Grey's Anatomy (season 4) - Production

Production

This is the first season to be produced by ABC Studios under its current name, after the transition from Touchstone Television in May 2007. It was also produced by Shondaland and The Mark Gordon Company, whereas Buena Vista International, Inc. distributed it. The executive producers were creator and show runner Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, Krista Vernoff, Rob Corn, Mark Wilding, Joan Rater and James D. Parriott, all part of the production team since the series' inception. The regular directors were Rob Corn and Jessica Yu. Producer Shonda Rhimes wrote five of the seventeen episodes, two of which were along with fellow producer Krista Vernoff. Unlike the other seasons, except from the first one, which aired mid-season, the fourth season of Grey's Anatomy had a reduced number of episodes, due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, which caused the production to cease from February to April, leaving the show with no writing staff during that time. Since the show had only produced ten episodes before the winter-holiday hiatus, and aired another one after the break ended, the show decided to complete the season with six new episodes, and returned on April 24, 2008. Only seventeen episodes were produced out of the twenty-three originally conceived for the season.

After Kate Walsh's transition the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice, her character left the show after a two-year run. On June 7, 2007, it was announced that Isaiah Washington's contract had not been renewed. Former Reunion star, Chyler Leigh, guest starred in the final two episodes of season three as Lexie Grey, a new intern and Meredith Grey’s younger half-sister. On June 11, 2007, it was announced that Leigh would become a series regular, instead of a 13 episode story arc as previously planned. The character Dr. Erica Hahn, portrayed by Brooke Smith joined the main cast, reprising her antagonizing role in the season's fifth episode. She replaces Preston Burke as head of Cardiothoracics. Upon her return, she makes Sandra Oh's character, Cristina Yang work harder for her success in Cardiothoracics and initially served as a new love interest for Eric Dane's Mark Sloan. Even though a new male character was originally thought to be introduced as a rival for Dr. Derek Shepherd, the change didn't occur. Former Dawson's Creek star Joshua Jackson was scheduled to make his return to television in a multi-episode arc as a doctor with his first appearance in the season's eleventh episode. Jackson's appearance was cancelled due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, and the storyline of the character he was supposed to play has never been aired on the show.