‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 9: Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey shine in cast photo

Even though we are now two episodes in to this season of “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC has just now opted to do the kind thing and release the official promotional photos for the season as a whole. Why the wait? Really, the primary reason for it in our minds seems to be the desire for the producers to wait until they had Mark Sloan out of the picture; now, the people who are pictured here are going to be the people who operate around Seattle Grace (or some other hospitals) for the rest of the year.

Really, there is one notable thing about this group of photos right away: it’s s smaller crew than in years past. Without adding any new series regulars and losing Eric Dane, Chyler Leigh, and Kim Raver, Shonda Rhimes effectively slashed a chunk of the show’s budget. Has she found some sort of replacements for them in Camilla Luddington and some other actors? Sure, but they may not receive a promotion to series regular status until next year; that is, if it ever really happens at all.

Personally, we really like the photo for Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith the most, mostly because it legitimately feels like she is someone that you would want as your doctor. The same goes here for Callie (Sara Ramirez), Arizona (Jessica Capshaw), and Webber (James Pickens Jr.), who all appear to be smiling in a friendly and non-creepy way. Meanwhile, April (Sarah Drew) looks like she is giving a photo to “America’s Next Top Model,” Jackson (Jesse Williams) looks like he is about to pick you up at a club, and Owen (Kevin McKidd) looks more interesting in potentially breaking your legs than healing them.

Which one of the photos is your favorite?