Michael Weatherly Had a Huge Problem With How Shonda Rhimes Handled ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Grey’s Anatomy was once one of television’s hottest shows, attracting a dedicated and loyal fanbase. NCIS star Michael Weatherly considered himself a part of Anatomy’s large audience. But Weatherly was soon turned off by the show, feeling that the series fumbled its story with one major character.

Michael Weatherly once opened up about his issues with ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

As much as Weatherly might’ve enjoyed Grey’s Anatomy, the show perhaps made him appreciate NCIS more than he already did. NCIS had a reliable formula that kept viewers tuning into the show. But that didn’t mean it was afraid to shake up its narrative every once in a while. Earlier in the series, Weatherly couldn’t help be excited at the thought of NCIS venturing into newer, surprising directions.

“I think they’re going to blow s*** up this season. And I mean like blow up character stuff. I think they’re going to subvert expectation. I don’t think this is another year of here is your standalone episode and I think this is the year when you get uncomfortable,” Weatherly once told TV Fanatic.

But he didn’t want to subvert expectations in a way a series like Grey’s Anatomy did. Weatherly was a longtime viewer of the series, and an admirer of Shonda Rhimes. But he didn’t agree with how the show sent off Patrick Dempsey’s character.

“And I tweeted about this last year but I don’t like…I mean, Shonda is fantastic…but I don’t like what they did with Dempsey [on Grey’s Anatomy] just as a viewer. I just feel like there were more creative ways for Meredith to deal with that situation and more dramatic ways,” he said. “To me, it felt small, petty, mean and personal. ‘We’re going to kill Patrick in a car crash because he likes to race cars.’”

Michael Weatherly didn’t believe ‘NCIS’ would ever repeat ‘Grey’s Anatomy’s’ mistakes

Weatherly felt there was a chance he might’ve been overreacting without knowing the full details of Dempsey’s surprising exit. But the show’s direction made him reflect on his own experience with NCIS, and how professional it’s been. So much so that he couldn’t imagine NCIS treating a character the way Grey’s Anatomy treated Dempsey’s.

“To me, and maybe I’m reading into it, but to me it was overt and maybe they had problems with Patrick – but it was personal and to me that’s not good storytelling,” he continued. “I want and what I like about NCIS is we believe these are real characters in this story and however Sean Murray feels about Pauley Perrette or whatever a person feels about another person shouldn’t influence the story of a TV show so I’m very proud of what our show has always done which is story first.”

Why Patrick Dempsey ended up being axed from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

It turned out that Dempsey’s departure from Grey’s Anatomy might’ve been more controversial than anticipated. Author Lynette Rice wrote a book about the behind-the-scenes scandals of Grey’s Anatomy in the book How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy. There, it was alleged that Dempsey created an uncomfortable work environment for the cast and crew. So much so that producer James D. Parriott had to be brought in to mediate the situation.

“Shonda needed an OG to come in as sort of a showrunner for fourteen episodes,” Parriott said. “There were HR issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of PTSD with him,”.

Parriott further claimed that Dempsey might’ve already wanted off the show, and he’d often clash with showrunner Rhimes. It soon came down to an ultimatum where the studio had to choose between Dempsey and Rhimes. After the latter was chosen, it was decided to write Dempsey off the show in a rushed but necessary way.