ABC has renewed the hit medical drama Grey’s Anatomy for Season 20. The network also announced that executive producer Meg Marinis will take the reins as showrunner next season, replacing the departing Krista Vernoff.  The Season 20 renewal now extends Grey’s Anatomy’s record as the longest-running primetime medical drama in TV history (Grey’s premiered on ABC back in 2005).   The show currently ranks as ABC’s top entertainment series in the key adults 18-49 demographic.

Marinis has been an executive producer on Grey’s since Season 15, having started as a writer’s production assistant on the show back in Season 3, working her way up to staff writer and then to EP, writing a total of 35 episodes. She’ll take over for Vernoff, who announced her departure from Grey’s and Station 19 back in January. Vernoff said in a statement: “It has been the privilege of a lifetime to be entrusted to run Grey’s Anatomy for the past six years and Station 19 for the last four. The passion of the dedicated fandoms and the impact that these shows have on hearts and minds cannot be overstated. The amount of talent in these two extraordinary casts and these two brilliant writers’ rooms is beyond measure — and these crews work magic week after week.”

Grey’s star Ellen Pompeo is no longer a full-time cast member; however, she’s slated to return as Meredith Grey periodically, including for May’s season finale, set to air Thursday, May 18.  The current cast includes new faces introduced at the start of Season 19 to play the new class of first-year surgical residents; and other regulars including Chandra Wilson as Miranda Bailey, James Pickens Jr. as Richard Webber, Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt, Kim Raver as Teddy Altman, Kelly McCreary as Maggie Pierce, Anthony Hill as Winston Ndugu, Caterina Scorsone as Amelia Shepherd, Camilla Luddington as Jo Wilson, Chris Carmack as Link Lincoln and Jake Borelli as Levi Schmitt.

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