Williams also touched on the relationship he assumes his character still has with April, which probably doesn't sound as lovey as some fans might have wanted.

I think it’s safe to say there’s only one thing fans would want to see more than the return of “Japril” to Grey’s Anatomy, and that would be a full-blown spinoff featuring the two characters. Grey’s star Ellen Pompeo was even among those behind that idea, saying she’d watch a spinoff led by Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew.

Sarah Drew reprised the role of April Kepner for a guest appearance when it was learned that Jesse Williams was leaving the show. Would she do it again? Only time will tell, but someone else who’s recently expressed interest in returning to Grey-Sloan Memorial. Sara Ramirez, who played bisexual icon Callie Torres for 11 seasons, said they’d “absolutely” be down for a Grey’s Anatomy comeback, noting the show’s continued efforts to include trans and nonbinary characters.

Grey’s Anatomy fans sure do love to see their favorite doctors return to the longtime show, so we’ll continue to keep an eye out on Jesse Williams’ career, as he’s currently preparing to make a revealing Broadway debut in the revival of Take Me Out. In the meantime, Grey’s Anatomy airs at 9 p.m. ET Thursdays on ABC, and be sure to check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see when new and returning shows are premiering.

The fate of Grey’s Anatomy is up in the air in the midst of its 18th season, as series star Ellen Pompeo has been increasingly vocal about being ready to end the ABC show. While the medical drama that bears Meredith Grey’s name may indeed conclude when the actress who plays her leaves the hospital for the last time, the world that Shonda Rhimes created for world-class Seattle surgeons is definitely strong enough to live on under a new lead (or two). There’s one iconic couple who fans would love to see heading up a new spinoff in the Shonda-verse, and Pompeo herself has thrown her support behind the idea of a Japril follow-up.

Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) and April Kepner (Sarah Drew) were considered the ultimate endgame in the minds of the Grey’s Anatomy loyal. The iconic wedding scene where Jackson proclaimed his love for April in the middle of her wedding to Matthew lives on as one of the ABC drama’s most romantic moments. Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo said she'd be on board to see a new series about the couple, telling Insider there’s a good reason fans love Japril. 

Ellen Pompeo may think she’s been doing Grey’s Anatomy for too long, but there’s no doubt she still cares about these characters and the stories the show is telling. She understands why fans would love to see what happened between Jackson and April, as their situation was left open-ended regarding their last appearance on Grey’s Anatomy. 

Sarah Drew left the show at the end of Season 14, but made an appearance in Season 17 when Jesse Williams announced he would also be leaving. Jackson Avery made the decision to move to Boston to take over his family’s Catherine Fox Foundation and find a way to change the health system to better help marginalized communities. April — whose second attempt at her relationship with Matthew failed — agreed to move with Jackson so they could continue to coparent their daughter Harriet. 

They didn’t get back together or even kiss during the episode, but there was enough hope there to leave fans wondering. Just look at how great Jackson and April are together. Who wouldn’t want to see more of this?

Jesse Williams himself has said a spinoff with Sarah Drew that would follow the work they’re doing in Boston is an interesting premise, and it’s clear to fans how much the actors enjoy working together. Williams addressed fans’ wishes to see them reunite in a new series, saying:

Another Grey’s Anatomy spinoff is something that has always seemed like a possibility, after the years-ago success of the Kate Walsh-led Private Practice and firefighting companion show Station 19. Earlier this year, Jonnie Davis of ABC Signature sparked fan excitement when he talked about “the next phase of Grey’s Anatomy” but quickly walked back his statement, saying there were no spinoff conversations happening.

Still, the Japril idea does sound promising: strong story, fan support, Ellen Pompeo’s blessing. And with the way Grey’s Anatomy has been building up characters in Minnesota for Meredith and Amelia’s super secret Parkinson’s trial, it’s hard to imagine spinoff talks aren’t happening on some level. Which direction they would go with it — or them, since multiple spinoffs is hardly out of the question — is something we’ll have to wait and see. 

Grey’s Anatomy is on hiatus after a cliffhanger-heavy winter finale. The show will return to ABC for a crossover with Station 19 starting at 8 p.m. ET on February 24, 2022, when we’ll see if the firefighters can save Owen Hunt’s life. In the meantime, check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what’s coming up in the new year.

It’s arguably Grey’s Anatomy’s most dramatic wedding scene — and there are a lot to choose from — but the moment when Jackson Avery declared his love for April Kepner in the middle of her wedding to Matthew solidified “Japril” as one of fans’ favorite couples. Jesse Williams and Sarah Drew recently had fun looking back at the classic moment and the audacity Jackson and April had. This prompted Williams to drop an F-bomb and proclaim April as “the real bad guy” of the situation.

In Season 10’s “Get Up, Stand Up,” April was set for her big day with Matthew Taylor, with Jackson attending the affair with Stephanie Edwards. But fresh in Jackson’s mind were the words of the late Mark Sloan, who had given him the “If you love someone, you tell them” speech before tragically dying from his plane crash injuries. He took that advice — at just about the most inappropriate time imaginable — mid-ceremony. 

Looking back, Jesse Williams admitted Jackson’s actions weren’t great, but he stood by them, as he and Sarah Drew relived the moment in an interview with Insider. During the chat, Williams said the alternative would have been worse for all involved:

It’s true that it would have been a disservice to everyone if Jackson had continued a relationship with Stephanie while he knew his real feelings were for April. But in the grand scheme of things, the actor said, what his character did to Stephanie was nothing compared to April actually running out of her wedding with another man. The star broke down precisely why Jackson shouldn’t be the one to shoulder all the blame:

Sarah Drew didn’t even make Jesse Williams say it. She knew the truth — that April leaving Matthew at the altar like that was far more humiliating than Jackson abandoning Stephanie, who he wasn’t super serious with anyway. Drew finished her colleague's thought for him:

That love triangle continued to be a roller coaster for all involved as, after Jackson and April got divorced, April did end up marrying Matthew in a spur-of-the-moment decision in Season 14. That relationship didn’t last either, and the last we saw of our beloved Japril, April and their daughter, Harriet, were moving to Boston to be close to Jackson in his new position with the Catherine Fox Foundation. 

While the couple’s story was left open-ended, I’ve got to believe those two worked it out. Grey’s Anatomy, now in its 18th season, airs at 9 p.m. ET on Thursdays on ABC. Check out when your favorite shows’ fall finales are, as well as what’s set to premiere in 2022.

Jesse Williams is trading in his scrubs for another new TV role. The Grey’s Anatomy vet, who exited the long-running ABC medical drama last season, has joined new Hulu drama pilot Olga Dies Dreaming, alongside Aubrey Plaza and Ramón Rodríguez.

The drama pilot is based on the novel of the same name by Xochitl Gonzalez, according to Deadline, and follows a brother and sister following Hurricane Maria, as they deal with gentrification, an absent mother leaning toward radical politics, and their work amidst the elit of New York City. The brother and sister for the one-hour pilot will be played by Ramón Rodríguez, of The Affair fame, and Aubrey Plaza, known on the small screen for Parks and Recreation and Legion.

Jesse Williams, who portrayed plastic surgeon Dr. Jackson Avery on Grey’s Anatomy for twelve years, is set to play Mateo, who hails from Brooklyn and is a collector of a variety of things, ranging from objects to opinions. His genuine curiosity about anything and everything keeps him from rubbing people the wrong way as a know-it-all and won't conform.

The Grey’s Anatomy actor is keeping busy following his departure from the medical drama, and Olga Dies Dreaming is the second television project he has signed on for since leaving the ABC series. He will headline the limited TV series adaptation of the Tony-winning play Take Me Out, but will begin the role in the Broadway production that will feature him in his birthday suit. For the stage play and subsequent TV adaptation, Williams will portray mixed-race baseball player Darren Lemming.

Season 17 of Grey’s Anatomy was an emotional one, what with Meredith’s COVID-induced coma and DeLuca’s death, but the exit of Jackson Avery came as an unpleasant surprise for many fans of Jesse Williams, although many were excited by the news of the Japril reunion with the return of Sarah Drew as April Kepner. His big exit gave some closure to fans of the Jackson/April relationship, as April agreed to move to Boston with Jackson and their daughter to keep their family unit at the very least in the same city. And who knows? Even with Jesse Williams' new TV jobs, maybe that won't be the last fans see of Jackson and April.

Seeing Jesse Williams portraying a character who is not Jackson Avery will be hard to get used to but at least he won't be gone from the limelight forever! Who knows? Maybe a Grey’s Anatomy spinoff could even be in the works in the future. And since Williams’ new Hulu drama project is only a pilot at this point, any further developments could be a ways off. You can also revisit Williams' days as a doctor with Grey's Anatomy streaming on Netflix.

Considering Grey's Anatomy only had two episodes left to air in Season 17 following longtime star Jesse Williams' highly publicized exit on May 20, the ABC drama's fans didn't technically have very long to reflect on his absence within the show, and it's assumed that the Jackson Avery-sized void will be more of a noticeable element in Season 18 this fall. But the actor's fans need not feel as if he'll be missing from the medium forever, as Williams has already lined up his next big TV project.

As it happens, Jesse Williams will be taking on a familiar role for his return to TV, though perhaps not one as familiar as his Grey's Anatomy character. According to Deadline, the Image Award-winning actor is set to head up a limited series TV adaptation of the Tony-winning play Take Me Out, whose Broadway revival also stars Williams in the same (nudity-friendly) role.

In Take Me Out, Jesse Williams will portray Darren Lemming, a mixed-race baseballer playing for the (fictional) Empires in the early 2000s. Cue all kinds of drama when Darren decides to come out, which tends to be a controversial choice in the sports world, and Take Me Out will shine its outfield lights on the age-old prejudices and bigotries on display on the field, in the stands, and in the locker room. Caught within the struggle of wanting to be himself within the job that he loves, Darren faces a steep upward climb in squashing beefs with friends and teammates as the Empires embark on a successful season, all while coming to terms with the singularity of being a gay baseball player of color. It's definitely an important and meaningful story that Williams will no doubt excel at bringing to life .

Take Me Out's creator, playwright Richard Greenberg, will be the driving creative force behind the TV show as well, as he'll be adapting the play in episodic form. Greenberg first brought the project to the stage back in 2002 as an Off-Broadway show, but quickly made the jump to Broadway just five months later. It closed on January 4, 2004, after the cast and crew had put on 355 productions, winning three Tony Awards in 2003, and that includes Best Play.

The Broadway revival for Take Me Out was already set in stone back in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and caused delays across the entire entertainment industry. The current plan is for the revival performances to kick off at the Helen Hayes Theater in springtime 2022, with Second Stage Theater producing the stage version. On the TV side of things, Anonymous Content will be the studio in charge.

At this time, Jesse Williams is the only cast member who has been announced, though we do know that Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Weeds and Frasier vet Scott Ellis will be handling directing duties for the TV adaptation, just as he's doing for the Broadway revival. However, it's unclear at this point whether or not Williams' on-stage co-stars Patrick J. Adams (Suits) or Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) will be able to also join the small-screen iteration.

Jesse Williams joined the Grey's Anatomy cast back in 2009, likely without a clue just how impactful he and his character would be over the next 12 years on the ABC drama. Still, it was time to call it quits in 2021, and Williams did a good job of keeping things quiet until Jackson's exit became evident on the show itself. He hasn't ruled out future returns, and also doesn't seem to be against the idea of a Jackson spinoff, but it looks like Williams will be quite busy for the foreseeable future.

As Take Me Out continues its pre-production process, it's assumed that networks will start to line up in attempts to acquire the project in the near future. Meanwhile, Grey's Anatomy is just one of many highly anticipated shows making returns for the 2021 Fall TV schedule, so don't get left behind!

Following Jesse Williams’ surprising exit from Grey’s Anatomy in Season 17, the actor seems to be getting ready for a new role. While he won’t be sporting scrubs for his upcoming role, he is doing something that will probably excite fans. He's going to be sporting his birthday suit.

Jesse Williams is officially heading to Broadway for a revival of the play Take Me Out, in which he’ll be playing a lead. While speaking to tWitch on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the guest host brought up the fact that Williams’ role will require him to be naked on stage, to which the audience started applauding. Williams then shared his feelings about taking on the new role:

Jesse Williams’ new role definitely seems like a change of pace for the actor, after having played Dr. Jackson Avery on Grey’s Anatomy for 11 seasons. Playing the same role for years and switching to something else is not always easy, especially if the new role calls for doing something drastically different. However, it looks like Williams is just as excited for this new adventure he’s embarking on and, with Broadway officially back in business, it hopefully won’t be long before he’s seen baring it all on stage.

Jackson’s Grey’s Anatomy departure was a surprising one, but the reason for it wasn’t so surprising. Jackson decided to leave Grey Sloan in order to head the Fox Foundation, ultimately asking April to bring Harriet and come with him. April obliged, Jackson handed in his resignation and said his goodbyes. He headed off to a new adventure, but not before Tom Koracick begged Jackson for a job since he wanted to do something different with his life. The exit brought some closure for Japril fans and also hope for a spinoff, a show that Jesse Williams would be on board for.

It will be interesting to see Jesse Williams in a new role after seeing him as Dr. Jackson Avery for so long, especially if it means that he’s going to be wearing a lot less on Broadway. So far there is no word on when this new play will be making its Broadway debut, but we'll be sure to keep you posted on more of Williams' next steps as news becomes available.

Meanwhile, Grey's Anatomy Season 18 will premiere on ABC this fall.

Grey's Anatomy fans spent much of Season 17 with the suspicion that Ellen Pompeo's Meredith could get killed off, thus bringing the show to an end without a Season 18 renewal. Things didn't pan out in quite that way, however, as Meredith survived her COVID coma and will be back for more when the new season hits in the fall. What many viewers didn't see coming, though, was the swan song for Jesse Williams' Jackson Avery, who vacated the series with Episode 15, which also featured the final appearance (so far) from Greg Germann's Tom Koracick. The question now is whether or not fans should hold out hope for a Jackson-centric spinoff drama.

Considering Jackson's final episodes brought back Sarah Drew's April, and that the narrative saw them both heading off to Boston to take over the Catherine Fox Foundation, the breadcrumbs are there for a separate spinoff tale to exist, should everyone involved be interested in taking things in that direction. And shockingly enough, Jesse Williams seems to be theoretically on board with the concept. Here's how he put it when asked by Insider about his reaction to fans clamoring for more:

Power to Jesse Williams for giving fans almost exactly what they wanted to hear, as opposed to offering a more cagey reply, which is what the majority of other actors do in similar situations. Instead of saying he'd been playing Jackson for so many years and just needed to find something new to dive into, Williams implied he totally understands why fans would be so eager to continue watching his character in a new setting, and I'm betting that interest would be three-fold if Sarah Drew's April was indeed part of the fun.

Granted, Jesse Williams can also say he'd be interested in taking on a Grey's Anatomy spinoff in which Jackson Avery is now a giant mecha-kaiju solving mysteries for a magical warlord from space, and it wouldn't mean that project is actually happening. In fact, there's room to believe that Williams could be so candidly interested in the idea of a Japril spinoff precisely because he knows how slim the chances are that such spinoff plans will ever come to fruition. It would make a lot of sense for the actor to be more open to talking about his character's potential future only if he was certain such a plan would never come together. Or at least not in the near-future.

Still, audiences probably won't hear The Blacklist's exiting star Megan Boone talking about a Liz-fronted spinoff at any point soon, so the fact that Jesse Williams is entertaining the idea at all is intriguing. He's clearly aware of how popular Grey's Anatomy is and probably knows just how much ABC would love to keep that franchise going for as long as possible. In his words:

One has to look no further than Criminal Minds to understand just how strong the hunger is for spinoff and revivals. While that show ended its 15-year run on CBS in 2020, the drama's studio relatively quickly began setting up a follow-up season for Paramount+ with returning cast members, based in part on Criminal Minds' streaming success on Netflix. So by all means, fans could very well be watching a new Japril-focused spinoff on ABC by next summer, should the creative and financial elements fall into place. But nobody get their hopes up until the rumor mill is actually up and running on this one.

Jesse Williams is certainly building up his career outside of Grey's Anatomy, also. Having appeared for a silly cameo in HBO's excellent A Black Lady Sketch Show, the actor recently signed on for a new film role opposite MCU stars Owen Wilson and Michael Peña, and he'll also be taking on a big Broadway role in 2022 in the Take Me Out revival. For now, though, fans can stream repeats of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix (Seasons 1-16) or Hulu (Season 17) while waiting for more awesome shows populating the 2021 Summer TV season.

Spoilers ahead for Season 17, Episode 15 of Grey’s Anatomy titled, "Tradition."

After the much-anticipated Japril reunion that more or less coincided with Grey’s Anatomy's Season 18 renewal, Jackson had made his decision to leave Grey Sloan Memorial in order to run the Fox Foundation and make some big changes. The episode "Tradition" featured Jackson saying his farewells to the hospital after a dozen years, and star Jesse Williams understandably had thoughts to share about the departure.

While many TV exits are made public well ahead of time, Jesse Williams' departure was kept under wraps for an impressive amount of time. Williams told Deadline why it makes sense for Jackson to leave after all these years, and why it’s so important:

Jackson Avery first came onto the scene at the beginning of Season 6, when Seattle Grace merged with Mercy West to create Seattle Grace Mercy West. Known as a legacy hire because of who his grandfather was, Jackson’s goal was to create a name for himself - and himself only - and not be known by his family. Fast forward 12 seasons, and Jackson became a famed plastic surgeon and part owner of Grey Sloan Memorial, but still wants to do more with the knowledge and privileges that he has. Before moving to Boston with April and Harriet to run the Fox Foundation where he feels he can make real change for equality, Jackson gave his resignation to Miranda, who was not happy about him leaving but was still as proud as can be.

It was a surprise when Jackson revealed he was moving to Boston to head the foundation, considering he never really wanted anything to do with it previously. But after the series injected the death of George Floyd and last year’s protests into its narrative, it was only natural for such social shifts to jumpstart Jackson into doing what he really wants to do with his career in the aftermath. Jesse Williams knows that Jackson’s exit is true to the character he’s created over the last 12 seasons, saying:

Jackson's farewell episode also included the exit of Greg Germann's Tom Koracick, who begged Jackson for a position at the foundation, as he wants to do more with his life after recovering from COVID-19. After what both Jackson and Koracick have been through, and knowing the reasons behind the character's choices, the departures aren't quite as surprising as they were in the moment. Still, Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital won’t be the same without them.

The final episodes of Season 17 of Grey’s Anatomy air on Thursdays on ABC at 9 p.m. EST.

Warning: spoilers ahead for Episode 15 of Grey's Anatomy Season 17 on ABC, called "Tradition."

An era of Grey's Anatomy ended with "Tradition" thanks to the departure of Jesse Williams as Jackson Avery after 12 seasons. He was the last man standing next to Meredith from their class of residents ever since Alex unceremoniously left in Season 16, and the last remnant of the Mercy West invaders since Sarah Drew was written out as April Kepner in Season 14. The good news is that Grey's Anatomy didn't kill him off a la George and or Derek or DeLuca, and his departure went down on screen unlike the mess with Alex. The bad news? Well... he's gone now, and fans had a variety of reactions.

Jackson's exit from Grey's Anatomy was almost uneventful, as he carried through with his decision in the previous episode to relocate to Boston to take control of the family foundation and fight for racial justice in medicine, having convinced April to bring Harriet and move along with him. He got some poignant, albeit brief, farewells with the key players – Richard, Bailey, Jo, and of course Meredith. It was emotional, but not devastating.

There were no catastrophes that got in the way of his departure, no last-minute health crises, and nothing too wild. There were quiet goodbyes, some flashback sequences that meant April appeared in the episode in some fashion, if not quite how I had imagined it. And he got to have some fun with Meredith and hired Tom Koracick to come to the foundation too, although not on the private jet. Fans were feelings all sorts of ways about how Grey's Anatomy said goodbye to Jackson, so read on for some standouts!

Jackson's departure might not have involved floods of tears from the characters, and Jackson may have been moving on to bigger and arguably even more important things, but that doesn't mean that fans watching from home had to keep their composure!

Jackson himself got choked up more than a few times, which is saying something considering he didn't even have to watch all the flashback montages that hit me pretty hard! Still, he's leaving for a good reason, similarly to how Cristina left at the end of Season 10, and certainly compared to the likes of the many who died on the show over the years.

Even if Jackson was leaving for a good reason, there was still some not-so-sweet sorrow in the fact that he was going to be gone by the end of the hour. And considering that the episode touted as Jackson's farewell didn't actually feature all that much Jackson, it makes sense for fans to want to hold on tight to him like Jackson held onto baby Harriet after April's near-death experience. (One of them, anyway.)

While the episode didn't include a lot of Jackson, he did get some lovely moments with Ellen Pompeo's Meredith as Meredith finally was able to return home after spending most of the season in a COVID coma. It involved a jailbreak from the hospital, with Jackson sneaking her out and racing her through the parking lot in a wheelchair to take her home. And it wasn't exactly his first experience with spoiling carefully-laid plans to run off with a woman!

Jackson sneaking Meredith out of Grey Sloan and driving off isn't exactly the same as Jackson interrupting April's wedding and then eloping with her, but the man has experience in making a break for it with women he cares about! And while Jackson leaving his friends from the hospital behind to go off with April isn't new, he's heading off to build a different life in Boston with their daughter.

In the grand scheme of things, Jackson leaving Grey Sloan Memorial hospital as the latest long-running character to bow out is sad, but at least Grey's Anatomy didn't kill him off or ruin his character to say goodbye. For me, even though I would have liked more of Jackson in Jackson's farewell episode, I can't really imagine a better way that the show could have written him off in Season 17.

And with that, Jackson Avery is gone from Grey's Anatomy! He is one of three series regulars to leave this season so far, along with Giacomo Gianniotti and now Greg Germann. At the same time, Season 17 has seen the returns of a lot of familiar faces, ranging from Sarah Drew's April Kepner to some characters who have been dead for years.

Grey's Anatomy has already been renewed for Season 18, so whatever the future holds without Jackson Avery, it will last for at least one more season. See the final episodes of Season 17 on ABC Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET, following episodes of Station 19 at 8 p.m. ET.

Spoilers ahead for Grey’s Anatomy Season 17, Episode 14 “Look Up Child.”

The May 6 episode of Grey’s Anatomy, “Look Up Child,” included the reunion that fans had been waiting a while for. When it was announced that Sarah Drew would be returning for a Season 17 episode, many fans were wondering how her reunion with Jackson would be portrayed on screen. And the final result was, for the most part, satisfying -- despite Japril not sharing a long-awaited kiss. Sarah Drew has now shared why she’s glad they didn’t and why she believes it was for the best.

Off screen Jackson and April see each other weekly to co-parent Harriet and do drop-offs but, on screen, Jackson paying April a surprise visit was not what she had planned -- and she was even more shocked by what he had to say. April also admitted that she and Matthew divorced, leaving her completely available. While it would have been the perfect opportunity for the two of them to kiss once they figured everything out, all they did was hug, but Sarah Drew tells The Hollywood Reporter that the former couple wasn’t even supposed to have any physical contact:

Because of COVID-19, TV and movie productions have had to take extra precautions to make sure the actors and crew members are staying safe. And that includes having less contact with each other for a scene. Though in this case, it might have worked out eve better. With everything that Jackson has asked April to do for him, them not kissing means that they’re going to take this slow. They always did things so quickly in their lives, and it never ended well.

This time, they can take it slow, really work on their relationship and be there for Harriett while making real changes in the foundation, together -- just like Jackson wants. April deciding to move proves that she cares for Jackson and supports him. Whether or not they do get back together may not ever be known, but this is closure for not only them but for the fans as well.

Jackson’s official farewell is in this Thursday’s episode and telling his colleagues he’s moving to Boston is not going to be easy. With Alex's departure last season and the loss of Deluca this season, Jackson marks the latest casualty, real or not, that Grey Sloan is going to have to live through. But at least this one is happier and makes you wonder what will happen in the upcoming 18th season.

Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST on ABC!

Grey's Anatomy is just days away from saying goodbye to another longtime cast member, but Jesse Williams' Jackson Avery is poised to get a much happier sendoff than Giacomo Gianniotti's DeLuca earlier in Season 17. The latest episode saw the return of Sarah Drew as April Kepner for the first time since Drew was written out in Season 14, delivering a Japril reunion that set up Williams' departure as Jackson as something positive. His big farewell episode is on the way, and I find myself wondering: could Sarah Drew make a surprise reappearance before the final credits roll?

Now, Sarah Drew was announced as returning for just the one episode, meaning that Jackson didn't have much time to convince April to come to Boston with him and their daughter so that he could run the Harper Avery Foundation, sweetening the deal with promises of resources to fund her projects. April ultimately agreed, and she even sweetened the deal further (for Japril fans, anyway) with the reveal that she and Matthew are no longer together.

The description for the next episode reveals that Jackson will share "the big news" of his departure with his colleagues at Grey Sloan, and the promo for the episode shows Jackson handing in his resignation and hypes it as "a farewell to Jackson." With his farewell episode airing right after Sarah Drew's return for a Japril reunion that will see the two characters head off to Boston together, isn't it conceivable that she filmed an extra scene for a cameo to send Jackson off to the next stage of his career and life?

Honestly, it would certainly beat Grey's Anatomy sending Alex off for a happily-ever-after with Izzie and breaking Jo's heart without having either Justin Chambers or Katherine Heigl on hand for any new scenes. Still, the Alex situation (such as it was) set a recent precedent for Grey's sending a major character off by reuniting him with his most famous love interest for the next chapter of their love story, and that makes me think the show could do it again, but better, with Japril. Surely Grey's would have brought back Justin Chambers and Katherine Heigl if possible, right? And Grey's just had Sarah Drew!

Plus, Grey's Anatomy brought back all those other characters this season to deliver some closure, even in death, and most of those were shockers. Throw in the fact that there was no guarantee that Grey's Anatomy would be renewed for another season when the episode featuring Sarah Drew's return was filmed, and I could 100% see Jackson and April heading off into the sunset in his farewell episode with both on screen. Sarah Drew was back to film the latest episode that aired, and I know I'd love to see her in the next.

Now, I can admit that I'm partly basing my hope for a quick Sarah Drew appearance in Jesse Williams' final episode on the events of another long-running medical show: ER. The show famously (and at the time, secretly) brought George Clooney's Doug back for a quick scene in Julianna Margulies' final episode as Carol as a series regular, just long enough to give them a happy ending together on screen.

Less famously but still relevant to the idea of Sarah Drew appearing one last time on Grey's Anatomy was the final ER episode of Maura Tierney's Abby Lockhart as a series regular, when Goran Visnjic returned for a cameo to show that Abby would get a happy ending with his character and their child... in Boston, of all places.

Even as somebody who wasn't watching ER live in the era of George Clooney and Juliana Margulies, and as somebody who preferred Abby with Carter, and as somebody who spent most of the Grey's Anatomy farewell to Alex watching in disbelief, I honestly think that a final Japril scene would be a wonderfully hopeful way to curb any sadness about the departure of Jackson. And it feels very possible, given Sarah Drew's recent return.

But I can also admit that possible doesn't exactly mean likely. Grey's Anatomy's third big Japril episode ended on a sweet and hopeful note for both Jackson and April, with both of them finally on the same page and ready to head to Boston with their fingers crossed for new horizons, and their adorable daughter in tow. If that was Sarah Drew's final scene on Grey's Anatomy, and the final Jackson/April scene, then I have nothing to be upset about.

Jackson leaving Seattle to use the Harper Avery Foundation's resources to fight for racial equity in medicine, April getting more resources for her own goals, and the little family unit more or less sticking together, is about the best way I can imagine Jesse Williams being written out without rushing anything. Assuming Grey's Anatomy doesn't deliver just about the worst twist imaginable by killing him off in his farewell episode, Jackson will have gotten one last big episode with April and one episode to say his goodbyes to Grey Sloan, which is pretty great with or without a surprise appearance from Sarah Drew.

In fact, I'd say that Sarah Drew's guest appearance after a few seasons away gave her a better sendoff than she got when she was written off as a series regular. Besides, Drew dropped some comments about a potential spinoff that at the very least make it fun to imagine what could come next for Jackson and April. ET reports that after Drew confirmed that she is "deciding" that Japril is endgame, she had this to say about potentially continuing their story in a new show:

Now, a spinoff is no more guaranteed than Sarah Drew turning up in Jesse Williams' final episode for an ER-esque sendoff a la Doug and Carol, but it's fun to consider in light of what has been kind of a bummer of a season of Grey's Anatomy. Even Meredith's reunions with her long-lost loved ones happened because she was potentially dying and they were dead, and Grey's Anatomy not time-jumping out of COVID like some other medical shows meant that the characters are still dealing with elements of the pandemic that the real world has recovered from.

For all of this speculation, the one thing that is confirmed is that Jesse Williams is leaving Grey's Anatomy after twelve years, getting an on-screen farewell that almost certainly isn't going to earn him a slot on any lists of Grey's Anatomy deaths. This could be more of farewell like what Cristina got than anything else, but we'll have to wait and see. His final episode airs on Thursday, May 20 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC, with the Season 17 finale soon to follow.

Spoiler alert! The following contains spoilers for Grey's Anatomy Season 17, Episode 14, "Look Up Child," so if you haven't watched yet, you might want to stop reading now.

Grey's Anatomy is about to lose another major character. The May 6 episode of Grey's Anatomy, called "Look Up Child," aired as news broke that Jesse Williams will be leaving the longtime ABC drama after 12 years.

Confirmation of Jesse Williams' departure came courtesy of THR as the episode was airing, and the episode set up the departure nicely. The episode showed Jackson Avery visiting his father at the bar where he works, where he talked about the injustices he's seen over the past year and wanting to spend more time with his daughter Harriet. His father called him out on wanting to walk away from the complications of a doctor's life.

The conversation got heated as the two were putting together boxed lunches, and Jackson cut his hand on a commercial meat slicer. While an injury to his hand would definitely be a catalyst for the exit of a surgeon on the show, the injury appears to be minor, and Jackson's exit from the hospital seems to be tied more to the work he thinks he can do for social justice if he moves to Boston to run the Catherine Fox Foundation.

Fans also got to see the long-awaited return of Sarah Drew as April Kepner, as Jackson showed up at April's house to find her struggling with their daughter Harriet, who is sick. It turns out he's there to tell April about his impending move to Boston, and he wants April and Harriet to go with him.

After arguing about this huge move that Jackson was asking April to make, she admitted that she had split from husband Matthew, and she agreed to go to Boston with Jackson.

For what it's worth, none of the chemistry between Jackson and April has been lost. Even watching them argue in "Look Up Child" felt familiar, and you could feel the history of everything they've been through. It's clear the characters have found a way to navigate co-parenting in a healthy way for their daughter. It's a shame we won't see anymore Japril on Grey's Anatomy.

This is the second loss of a series regular this season after Andrew DeLuca was killed in the spring premiere. Meredith Grey barely survived complications of COVID-19. All of this comes as troubling news for fans of the series, as the fate of Grey's Anatomy is unknown.

But while it's a blow for fans, the move makes sense for the trajectory of Grey's Anatomy, which has been tackling social issues, especially race, this season. Jackson Avery tells his mother he wants to devote every penny of the Catherine Fox Foundation to equity in medicine, including women's health and trans health.

Grey's Anatomy will return next week at 8 p.m. ET on ABC for a Throwback Thursday event featuring two fan favorite episodes. And in two weeks, don't miss the episode "Tradition," which will be Jesse Williams' final appearance on the series. As you get ready for this unexpected exit, be sure to check out our 2021 TV schedule so you don't miss any of your other favorite shows.

This current season of ABC’s long-running medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy, has been nothing short of reunions. Between the returns of McDreamy and McSteamy, as well as George and Lexie, the next return will be one that fans have been waiting what seems like forever for. With Sarah Drew returning to the drama as Dr. April Kepner in this week’s episode, fans will be getting the Japril reunion they've waited a while for, and the actress was more than delighted to get back into it.

Sarah Drew exited Grey’s Anatomy at the end of the Season 14 finale. April decided to leave Grey Sloan Memorial for something more religiously fulfilling, and she ended up marrying paramedic Matthew Taylor. In the upcoming episode, Jackson (Jesse Williams) pays April a surprise visit, and Drew couldn’t help but gush to TVInsider about her experience on set and getting to jump back into the dynamic between Jackson and April, who have a long history with each other:

While Jackson’s visit is surely a surprise, Drew confirmed that April is still in Seattle and that the pair see each other most likely twice a week, as they are still co-parenting their daughter, Harriett. Even though nothing much has changed between the two, that doesn’t mean the reunion between the two exes still won’t be emotional, especially for the fans who haven’t seen them together since April left.

In March, Sarah Drew shared pictures from set that showed he reuniting with Jesse Williams, and it sent Japril fans into a frenzy. And it looked as if that dynamic between Jackson and April, as well as Drew and Williams, hasn’t changed one bit, despite Drew leaving the series three years ago. Even though fans shouldn’t expect too much out of the Japril reunion, since it won’t be much of a reunion for the characters, it will still be nice to see them together once again after a few seasons.

Whatever happens between Japril, and whether or not lingering feelings will be revealed or kept secret, fans will find out soon enough! Don’t miss Sarah Drew’s return to Grey’s Anatomy on Thursday, May 6 at 9 p.m. EST on ABC!