‘Grey’s Anatomy’ alum Chyler Leigh signs on for ironic comedy pilot

In the strangest casting news we’ve heard all week, Chyler Leigh may be coming back to TV for a show about a plane crash … even though this is the very thing that previously did in her “Grey’s Anatomy” character of Dr. Lexie Grey during the season 8 finale.

Sources are confirming that Leigh has signed on to the NBC comedy pilot “Holding Patterns,” which is an ensemble about a group of people who all went through a terrible crash together and what happens to their lives next. Basically, it’s “Lost” without the twist that they are all stuck on an island in some sort of metaphor for the afterlife. The pilot comes courtesy of Justin Spitzer, who is best known for being a member of “The Office” writing team.

Aside from the obvious comparison between this show and the one Leigh left, we’re also surprised to see the actress cast in the role given that one of the reasons why she left the Shonda Rhimes series in the first place was to spend more time with her family. It’s possible that she really just needed a break and is ready to work again, or that there were some more issues behind the scenes at “Grey’s Anatomy” that needed to be worked out. (Rhimes more or less admitted that Eric Dane was cut for budgetary reasons, and that he in particular did not want to leave.)

This pilot is one of many that NBC is currently sorting through, and they have already made the decision to give a full 22-episode order to their sitcom starring Michael J. Fox and based loosely on his life.

What do you think about this news? If you want to read some more “Grey’s Anatomy” scoop on Jackson from Jesse Williams, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: ABC