WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Station 19 season 1 that may influence your enjoyment in discovering the plotlines. Read at your own risk.
Station 19 season 3 on ABC is gearing up for a big return in the 2019-2020 TV calendar. When it's back on the air, network bosses confirmed that the series will feature more of its shared universe with Grey's Anatomy season 16.
In a panel with the TV press, ABC boss Karey Burke said that Station 19season 3 will have weekly crossover events with Grey's Anatomy season 16. This means that the main characters of these two productions, including star Ellen Pompeo, will be going back and forth each other's turf that will seemingly feel like a two-hour TV spectacle, per Deadline.
Station 19 season 3, however, will not start its run until 2020. ABC has released its 2019 Fall TV schedule and the show is not yet in the line-up for Thursday nights. Instead, A Million Little Things will kick off the Thursday 9:00 p.m. slot this coming September so Station 19 season 3 will likely take over this time schedule by mid-season or in early January or late February 2020.
Meanwhile, Station 19 season 3 will have a new showrunner in Krista Vernoff, who will take over series creator Stacy McKee. Vernoff is also the showrunner for the mother series thus putting her more in control of the shared universe.
"I'm thrilled to continue at the helm of Grey's Anatomy, and I'm honored and energized by the opportunity to run Station 19, as well," the scribe said in a statement, per The Hollywood Reporter. "To expand upon the world Stacy McKee created, and further merge it with the world of Grey's, is an exciting challenge."
Crossovers between Station 19and Grey's Anatomy aren't new. In fact, both shows aired a major event last May 2 that unexpectedly killed off Chief Lucas Ripley (played by Brett Tucker), a major character.
The cast revealed that the character's death had been in the plans for weeks before the episode aired. Barrett Doss, who plays the chief's fiancée, Vic, explained to TV Guide that it was quite heartbreaking to film but it had been a satisfactory ending for the character.
Station 19 follows a group of first responders and firefighters working just across the Grey-Sloan hospital in the shared universe. Developed in 2017, the show was introduced with a backdoor pilot on Grey's Anatomy in March 2018 and debut its 10-episode first season a few weeks later. Its second season, which ran from October 2018 until May 2019, picked up with ratings hence the third season commitment.
