What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T2 WHATS UP! February 19 - 25, 2023 TV FEATURE BY SARAH PASSINGHAM TV Media T he time has come to say goodbye to one of television's lon- gest-serving charac- ters. Ellen Pompeo ("Old School," 2003) makes her final appearance as a series regular in a new episode of "Grey's Anatomy" Thursday, Feb. 23, on ABC. Having starred in over 400 episodes since the show's debut in 2005, Pompeo has seen her character, Mere- dith Grey, grow from surgical intern to chief of surgery at Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospi- tal over 19 seasons of the med- ical drama. Pompeo announced her up- coming departure from "Grey's Anatomy" via her Ins- tagram last November, when she thanked loyal viewers, saying, "through it all ... none of it ... would have been possi- ble without the best fans in the world." News of Pompeo ap- pearing in only eight episodes of Season 19 broke last sum- mer when it was also an- nounced that she would be fo- cusing on, starring in and ex- ecutive producing a limited series based on the 2009 hor- ror film "Orphan" for Hulu. Throughout her time on "Grey's Anatomy," Pompeo's character, Meredith, has argu- ably had two loves in her life. The first — the one that kicked off the series — is Der- ek Shepherd, or "McDreamy" as he came to be known. Por- trayed by Patrick Dempsey ("Disenchanted," 2022), Derek was meant to be a one-night stand to Meredith — someone who left in the morning, never to be seen again. Of course, he is seen again, many times, in what turned into an 11-season- long saga: they fall in love; he gets a divorce; they form a family and begin to grow apart; and finally, they recon- cile before he is tragically killed in a car accident. Mere- dith's second love is her best friend, Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh, "Killing Eve"), who meets Meredith as a fellow intern and eventually becomes a car- diothoracic surgeon. The two form a deep friendship, with the pair regularly referring to each other as their "person" throughout the series. Oh left "Grey's Anatomy" in Season 10 when Cristina left Grey-Sloan Memorial to run a research hospital in Zurich, Switzer- land. Now, with Pompeo making her on-screen exit, two other longtime cast members are poised to pull ahead in total number of series appearances. Chandra Wilson ("Frankie & Alice," 2010) and James Pick- ens Jr. ("42," 2013) have also been a part of "Grey's Anato- my" since its very first epi- sode. Wilson stars as Dr. Mi- randa Bailey, a surgeon at Grey-Sloan Memorial who started the series as an intimi- dating resident who showed she could separate her person- al and professional lives to an impressive degree — keeping a husband and pregnancy to her- self at one point — while working at the world's most gossipy hospital. For Wilson's part, she told Variety in 2020 that she will be a part of House Ad 5 x 5 continued on page T10 Ellen Pompeo says goodbye (for now) to "Grey's Anatomy" this week Goodbye, Grey Did you know those images are available for purchase? IT'S EASY! Just scan the QR code below to visit our website where you can search for the photo/s you want and order prints (many print options to choose from, including canvas). Check it out today! Did you see a photo in our newspaper or on our website that you would love a copy of? Scan QR code for photos!