Grey's Anatomy Eyes Shortened Season Due to COVID - But How Short?

In recent years, Ellen Pompeo and Co. had been churning out roughly 24 episodes per season.

A promo for the next episode of Grey's - airing on Thursday, December 3 - teased that another character from Meredith's past will be returning.

Season 17 of Grey's Anatomy is surprising all fans of the show, but it is also bringing in more viewers for the story of Dr. Meredith Gray and the return of her late husband Dr. Derek Shepherd.

The 51-year-old actress who stars as Dr. Meredith Grey on the ABC show uploaded a tweet Thursday with a throwback still of Meredith and Izzie, played by Katherine from 2005 to 2010.

'Hey it's Grey's day!,' Ellen wrote along with the photo from season three.

@KatieHeigl will come back! When she has taken a trip down memory lane, one fan replied, while another asked, "is this a hint Izzie's coming back?" Ellen's tweet came three days after former castmate Isaiah Washington reignited his longtime feud with Katherine, more than a decade after he was sacked from the show.

Although an ABC insider maintains that the fluid nature of the coronavirus pandemic makes it impossible to establish a firm episode count on Grey's (or any currently-in-production scripted series, for that matter), TVLine has learned that the top-rated medical drama is eyeing a 16-episode run for its current 17th season. It wouldn't make her the first OG cast member to boomerang back to the show: Patrick Demsey's Derek is making guest appearances this season.