Why Grey's Anatomy's 300th Episode Was Record-Breaking in More Ways Than One

Showrunner Krista Vernoff explains the unique way the ABC hit's milestone episode earned itself a place in the record books

By Billy Nilles Nov 10, 2017 4:35 PMTags
Watch: "Grey's Anatomy" Cast on 300th Episode Milestone

Grey's Anatomy made history last night.

The long-running ABC drama, now in its 14th season, aired its 300th episode, making the Shonda Rhimes-created medical soap the first series in the network's history to ever hit one of the most rarefied milestones in TV. The series now joins a selective club that counts other prolific shows such as Law & Order: SVU, NCIS and CSI among its members. (One cast member even predicts it'll be the last TV show to ever do it, too.) And as showrunner Krista Vernoff shared on Twitter following the big episode's debut, the way Grey's did it is record-breaking in its own right.

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"Dear Hollywood," her tweet began. "Regarding #GreysAnatomy #Greys300." Attached was an empowering note about the sheer magnitude of women running the show, while she also pointed out the differences between Grey's and those other modern shows in the 300 club. "Tonight's 300th episode of Grey's Anatomy was Written by a woman, Directed by a woman, Created by a woman, Line Produced by a woman, Edited by a woman, Showrun by women and starred a whole lot of women including the namesake lead Meredith Grey as played by Ellen Pompeo," she began. "It focuses on stories of friendship and loss and love and grief and celebration and victory and inspiration and forgiveness and grace.

"There are no murders, there was no shooting, the female characters were not secondary. It was (and will be) seen by many, many millions of people worldwide. It will be discovered by 200,000 new teenagers a month on Netflix. It makes a lot of money for ABC. Do not tell me that female artists are not bankable. Do not tell me that Hollywood is as it is for any reason other than stuckness. I am SO PROUD of this show, and of this hour of television!"

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.