*thank you to Disney for facilitating this trip in order to write this post.
I have a confession to make… I never watched Grey’s Anatomy. I know, I know – being one of ABC’s longest running shows it has to be awesome right? So awesome that it officially has a spin-off called Station 19 which airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.
The series follows a group of heroic firefighters of the Seattle Fire Department at Station 19 from the captain down the ranks to the newest recruit in their personal and professional lives. I chatted with Showrunner and Executive Producer Stacy McKee on the conception of Station 19:
“It seems like a really natural sort of extension of the Grey’s universe because it still involves medicine and in the background of all the Grey’s episodes, you see all of the first responders scooting into the breezeway, dropping off patients and then you know, really quickly we dispense with them and get them out of the scene so we could focus on the surgeon”
“But what about if we got back in the ambulance and drove away with them and then started to see what their life was like? What if there was a fire station, 3 blocks down from this hospital that we’ve been seeing for 13 years and they have a whole life that’s been going on this whole time too. What if we just shine a light over there so that was really sort of the beginning gestation of the idea and it’s just also just something really appealing to me.”
Jaina Lee Ortiz and Boris Kodjoe also joined in on the conversation.
“I signed onto the show the second I heard Shonda Rhimes is doing a spin off, I said yes, I don’t care what it is, just put me in. Luckily, I found out it was about firefighters, I went and met 2 female captains and I was like Oh my gosh, these ladies are bad-ass and they could do everything. They could be moms and work and still have a life and balance. And so just, it’s been I can’t even, it’s been a dream, it’s… Pinch me!”
Although Jaina is small in stature she has a strength that most women her size don’t have due to extensive firefighter training and even took the firefighter test, proving that she was able to do part of Andy.
Boris Kodjoe came on the show this season. As a cast member of another popular show Code Black he was known within the ABC family.
“I wanted to be a part of the show from the first episode as well. And unfortunately, that didn’t happen. So I had to wait patiently in the wings until it was possible and yeah, Code Black was cancelled on a Friday and I think I met with Stacy on a Monday and it was pretty much done Monday night.”
SO what will happen with the cast of Station 19? They wouldn’t say, but they did show us around the set which included a real fire engine. Check out the pics below!
Station 19 Airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC
