Grey's Anatomy: Ellen Pompeo Trying to Convince ABC to End the Show

Grey's Anatomy has been the crown jewel of ABC's schedule for almost two decades, but its leading lady is ready for the show to be over.

Pompeo has been candid in the past about bringing the show to a close, and in a new interview with Insider, the star dropped the following bombshell:

"I've been trying to focus on convincing everybody that it should end."

"I feel like I'm the super naive one who keeps saying, 'But what's the story going to be, what story are we going to tell? And everyone's like, 'Who cares, Ellen? It makes a gazillion dollars,'" the Meredith Grey star continued.

Grey's Anatomy Season 18 is currently averaging 4.2 million viewers and a 0.64 rating among adults 18-49 -- down almost 40% vs. last season.

But the show remains the network's highest-rated scripted show in the demo and adds a lot of viewing via streaming and DVR.

ABC previously revealed that Grey's Anatomy Season 18 Episode 1 had 4.77 million viewers and a 0.77 rating in the demo in live + same day metrics.

However, the numbers swelled 516% within 35 days of the episode airing, rising to 14.2 million viewers and a 4.74 rating in the demo.

The numbers highlight the fact that TV viewing is fragmented as people adapt to the new ways to catch up on their shows.

ABC will not want to part with the show at the moment, but it could be in the near future.

Pompeo previously said that she is happy working on the show because it employs a lot of people, but she has also been vocal about the show ending when the time is right.

Pompeo told Us Weekly in 2018 that the end was near.

“We’re getting there. Shonda and I will make that decision together,” the star said.

“I think that one of the biggest lessons that this show has taught me and being on this show for so long has taught me, is that relationships do change."

"And they do grow. They take work. Like any marriage, friendship. You gotta put in the work."

Pompeo also told Entertainment Tonight in September that she had bene trying to get away from the show for years.

"I’ve been trying to get away for years."

“I have been trying. It’s not because I haven’t been trying."

"I have strong relationships at the network and they have been very, very good to me, and have incentivized me to stay.”

For now, we don't know whether Grey's Anatomy will be around next fall, but it's hard to imagine the show ending without a pre-planned (and heavily promoted) final season.