When Station 19 returns on March 14 with its Season 7 premiere, it will be a bittersweet moment for fans. The episode titled “This Woman’s Work” will mark the beginning of the end for the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff, even as a petition to “Save Station 19” continues to garner signatures. ABC announced the firefighter drama would be canceled following its upcoming season, and new showrunners Peter Paige and Zoanne Clack opened up about the heartbreaking way they all found out.
As happy as I am that Station 19 is finally hitting the 2024 TV schedule, I’m still sad that the next 10 episodes will be its last. The show has created a loyal fanbase with its unflinching storylines and diverse cast of largely POC and LGBTQ+ characters. These, incidentally, are things that Peter Paige said made him a good fit as one of Krista Vernoff’s successors, but unfortunately the window for Paige and Zoanne Clack to make their mark is small. Paige told TVLine the cancellation news “pretty much” came hand-in-hand with their welcome. The showrunners said:
Zoanne Clack: We were what, two days into shooting the new episodes? And we got the call.
Peter Paige: I was at home. Weren’t you, too?
It turns out, Zoanne Clack was in a much more public place when her phone started blowing up. She recalled:
No! I was on a panel, in front of, like, 100 people. I kept getting calls, and I finally texted and said, ‘Is this important? I’m in front of people!’ And they were like, ‘OK, you can wait.’ And you know how sometimes after a panel people want to talk to you? [I didn’t do that,] I just got on the phone and then I was told. I called Peter as soon as I heard and was like, ‘Why did this happen?’ as I’m driving to Disney.
What a terrible time to learn that your TV series is ending. It sounds like she raced out of there too, and Peter Paige jumped in to explain how they tried to gather everyone as quickly as possible:
Basically, we got the news and were like, ‘Get the cast in, get the writers, get the crew assembled… Make sure they’re all going to meet us at lunch!’ Then we raced, raced, raced to tell them before there were any leaks. We wanted to make sure they heard it from us.
The showrunners were able to deliver the news to Station 19’s cast and crew themselves, with Peter Paige saying the cancellation hit headlines “like, three minutes” later. While the actors all seemed to be in good spirits when they returned to set, that meeting was a tough one, he and Zoanne Clack said, but at least they got to do it face-to-face, rather than by phone or Zoom. They said:
Paige: It was the world’s saddest in-person meeting. We managed to do it all in person.
Clack: We had a very interesting back and forth, Peter and I, trying to get out all the information through waves of tears.
Paige: And I’m racing over the hills. I’d yanked on pants, because I was working on a rewrite or something… Let’s admit it. In the post-COVID era, wearing pants for work is overrated.
Dang it, ABC, this is the humor and relatability that we’re being robbed of! In all seriousness, though, just hearing how important it was to the showrunners that they be the ones to inform the cast warms my heart and breaks it all at the same time.
As bittersweet as the moment will be, Station 19 fans will surely be tuned in for the Season 7 premiere, airing in a new timeslot, 10 p.m. ET Thursday, March 14, on ABC and streaming the next day with a Hulu subscription. We’ve also got a refresher if you need to remember where Station 19 Season 6 left things.
