‘Chicago Fire’ Creator Calls out ‘Station 19’ Trailer During Oscars

During the Oscars Sunday night, ABC showed the first trailer for the new Grey’s Anatomy spin-off, Station 19. The show’s similarity to another firefighter show was not lost on Chicago Fire co-creator Derek Haas.

“That is so cool they showed clips from our old pilot during the Oscar—. Ohhhh. Whoops. Disregard that,” Haas, who created the show that launched Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise with Micharl Brandt, tweeted.

Haas later added, “I kid, I kid!”

Coincidentally, ABC admitted that Chicago Fire‘s success made it difficult to name Station 19. They certainly could not call it, “Seattle Fire.”

“The truth of the matter is coming up with a title is one of the most challenging things we do,” ABC president Channing Dungey told Entertainment Weekly in January. “We’ve gone through a number of different options and ideas. We want to make sure what we stick on it is the perfect piece.”

Station 19 stars Jason George as his Grey’s Anatomy character, Ben Warren. Ben was a former anesthesiologist-turned-resident at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, but decided to become a firefighter.

The rest of the cast includes Jaina Lee Ortiz, Grey Damon, Barrett Doss, Jay Hayden, Albero Frezza, Okieriete Onaodowan, Danielle Savre and Miguel Sandoval. Ellen Pompeo is also set to make a guest appearance.

The Grey’s episode “You Really Got A Hold On Me,” which aired on Thursday, was the backdoor pilot. The first two episodes will air on March 22.

Stacy McKee, who worked on Grey’s, is the showrunner for Station 19. She told The Hollywood Reporter that the stationhouse is only three blocks from Grey Sloan.

“Channing and I talked about the idea of the spinoff way earlier and it had been in the back of my mind,” producer Shonda Rhimes said of the new show. “If we can come up with a good idea, I’d be interested in it. Then Stacy had a good idea. To me, it felt like if you have an idea that’s good enough, you should work on that. It felt like the perfect idea.”

As for Chicago Fire, the show is now in its sixth season. It inspired the spin-offs Chicago PD, Chicago Med and the short-lived Chicago Justice. New episodes air on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: NBC