Grey’s Anatomy: Shonda Rhimes Shares Behind-the-Scenes Pictures

Grey’s Anatomy became the longest-running medical drama in TV history on Thursday, and creator Shonda Rhimes is opening up her photo albums to celebrate the occasion.

Over at Shondaland, Rhimes shared 23 behind-the-scenes pictures she took on the set of the ABC hit during its early days. The pics, a mix of candids and posed shots, show the original cast — including Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Patrick Dempsey, T.R. Knight, James Pickens Jr., Chandra Wilson, and Justin Chambers — getting to know each other, learning lines, and occasionally freezing on rooftops. Mostly, they’re a reminder that Grey’s has been on the air a long time.

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One highlight of the collection is a fuzzy picture of Pompeo, Knight, Heigl, and Oh doing one of their first photo shoots for the series. “It’s blurry,” Rhimes wrote, “but that somehow made it feel slightly magical to me.”

Ellen Pompeo, T.R. Knight, Katherine Heigl, Sandra OhPhoto: Shonda Rhimes

Other highlights include Oh’s bucket hat, Pompeo glowing as Meredith prepares to scrub in on her first surgery, and Pompeo and Dempsey filming an early scene.

Ellen PompeoPhoto: Shonda Rhimes

Though many of these faces have since moved on, at least one original cast member has indicated that she has no plans to leave the series. “I would love to be a starter and a finisher of a thing,” Wilson told The Hollywood Reporter. “When the show is ready for that last shot, I want to be in that.”

Check out all of Rhimes’ photos at Shondaland.

Patrick Dempsey, Ellen PompeoPhoto: Shonda Rhimes Sandra OhPhoto: Shonda Rhimes

Grey’s Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.