'Grey's Anatomy': Eric Dane Leaving Show

Subject: 'Grey's Anatomy': Eric Dane Leaving Show Sat 28 Jul 2012, 7:48 am

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/07/26/greys-anatomy-eric-dane-leaving-show/

McSteamy is checking out of Seattle Grace.

EW confirms a report that Eric Dane, who has played plastic surgeon Mark Sloan on the show since its second season, will leave Grey’s Anatomy during the upcoming ninth season. He will return for a number of episodes to close out his character’s arc.

“After much consideration and conversations, he and I have decided that this is the right time for his storyline to end,” creator Shonda Rhimes told TVLine. “We’re a big family here at Grey‘s with a long history together and Eric will always remain an important part of our family.”

“I am extremely grateful to everyone at Grey’s, ABC and Shondaland for the experience and memories I have had over the course of this run,” Dane said, in a statement. “It has been wonderful to work alongside and learn from a creative force, such as Shonda Rhimes.”

At the end of the eighth season, Dane’s character was seen in duress after the big plane crash that claimed the life of Lexi (Chyler Leigh) and left him seriously injured. The finale also saw the departure of Kim Raver’s Teddy.

Subject: Re: 'Grey's Anatomy': Eric Dane Leaving Show Sat 28 Jul 2012, 10:07 pm

I think he should have left when Mcdreamy's first wife left after their little storyline ended.

Subject: Re: 'Grey's Anatomy': Eric Dane Leaving Show Sun 29 Jul 2012, 2:14 am

I don't watch the show I just figured it was news that should be passed along to the forum.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/07/28/greys-anatomy-shonda-rhimes-eric-dane-season-9/

Eric Dane’s recently announced exit from Grey’s Anatomy may have caught fans by surprise, but creator Shonda Rhimes wasn’t quite as blindsided.

“It was a thing that Eric had been thinking about for a while, but it felt like the right time to him” she tells EW. “I love Eric, and Eric and I have been working together for a very long time, so it was bittersweet. I’m happy he’s going to go on and do other things, but I’m really sad to not be able to work with him every day.”

Creatively, the timing was also right. After last season’s plane crash, which claimed the life of Lexi Grey (Chyler Leigh), many fates — including that of Dane’s character Mark Sloane — were left up in the air. And though Dane is slated to return for two episodes in the upcoming ninth season, Rhimes says his imminent appearance should not necessarily be considered a nod to his fate on the show, especially in light of the unique format of the season’s first episodes.

“When we start the season, we are ahead enough in time where we see the outcome of lots of things. And in the second episode of the season, there’s rewind — we go backwards — to where they’re still in the forest,” she shares. “So you see what happened and in the next episode, you see how we get there. That was a really great experiment for us, and we think it turned out really really well.” This approach, she says, allowed them to tackle the crash aftermath in a way that felt different from what fans saw after the equally traumatizing hospital shooting a few seasons ago.

The third episode will resume the timeline seen in the premiere, and looking ahead, she says she’s planning on using Dane’s absence to bring Justin Chambers and Jesse Williams to the forefront in a big way. “The loss of ‘McSteamy’ [Dane] is going to leave a giant hole in our world in terms of — for lack of a better phrase — man whore-ness. I’ve told the actors who play Alex and Jackson [Chambers and Williams] that we need some leading men here. We need to add to that pool, and they’re going to step up,” she says. “I think the breed of what Eric Dane did can never be replaced, but I do think there’s some room for some men at the hospital to spread their wings. We haven’t seen that in a while.”

That includes, she adds, a possible love for Alex (“I’m looking for Alex to find his person”) and exploring the dynamic between Jackson and newly devirginized April (Sarah Drew). “I think it’s going to be funny, sexy, and good,” she says.

Subject: Re: 'Grey's Anatomy': Eric Dane Leaving Show Mon 30 Jul 2012, 12:24 am

it seemed like the right time for him to leave.

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