‘Grey’s Anatomy’ season 11: Patrick Dempsey’s exit cost-effective for ABC

While many may be sad about the departure of Patrick Dempsey from “Grey’s Anatomy,” it turns out that there really is a silver lining almost everywhere … including over at ABC. What do we mean by this? It is mostly a reference to the fact that due to his departure, the network stands to save a good bit of money, which may continue to make this show more cost-effective given that it is about to enter its twelfth season.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the network will save a whopping $9.6 million by not having him as a member of the cast next season, and while these saving will decrease slightly due to the hiring of other cast members and potentially other raises, it makes so many of these things easier to pull off in an era where network TV is starting to dry up more and more. Dempsey is one of the highest-paid actors on broadcast TV, even though he is still nowhere near the money that Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, and Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting are getting for “The Big Bang Theory” (which is around $1 million each an episode).

As the publication notes, there is still no firm reason given for Dempsey’s exit, with neither him nor co-star Ellen Pompeo nor show creator Shonda Rhimes addressing it at length. It appears that all three are on good terms to a certain extent, though, and that some of the negative rumors out there at false.

Ultimately, what we’ll say is this: We could understand if it was Dempsey who made the choice to leave, and other people involved in the show are disappointed because they wanted to see Meredith and Derek end up together. We feel the same way about those two characters.

You can read more about the show’s future at the link here. Also, sign up to get a greater dosage of TV scoop on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)