Recently, I discovered a show that has quickly become one of my favorites- Station 19! I binge watched the entire first season in less than a weekend and got all caught up for season 2, which is airing now. {Some major changes have happened in the lives of the Station 19 crew recently so if you haven’t been watching, it’s time to get caught up!} The show is one of my favorites because it has some really exciting {and scary!} situations every week, there’s drama but lots of laughs too, and the whole station is basically one big family. It’s a great show to watch whether you love drama or comedy because it has both- and if you’ve watched Grey’s Anatomy, you’ll love this one because it’s a spin-off from that show!
I recently had the opportunity to tour the set, and we started out by interviewing Showrunner & Executive Producer Stacy McKee, actress Jaina Lee Ortiz (“Andy Herrera”) and actor Boris Kodjoe (“Captain Robert Sullivan”). Read on to find out what they had to say about the inspiration for the show, joining the cast, and more elements of working with fire on a regular basis:
On the inspiration behind the spin-off:
Stacy McKee: I wrote on “Grey’s Anatomy” for 500 million years. I started on Season One and moved up the ranks and finished there on Season 13 in order to come over here and create a spin-off about firefighters, which is kind of amazing. It seems like a really natural sort of extension of the Grey’s universe because it still involves medicine- and in the background of all the Grey’s episodes, you see all of the first responders scootching into the breezeway, dropping off patients and then really quickly we’d dispense with them and get them out of the scene so we could focus on the surgeon.
But what about if we got back in the ambulance and drove away with them and then started to see what their life was like? What if there was a fire station, 3 blocks down from this hospital that we’ve been seeing for 13 years and they have a whole life that’s been going on this whole time too. What if we just shine a light over there? That was really the beginning gestation of the idea and it’s just also just something really appealing to me.
You know Grey’s, you know what it’s like- it makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you feel things and it was really appealing to me to show those same types of emotions, and the same type of humor but to do it in a world of first responders.
Especially right now, this day and age, I feel like the world can be tough. There’s a lot of difficulty when you wake up every morning, you open up your news, there’s stuff that’s hard. And to focus on a group of people whose only job is to help other people. Doesn’t matter who you are, doesn’t matter what color you are, what your religion is, doesn’t matter what your politics are. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that if you are a person who needs help, these characters will help you. And to me, that was just remarkable. I wanted to put that little piece of joy out into the world. It’s so unifying and universal. And it seems like this was the right moment to tell stories like these.
How Jaina got involved:
Jaina: I signed onto the show the second I heard Shonda Rhimes was doing a spin off. I said ‘Yes, I don’t care what it is, just put me in.’ Luckily, I found out it was about firefighters, I went and met 2 female captains and I was like ‘Oh my gosh, these ladies are bad-ass and they could do everything. They could be moms and work and still have a life and balance.’ I can’t even, it’s been a dream, it’s… pinch me!
I took the firefighter test. I told my Mom- I actually came home and I said Mom, how much do you weigh? You need to be at least 165 pounds so that I know I can drag you out of a building because that was part of the test, dragging a dummy that was 165, and it’s hard, it’s really hard. But being on the show has forced me to kind of stay in shape.
And how Boris got involved:
Boris: Well I wanted to be a part of the show from the first episode as well. And unfortunately, that didn’t happen. So I had to wait patiently in the wings until it was possible and yeah, Code Black was cancelled on a Friday and I think I met with Stacy on a Monday and it was pretty much done Monday night. I was ready to pounce. First of all, Shondaland is a universe that I wanted to be a part of ever since Shonda Rhimes appeared on the horizon. And for some reason it never worked out, so that was a huge draw for me as well. And then meeting Stacy and Betsy [Beers, Shonda’s producing partner] just did the trick.
I love writers and I love great writers and to sort of put myself in the hands of someone like Stacy is an absolute pleasure and honor really. You know that every single episode, you don’t think it can get any better and then you open a script and then the script is better than the script that you read before. That’s always an amazing surprise and it’s so much fun to go to work because not only do you get to speak these words but also work with people like Jaina and people who have been so embracing of me.
On certain elements or storylines that Stacy is excited to explore this season:
Stacy: With Season 1 there were only 10 episodes, so you’re really just establishing the world and sort of starting to dip into who these characters are. This season, we’ve earned the right to really explore who these characters are. We get to learn about their past, we get to see their interactions with one another, the relationships that have formed prior to the show starting and then after. To me, now we get to really dig deeper. I feel like we just barely scratched the surface in Season 1 and now we get to get into some really good juicy character stuff which is my wheelhouse. It’s the stuff I love so that’s the stuff I’m most excited about really.
On working with fire- what’s real and what’s “tv magic”:
Stacy: Basically our main set is a fire station set which is so cool. The interior of it is all on our stages. The exterior is all shot on location in Seattle. So when you see those exterior scenes, we went to Seattle, we shot all of those actually there on location.
As for the incidents with the fires and stuff, it’s sort of a combination. We have both practical fire that we do a lot on our burn stage. We have a stage that we sort of dedicate to burning things up. But we also then supplement and add a lot of CG fire as well. So it’s both a combination of computer generated, really crazy fire and then some practical stuff that we can use that’s still safe for everybody to be around.
And it’s been a real learning process. I’m used to working on a hospital show where all we have to do is pretend we’re doing surgery on a piece of meat or something. And the scope of this is so different that it’s been a real learning curve for everybody, just even the physicality, even wearing the turnouts. Some of the sweat and the exhaustion that you see on these guys’ faces, oh it’s fully real.
On the uniforms:
Boris: It’s the real stuff, even the tanks, even the oxygen tanks on the back. We have fake ones and we have real ones.
On what it was like for Boris to join the already established series:
Boris: Honestly, surprisingly or not surprisingly, it’s been amazing and it’s all due to these two ladies [Jaina and Stacy] and everybody else because they set the tone and it just trickles down. It’s contagious and everybody’s just upbeat and positive and we understand what we’re doing here. We’re not brain surgeons so you have to put all this in perspective. We’re very lucky, we’re very blessed to be in this position, to tell these stories and to go play make believe every day. I never forget that so every time I step on the stage, I feel blessed, I cherish every moment.
On what it’s like to portray events based on situations that have really happened:
Jaina: You have to have empathy I think because at some point in time, someone has gone through that same circumstance, that same situation and to kind of relive that experience- it’s terrifying but also invigorating in way. I enjoy that because our normal lives are just normal but when we have to play these characters and tell these stories, they are exciting and we get to transfer that.
After we chatted, we had the opportunity to check out the set! First we went to the house boat, where the Station 19 crew has been spending a lot of time lately.
Then we headed over to the fire station, which was really cool. We saw the table the crew eats breakfast at {except Captain Sullivan of course!}, the lounge room, Captain Sullivan’s office, and more. The station was even decked out for Thanksgiving, so look for these decorations on an upcoming episode!
Of course, it’s not a tour of a fire station without checking out the fire truck!
Captain Sullivan is a new addition to the station this year, so we’re still getting to know him. While Boris Kodjoe was very nice and really funny in person, his character is very intimidating. Check out this exclusive clip to see what I mean:
If you haven’t seen Station 19, now is a great time to get started! You can find Season 1 on Amazon Prime Video and Season 2 is airing now on ABC. Station 19 airs Thursdays at 9|8c on The ABC Television Network or streaming or on the app.
This week’s episode is “Last Day on Earth” and it sounds like it’s going to be a great one! Here’s what’s in store:
“Last Day On Earth” – Just when Ryan agrees to talk it out with his dad, Greg Tanner makes an unexpected visit to Station 19, leaving Ryan and others confused. In an effort to connect with his crew, Captain Sullivan enlists the help of an unlikely source for some bonding tips on ABC’s “Station 19,” THURSDAY, NOV. 8 (9:01–10:00 p.m. EST), on The ABC Television Network, streaming and on demand.
Have you seen Station 19?
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