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. He plans a proposal and executes it, right when she decides she needs some time for herself as she feels he's not in her corner.
 * 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 wanting to improve her marriage with Jackson; she discovers her second pregnancy after signing the divorce papers.
 * 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.
 * Penny 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.
 * Meredith is brutally attacked by a patient and has a painful recovery process.
 * After several discussions, Meredith kicks Amelia out of the house and Amelia breaks her sobriety. During Meredith's recovery, she returns to AA meetings.

Main Cast

 * Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey (14/14)
 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev (14/14)
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey (14/14)
 * James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber (13/14)
 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres (14/14)
 * Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt (13/14)
 * Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins (14/14)
 * Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner (14/14)
 * Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery (14/14)
 * Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd (14/14)
 * Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson (14/14)
 * Jerrika Hinton as Dr. Stephanie Edwards (13/14)
 * Kelly McCreary as Dr. Maggie Pierce (14/14)
 * Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren (13/14)
 * Martin Henderson as Dr. Nathan Riggs (9/14) (as of The Me Nobody Knows)
 * Giacomo Gianniotti as Dr. Andrew DeLuca (13/14) (as of All I Want is You, recurring previously)

Recurring Guest Stars

 * Debbie Allen as Dr. Catherine Avery (2/14)
 * Joe Adler as Dr. Isaac Cross (9/14)
 * Joe Dinicol as Dr. Mitchell Spencer (4/14)
 * Samantha Sloyan as Dr. Penelope Blake (10/14)
 * Debra Mooney as Evelyn Hunt (1/14)
 * Drew Rausch as John Finch (1/14)
 * Robert Baker as Dr. Charles Percy (1/14)
 * Skyler Shaye as Katie Bryce (1/14)
 * Scott Elrod as Dr. Will Thorpe (2/14)
 * Vivian Nixon as Hannah Brody (1/14)

Prominent Guest Stars

 * Lindsay Kay Hayward as Jade Bell
 * Maya Stojan as Tatiana Flauto
 * Casey Wilson as Courtney Hall
 * Rita Moreno as Gayle McColl

Recurring Co-Stars

 * Nicole Cummins as Paramedic Nicole Cummins (1/14)
 * Maria Elena Maglaris as Nurse Maria (1/14)
 * Aniela Gumbs as Zola Grey Shepherd (1/14)
 * Gordon James as Nurse Gregory (1/14)

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.
 * Shonda Rhimes called this season the season of rebirth and stated it would be much lighter of tone.
 * Filming started 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.
 * This season saw several changes to the main cast compared to last season, having 16 regular cast members, the largest number in the show's history:
 * Jason George was upped to series regular, whilst having portrayed Dr. Ben Warren as a recurring guest star since season six.
 * Martin Henderson was added in the sixth episode of the season as Dr. Nathan Riggs. He's the first cast member to date to be added to the main cast without having made a few guest appearances first. His addition to the main cast was announced on June 15, 2015.
 * Giacomo Gianniotti was promoted to series regular half-way throughout the season while having recurred since season eleven as Dr. Andrew DeLuca.
 * Like season 11, season 12 features a winter finale, which is 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.
 * All I Want is You has no voice over either.
 * April Kepner did the voice over for Unbreak My Heart.
 * Academy Award winner Denzel Washington will make his television director debut on the ninth episode.
 * Ellen Pompeo cut her hair this season because it was all fried, so it needed to be cut.
 * 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.
 * The table read for the fifteenth episode took place on January 6, 2016. The last day of filming for episode fifteen was January 19, 2016.
 * The table read for the sixteenth episode took place on January 18, 2016.
 * The table read for the seventeenth episode took place on January 29, 2016.
 * The table read for the eighteenth episode took place on February 8, 2016.
 * The table read for the nineteenth episode took place on February 19, 2016.
 * The table read for the twentieth episode took place on March 3, 2016.

Spoilers

 * Wilmer Valderrama will appear in a multi-episode arc as Kyle Diaz, starting in an episode airing in early April.