Shonda Rhimes recalls how studio execs told her 'Grey's Anatomy' would fail

Shonda Rhimes is reflecting on her time when she pitched the show Grey’s Anatomy to executives, who thought the show would fail.

The medical drama was the first of its kind on television, which premiered in 2005.

“It feels really obvious now, I think, but at the time, you have to remember, there had never been a show in which there was a lead character who owned her sexuality on network television," Rhimes, 52, said in a preview of Tuesday's 9 to 5ish with the Skimm podcast shared with E! News.

In the pilot episode, audiences saw Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) sleep with a man who turns out to be Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), a new surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, where she is also starting as an intern.

"I remember getting called into a room full of old men to tell me that the show was a problem," Rhimes recalled. "Because nobody was gonna watch a show about a woman who would sleep with a man the night before her first day of work, and they were dead serious."

Betsy Beers, Shonda’s creative partner, argued in the meeting that the show’s story was actually based on her real life.

"Shonda looked like she wanted to throw up, which was the appropriate response to this, but I couldn't help it, and I said, 'Oh, that's me. I did that. That's absolutely me,'" Beers explained. "I remember I was saying that and I just blurted it out, because it was true."

After the revelation, Rhimes recalled how the executives "could not get out of that room fast enough." She added, "They didn't know what to do. They were like, 'These are these kinds of women we don't like.'"

Rhimes and Beers turned out to be correct about the show's success as Grey's Anatomy celebrated its 400th episode in May, 2022.