ABC Chief Craig Erwich Talks ‘Grey’s Anatomy’s Future: “The Show Is Creatively As Strong As It’s Ever Been”

Ahead of ABC‘s Grey’s Anatomy‘s 20th Season premiere on March 14, Craig Erwich, President of Disney Television Group that includes ABC Entertainment, spoke about the show’s future during the network’s TCA presentation on Saturday.

“Right now, our focus is on the immediate future of Grey’s Anatomy, which is celebrating its 20th season, a remarkable achievement, creatively and for the network, the audience and the creators,” Erwich said.

As for Grey’s Anatomy‘s longer-term future, “I think the show is as creatively strong as it’s ever been,” Erwich said. “Not just the live [episodes] you are watching today, but it’s fueling growth for our streaming platform.”

As Deadline reported in December, previous seasons of Grey’s Anatomy will be made available for the first time on a Disney streaming platform when they make their debut on the bundled Disney+/Hulu app and the standalone Hulu service starting in March. The current seasons of the show — the longest-running medical drama on TV — also are available next day on Hulu, making this the first time all existing seasons of the Grey’s are available on the same platform.

“I’m really looking forward to when Grey’s comes on and we get the past seasons on Disney+, that seamless experience,” Erwich said.” And then for people who are still starting with Episode one 20 seasons ago, they can watch it all the way through and are concurrently participate in the conversation that the show generates on a weekly basis.”

In his opening remarks, Erwich noted that “Grey’s was Disney+’s #1 show globally, with over a billion hours streamed.:

As was announced earlier this morning, some familiar faces are set to return in the milestone Season 20 of the hit medical drama including Jessica Capshaw and Alex Landi. They will reprise their original roles of Dr. Arizona Robbins and Dr. Nico Kim, respectively.

Capshaw joined the cast in Season 5 and remained until Season 14, when Arizona left Seattle during the finale to move to New York so that her daughter Sophia could be closer to her other mom, Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez).

Landi recurred on the show from Seasons 15 to 18, before exiting in May 2022. While he was on the show, he was in an on-again off-again relationship with his co-worker Dr. Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli), who is still on the show.

Additionally, Grey’s Anatomy is also adding two new faces, Natalie Morales and Freddy Miyares.

Following Ellen Pompeo’s departure as a series regular last season, her Dr. Meredith Grey will also return as a guest next season.