Season 12 (Grey's Anatomy)

The twelfth season of Grey's Anatomy premiered on September 24, 2015 and will consist of 25 episodes. It is broadcast on Thursday nights at 8 PM on ABC as part of the TGIT lineup.

Plots

 * After Richard and Catherine's wedding, Maggie and Amelia move along with Meredith to her former house.
 * She starts to give an anatomy class to new interns and is named head of General Surgery.
 * Alex and Jo move to a loft.
 * Bailey becomes the new Chief of Surgery.
 * Callie is looking for a new love interest.
 * Owen and Amelia's relationship begins to develop.
 * Arizona is getting a roommate.
 * April returns from Jordan willing to improve her marriage with Jackson.
 * Stephanie begins to move up in the hospital.
 * Meredith, Maggie, and Amelia throw a dinner party where Callie introduces her new girlfriend Penny, one of the doctors who worked on Derek when he died.
 * She transfers her surgical residency to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, causing tension between the attendings.
 * Bailey hires Nathan Riggs, a colleague and friend of April's from the army. Nathan appears to have a negative history with Owen.

Main Cast

 * Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey (7/7)
 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev (7/7)
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey (7/7)
 * James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber (6/7)
 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres (7/7)
 * Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt (6/7)
 * Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins (7/7)
 * Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner (7/7)
 * Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery (7/7)
 * Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd (7/7)
 * Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson (7/7)
 * Jerrika Hinton as Dr. Stephanie Edwards (7/7)
 * Kelly McCreary as Dr. Maggie Pierce (7/7)
 * Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren (6/7)
 * Martin Henderson as Dr. Nathan Riggs (2/7) (as of The Me Nobody Knows)

Recurring Guest Stars

 * Debbie Allen as Dr. Catherine Avery (1/7)
 * Giacomo Gianniotti as Dr. Andrew DeLuca (7/7)
 * Joe Adler as Dr. Isaac Cross (6/7)
 * Joe Dinicol as Dr. Mitchell Spencer (3/7)
 * Samantha Sloyan as Dr. Penelope Blake (4/7)

Prominent Guest Stars

 * Lindsay Kay Hayward as Jade Bell

Recurring Co-Stars

 * Nicole Cummins as Paramedic Nicole Cummins (1/7)
 * Maria Elena Maglaris as Nurse Maria (1/7)

Notes and Trivia

 * ABC officially renewed Grey's Anatomy for its twelfth season on May 7, 2015.
 * This season will be the first one not to feature Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd.
 * During the ABC Upfronts of 2015, it was confirmed that season 12 would not be the last season of Grey's, as the network wants it to keep going for many years to come.
 * Filming was scheduled to start on July 22, 2015.
 * As of this season, Debbie Allen is an executive producer, meaning she's always around on set. This will likely result in more guest appearances as Catherine Avery, as the writers now don't have to take Debbie's availability into account before writing her into an episode.
 * Despite being a recurring character since season six, this is the first season to feature Jason George as a series regular.
 * Like season 11, season 12 features a winter finale, which will be the eighth episode.
 * The music of this season will primarily be covers of more recent pop music.
 * This is the first season not to feature the Dream House since its construction in season seven.
 * For this season, advertisers have to pay $157,609 to air a 30-second ad during the commercials during episodes.
 * A party for the 250th episode was held on September 15, 2015 with a cake and all of the cast and crew present.
 * All voice overs this season are narrated by Meredith Grey. Most of them are interconnected with her anatomy class.
 * Guess Who's Coming to Dinner has no voice over
 * Academy Award winner Denzel Washington will make his television director debut on the ninth episode.
 * This season introduces Martin Henderson as a new series regular. His addition to the main cast was announced on June 15, 2015, but it wasn't until the sixth episode that he appeared.
 * The cast and crew had a BBQ on July 12, 2015 to kick off the production of this season.
 * The table read for the premiere took place on July 15, 2015.
 * The table read for the second episode took place on July 28, 2015.
 * The table read for the third episode took place on August 6, 2015.
 * The table read for the fourth episode took place on August 24, 2015.
 * The table read for the fifth episode took place on September 2, 2015.
 * The table read for the sixth episode took place on September 14, 2015.
 * The table read for the seventh episode took place on September 28, 2015.
 * The table read for the eighth episode took place on October 7, 2015.
 * The table read for the ninth episode took place on October 14, 2015.
 * The table read for the tenth episode took place on November 6, 2015.
 * The table read for the eleventh episode took place on November 19, 2015.
 * Filming started on July 22, 2015.
 * Shonda Rhimes called this season the season of rebirth and stated it would be much lighter of tone.