Grey's Anatomy Series' Forced Location Change Sabotages Shonda Rhimes' Ambitious Plan
Antonella Gugliersi (she/them) has been a feature writer for Screen Rant since 2021. While studying for her bachelor’s in Economics & Management, they started writing about movies and TV shows for Turin-based The Unconventional Mag. After a brief internship at TPI, she decided she wanted to pursue journalism and graduated with a degree in International Journalism from Brunel University.
The Grey’s Anatomy Texas-based spinoff being forced to change its filming location hinders the high-reaching plan of creator Shonda Rhimes. Co-created, executive-produced, and written by the Shondaland founder and Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Meg Marinis and also boasting Betsy Beers and Ellen Pompeo among its producers, the Grey’s Anatomy Texas spinoff was supposed to debut on ABC during midseason in the 2026-2027 TV cycle. However, it’s now set for a 2027-2028 TV season premiere after uncertainty regarding its filming location caused delays in its production.
Set in rural West Texas, the upcoming Grey’s Anatomy spinoff will focus on a team of doctors at a medical center unlike anything seen before in the Grey’s Anatomy universe, as the structure is the last chance for care for miles. Previous Grey’s Anatomy spinoffs were kickstarted by key characters moving away from Seattle or switching careers.
It’s unknown which Grey’s Anatomy character will act as a connection to the Texas-based spinoff, although some reports referred to Debbie Allen’s Catherine Fox as the link. Complete casting for the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff has yet to be announced, but Shondaland revealed that How To Get Away With Murder star Karla Souza was cast as Carolina ‘Lina’ Hall, a cynical doctor running the medical center.
Like the Grey’s Anatomy spinoffs that came before it, the Texas-based one was supposed to film in California. However, that is not going to be the case for the latest Grey’s Anatomy spinoff, which resulted in a delay that eventually moved its debut from the 2026-2027 TV cycle to the 2027-2028 one.
Grey's Anatomy Texas Spinoff Is Forced Out Los Angeles
Production for the Texas-based Grey’s Anatomy spinoff has been moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, after the show failed to secure a tax credit in California despite submitting the application twice. ABC's submission of a second application caused the show’s delay, as they needed to hear back from the state about the tax credit. Only once they heard they would receive none did production move to Albuquerque.
The development comes as a shock, as Shondaland shows typically film in California, including Grey’s Anatomy and all the spinoffs that preceded the latest one. Despite that, producer Betsy Beers explained that the history of loyalty to California didn’t matter when deciding whether to award them a tax credit, which prompted the move to Albuquerque.
According to Beers, the reason given for not awarding them the credit had to do with not providing enough jobs for them to be considered an asset to the state. Beers also claimed that a returning series would have had a better chance of securing a tax credit, while a brand-new show had very little, even for one as connected to Grey’s Anatomy as its spinoff is. Beers had only good things to say about filming in Albuquerque, but also specified that the objective is to film in California.
Grey's Anatomy: Texas' Spinoff Filming Location Makes Crossover More Difficult
Some Grey’s Anatomy spinoffs had more crossovers than others with the parent series, and it’s unknown whether the Texas-based medical drama planned to have many. Station 19 being closely connected to Grey’s Anatomy through Ben Warren and Miranda Bailey, coupled with its being set in Seattle as well, made crossovers exceptionally easy.
Even without knowing how many, the Texas-based Grey’s Anatomy spinoff surely planned to have some crossovers, and that would be even more important in its first season, when it’s being set up. Filming in different states makes the logistics extremely more difficult when planning crossovers, and in addition to that, the cost would also be higher, as travel would be involved for cast members and beyond.
The different filming locations also add another layer of difficulty when considering that Marinis is not only co-creator of the Texas-based Grey’s Anatomy spinoff, but also show-runner of Grey’s Anatomy. This makes things extremely hard for Grey’s Anatomy and its upcoming spinoff for the time being.
- Release Date
- March 27, 2005
- Network
- ABC
- Showrunner
- Meg Marinis
- Directors
- Rob Corn, Kevin McKidd, Debbie Allen, Chandra Wilson, Allison Liddi-Brown, Jeannot Szwarc, Tony Phelan
- Writers
- Shonda Rhimes, Julie Wong, Jen Klein, Tameson Duffy, Meg Marinis, Jase Miles-Perez, Jess Righthand, Sandra Hamada
-
Ellen Pompeo
Dr. Meredith Grey
-
Chandra Wilson
Dr. Miranda Bailey
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.