Grey’s Anatomy star Chandra Wilson confirms major season 23 episode change following cast cuts
Grey’s Anatomy is not only going through cast changes, but episode reductions too, Chandra Wilson has revealed.
During a recent appearance on the Chicks in the Office podcast, the 57-year-old American actress, who’s played the role of Dr. Miranda Bailey for over two decades, confirmed that there are going to be 13 episodes in season 23; however, there’s an exciting reason for it.
The ABC medical drama usually has a larger episode count, often ranging between 17 and 27, so this series is more on the reduced side.
But Wilson explained that the shorter season is tactical, and it’s all to do with the fact that the show is nearing its milestone 500th episode, and the timing needs to be just right.
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She said on the podcast: “500 is a really good number, and I kind of worked out how we were gonna do it. I said, so we’re doing 13 this season.
“If we implode that and actually do a 13 and a 14 in a two-hour season finale, that’ll put us at 80 at the end, right?
“So, now we only need 20, and we could do like a full 20-episode season next season, instead of 13, and that would be 500 at the end. Or do 19 and start Season 25 at episode 500.”
Following the news that this season is going to be shorter than usual, fans have been sharing their thoughts, and understandably, some are not happy.
One Redditor penned: “13 episodes is not enough to keep interest in the series, 18 should be a minimum.”
While a second agreed: “I think 13 might be the secured minimum number they're working with for now, but Meg Marinis said in an interview that was released after the premiere of season 23 that even she doesn't know the definite number yet. Maybe they're trying to squeeze a few more episodes out of it.”
A third pointed out: “I listened to this interview, and she was basically saying this season is 13 episodes because they are thinking about episode 500.
“They don’t want it to randomly fall in the middle of a season, so they are trying to get set up so it will be either the finale of a full 20-episode season or the premiere of Season 25 after 2 short seasons.”
As reported by US Magazine, the shift also comes as the show is adjusting to changes ‘behind the scenes,’ after new guest stars were announced, while old characters have left.
It was confirmed last month that Martin Martinez, Trevor Tordjman, and Sarah Levy would be joining the show as guest stars, while Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver, who portrayed the couple Owen Hunt and Teddy Altman for over 10 years, left the show following an emotional Season 22 finale in May - ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’.
Their characters decided to move to Paris together for Teddy’s work, and to try and finally make their on-and-off relationship work.
Following the cast cuts, Season 23 premiered on October 15, with new episodes dropping weekly.
Because of how long she’s been a core part of the show, Wilson has unfortunately had to see a lot of the OG cast members come and go, including Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh, and Justin Chambers.
She recently told PEOPLE Magazine: “I’m always sad when I lose my babies, because to me, they’re all my babies. I keep waiting for the days they come back and play with us.”
Wilson added: “You swear that when someone leaves, that’s it, we’re done. And then our new babies come in, and then we start investing as an audience, as well as the other characters on the show that then have new people to get used to.”
However, as devastating as it might be for fans, the actress admitted that it does reflect the reality of working in medicine.
“It is you come in, you learn, you train so that then you can move forward into whatever the next thing is. Very few people then continue on their attending career in the place where they were a resident,” she said.
Topics: Grey's Anatomy, Entertainment, TV And Film, Celebrity
Madison Burgess