The creator of The Resident accused ABC of ripping off her idea and recreating it as a Grey’s Anatomy spinoff set in Texas.
“If you are wondering what our business is like, listen up. I created The Resident. I sold and developed a pilot at ABC that was a cross between a western and a medical show,” Amy Holden Jones wrote via Threads on Wednesday, May 20. “Rural medicine was key. They loved it and kept it alive as all other pilots fell.”
Jones claimed the idea was “abruptly passed” on in late March.
“Now they have announced a deal with this exact premise with Shonda Rhimes,” she wrote. “This is not unique, it happens all the time.”
Jones clarified that she wasn’t taking it personally, adding, “It’s business. The quality of my work vs what they develop will be irrelevant. All that matters is their package and her name. Quality is not required to win.”
She continued: “There is zero protection for intellectual property. You can’t sue a giant corp. The WGA will do nothing. Shonda is a cash cow for them, too. I doubt she was told my pilot exists.”
Us Weekly has reached out to ABC for comment.
News broke on Tuesday, May 19, that ABC scored a follow-up to Grey’s Anatomy, which will be set in rural West Texas. Deadline confirmed that ABC has given a straight-to-series order to the untitled medical drama.
The upcoming series will be cocreated, written and executive produced by Shonda Rhimes and Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Meg Marinis. Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo also is executive producing the new offshoot, which will premiere midseason 2027.
According to the synopsis, the untitled spinoff is “an edgy drama about a team at a rural West Texas medical center — the last chance for care before miles of nowhere.” This would be the fourth series in the franchise following Private Practice and Station 19.
“I am incredibly excited to expand the Grey’s Anatomy universe,” Marinis said in a statement. “This opportunity will bring new characters and stories to life that will embody the same heart, emotion and connection audiences have loved from Grey’s for more than two decades — all set in my home state of Texas. I am so grateful to Shonda Rhimes for creating this dynamic world and feel so fortunate that I get to be a part of it.”
In addition to joining the larger Grey’s Anatomy world, the series will likely not focus on a regular character from the OG show. Kate Walsh’s Addison previously headlined Private Practice, and Jason George’s Ben was at the center of Station 19. Instead, it will be built around a new group of doctors but likely would be connected to Grey’s via one or more characters — potentially Debbie Allen’s Catherine Fox.
The Resident, meanwhile, ran on Fox from 2018 to 2023 and focused on the lives and duties of staff members at fictional Chastain Park Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
