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How to watch Grey's Anatomy, Station 19, and Private Practice in release and chronological order

Grey's Anatomy has been on the air at ABC for almost 20 years. Let's put together a watch order for the medical drama and all of its spinoffs

A promotional image of the Grey's Anatomy cast — Image credit: ABC

Guides by Jules Chin Greene, Contributing Writer

Published on Mon Dec 02 2024

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For some of us, it's hard to remember a time before Grey's Anatomy was on the air at ABC. Shonda Rhimes's medical drama is a mainstay at ABC almost twenty years since it first debuted in 2005. Since then, the show has undergone numerous changes in cast and setting, with the hospital even being renamed halfway through the show. There's always some drama going on at the hospital, and Grey's Anatomy is here to delve into it.

Since the main show is a whopping 21 seasons and still going strong, there's a lot to parse through with this show. It has two spinoffs called Private Practice and Station 19, which ran for six and seven seasons, respectively. So there's quite a lot to wade through! Let's do it.

How to watch Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Station 19 in release order:

If you're up for a full Grey's Anatomy marathon, then you've got your work cut out for you. If you were to watch just the mainline Grey's Anatomy show alone, that would take over 13 days of 24/7 viewing to complete. Adding in Private Practice and Station 19 brings in another 9 days of continuous watching. So together, watching all of Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Station 19 would take you about 22 days of round-the-clock viewing. Please don't do that though, breaks are important!

How to watch Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Station 19 in chronological order

Station 19 season 6 screenshot — Image credit: ABC

I'm going to invoke Samuel L. Jackson in Jurassic Park and ask you to hold on to your butts. Because this is where things are about to get busy. Your chronological watch order for Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Station 19 starts off nice and simple for the first three seasons of Grey's Anatomy. But once the spinoffs begin, that's when it gets challenging. Fear not, I've laid it all out here. For simplicity's sake, I haven't listed every episode of the first 3 seasons of Grey's Anatomy.

Grey's Anatomy season 1 (2005)
Grey's Anatomy season 2 (2005-2006)
Grey's Anatomy season 3 (2006-2007)

From there, you will want to alternate watching episodes of Private Practice's season 1 with Grey's Anatomy season 4, beginning with Private Practice first. So that would be Private Practice season 1, episode 1, then Grey's Anatomy season 4, episode 1, and so forth, until you finish watching Grey's Anatomy season 4, episode 6 ("Kung Fu Fighting"). Instead of going back to the next Private Practice episode, you're going to go straight to the next episode of Grey's Anatomy season 4, the seventh episode entitled "Physical Attraction, Chemical Reaction" (Oooh, the intrigue!). After completing that episode, go back to Private Practice season 1, episode 7 ("In Which Sam Gets Taken For A Ride") and finish the season flipping back and forth between Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy. Altogether, it looks like this (with ellipses placed for brevity). I've also placed any episodes that need to be watched in tandem in bold, so you don't skip over them by accident.

Private Practice season 1, episode 1 (2007)
Grey's Anatomy season 4, episode 1 (2007)
Private Practice season 1, episode 2 (2007)
Grey's Anatomy season 4, episode 2 (2007)
...
Private Practice season 1, episode 6 (2007)
Grey's Anatomy season 4, episodes 6-7 (2007)
Private Practice season 1, episode 7 (2007)
Grey's Anatomy season 4, episode 8 (2007)
Private Practice season 1, episode 8 (2007)
Grey's Anatomy season 4, episode 9 (2007)
Private Practice season 1, episode 9 (2007)
Grey's Anatomy season 4, episodes 10-17 (2007-2008)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episodes 1-2 (2008)
Private Practice season 2, episodes 1-2 (2008)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episodes 3-4 (2008)
Private Practice season 2, episode 3 (2008)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 5 (2008)
Private Practice season 2, episode 4 (2008)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 6 (2008)
Private Practice season 2, episode 5 (2008)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episodes 7-8 (2008)
Private Practice season 2, episode 6 (2008)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 9 (2008)
Private Practice season 2, episodes 7-8 (2008)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 10 (2008)
Private Practice season 2, episodes 9-10 (2008)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 11 (2009)
Private Practice season 2, episode 11 (2009)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 12 (2009)
Private Practice season 2, episode 12 (2009)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 13 (2009)
Private Practice season 2, episodes 13-14 (2009)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 14 (2009)
Private Practice season 2, episode 15 (2009)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 15 (2009)
...
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episode 21 (2009)
Private Practice season 2, episode 22 (2009)
Grey's Anatomy season 5, episodes 22-24 (2009)
Grey's Anatomy season 6, episodes 1-3 (2009)
Private Practice season 3, episode 1 (2009)
Grey's Anatomy season 6, episode 4 (2009)
Private Practice season 3, episode 2 (2009)
Grey's Anatomy season 6, episode 5 (2009)
...
Private Practice season 3, episode 7 (2009)
Grey's Anatomy season 6, episode 10 (2009)
Private Practice season 3, episodes 8-10 (2009)
Grey's Anatomy season 6, episode 11 (2010)
Private Practice season 3, episode 11 (2010)
...
Grey's Anatomy season 6, episode 19 (2010)
Private Practice season 3, episodes 19-20 (2010)
Grey's Anatomy season 6, episode 20 (2010)
Private Practice season 3, episode 21 (2010)
...
Grey's Anatomy season 6, episodes 23-24 (2010)
Grey's Anatomy season 7, episode 1 (2010)
Private Practice season 4, episode 1 (2010)
Grey's Anatomy season 7, episode 2 (2010)
Private Practice season 4, episode 2 (2010)
...
Grey's Anatomy season 7, episodes 12-13 (2011)
Private Practice season 4, episode 12 (2011)
Grey's Anatomy season 7, episode 14 (2011)
...
Private Practice season 4, episodes 15-16 (2011)
Grey's Anatomy season 7, episode 17 (2011)
Private Practice season 4, episode 17 (2011)
...
Grey's Anatomy season 8, episodes 1-3 (2011)
Private Practice season 5, episode 1 (2011)
Grey's Anatomy season 8, episode 4 (2011)
...
Private Practice season 5, episodes 7-9 (2011)
Grey's Anatomy season 8, episode 10 (2012)
Private Practice season 5, episode 10 (2012)
...
Grey's Anatomy season 8, episodes 18-19 (2012)
Private Practice season 5, episode 18
...
Grey's Anatomy season 8, episode 24 (2012)
Private Practice season 6, episode 1 (2012)
Grey's Anatomy season 9, episode 1 (2012)
...
Private Practice season 6, episode 4 (2012)
Grey's Anatomy season 9, episodes 4-5 (2012)
Private Practice season 6, episode 5 (2012)
Grey's Anatomy season 9, episode 6 (2012)
Private Practice season 6, episodes 6-7 (2012)
Grey's Anatomy season 9, episode 7 (2012)
Private Practice season 6, episode 8 (2012)
...
Grey's Anatomy season 9, episode 9 (2012)
Private Practice season 6, episodes 10-11 (2012-2013)
Grey's Anatomy season 9, episode 10 (2013)
Private Practice season 6, episode 12 (2013)
Grey's Anatomy season 9, episode 11 (2013)
Private Practice season 6, episode 13 (2013)
Grey's Anatomy season 9, episodes 12-24 (2013)
Grey's Anatomy season 10 (2013-2014)
Grey's Anatomy season 11 (2014-2015)
Grey's Anatomy season 12 (2015-2016)
Grey's Anatomy season 13 (2016-2017)
Grey's Anatomy season 14, episodes 1-16 (2017-2018)
Station 19 season 1, episodes 1-2 (2018)
Grey's Anatomy season 14, episode 17 (2018)
Station 19 season 1, episode 3 (2018)
Grey's Anatomy season 14, episode 18 (2018)
...
Station 19 season 1, episode 10 (2018)
Grey's Anatomy season 15, episodes 1-3 (2018)
Station 19 season 2, episode 1 (2018)
Grey's Anatomy season 15, episode 4 (2018)
Station 19 season 2, episodes 2-3 (2018)
Grey's Anatomy season 15, episode 5 (2018)
Station 19 season 2, episode 4 (2018)
...
Station 19 season 2, episode 7 (2018)
Grey's Anatomy season 15, episodes 9-16 (2019)
Station 19 season 2, episode 8 (2019)
Grey's Anatomy season 15, episode 17 (2019)
...
Station 19 season 2, episode 17 (2019)
Grey's Anatomy season 16, episodes 1-9 (2019)
Station 19 season 3, episode 1 (2020)
Grey's Anatomy season 16, episode 10 (2020)
Station 19 season 3, episode 2 (2020)
Grey's Anatomy season 16, episode 11 (2020)
...
Grey's Anatomy season 16, episode 21 (2020)
Station 19 season 3, episodes 13-16 (2020)
Station 19 season 4, episode 1 (2020)
Grey's Anatomy season 17, episodes 1-2 (2020)
Station 19 season 4, episode 2 (2020)
Grey's Anatomy season 17, episode 3 (2020)
Station 19 season 4, episode 3 (2020)
Grey's Anatomy season 17, episode 4 (2020)
...
Station 19 season 5, episode 1 (2021)
Grey's Anatomy season 18, episode 1 (2021)
Station 19 season 5, episode 2 (2021)
Grey's Anatomy season 18, episode 2 (2021)
...
Station 19 season 5, episode 18 (2022)
Grey's Anatomy season 18, episodes 18-20 (2022)
Station 19 season 6, episode 1 (2022)
Grey's Anatomy season 19, episode 1 (2022)
Station 19 season 6, episode 2 (2022)
Grey's Anatomy season 19, episode 2 (2022)
...
Station 19 season 6, episode 14 (2023)
Grey's Anatomy season 19, episodes 14-15 (2023)
Station 19 season 6, episode 15 (2023)
Grey's Anatomy season 19, episode 16 (2023)
Station 19 season 6, episode 16 (2023)
Grey's Anatomy season 19, episode 17 (2023)
...
Station 19 season 6, episode 18 (2023)
Grey's Anatomy season 19, episodes 19-20 (2023)
Grey's Anatomy season 20, episode 1 (2024)
Station 19 season 7, episode 1 (2024)
Grey's Anatomy season 20, episode 2 (2024)
Station 19 season 7, episode 2 (2024)
...
Station 19 season 7, episode 10 (2024)
Grey's Anatomy season 21 - present

Whew, that was a doozy!

Why is the show called Grey's Anatomy?

A still of Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy — Image credit: ABC

Grey's Anatomy gets its name from the medical textbook, Gray's Anatomy, and the last name of one of its main characters, Meredith Grey (played by Ellen Pompeo).

Did Bailey leave Grey's Anatomy?

A still of Chandra Wilson as Dr. Bailey on Grey's Anatomy — Image credit: ABC

Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) may have stepped away from her doctor duties at the end of season 18 of Grey's Anatomy, but our favorite doctor was back in the saddle giving tough love to the hospital interns at the start of season 20. Bailey has been a beloved character on the show for almost 20 years now, and we hope to see her continuing to be her best self for many years to come.

Is anyone on Grey's Anatomy actually a doctor?

A promotional image of the cast of Grey's Anatomy — Image credit: ABC

Currently, none of the actors on Grey's Anatomy are actual doctors in real life. But never say never. Maybe one of those days Ken Jeong can join the show (if he wishes). Jeong was a doctor of internal medicine for many years in Los Angeles before making the switch to acting full-time.

How does Grey's Anatomy look so real?

A still of Grey's Anatomy — Image credit: ABC

That's some good ol' Hollywood magic, baby. Business Insider reports that Grey's Anatomy uses cow organs in place of human organs thankfully, and the fake blood on the show is made from chicken fat and red gelatin. Lucky for us, television is only a visual and auditory medium (for now), because I don't want to know what it must smell like on set.

Who was the first person to leave Grey's Anatomy?

A still of T.R. Knight as Dr O'Malley on Grey's Anatomy — Image credit: ABC

Many characters have come through Grey's Anatomy, but the first and most dramatic of these was Dr. George O'Malley, played by T.R. Knight. At the tail end of season 5, Dr. O'Malley got hit by a bus and died at the hospital he worked at.

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Jules Chin Greene: Jules Chin Greene is a journalist and Jack Kirby enthusiast. He has written about comics, video games, movies, and television for sites such as Nerdist, AIPT, Multiverse of Color, and Screen Rant.