Hulu on Thursday, June 4 ordered a pilot for Chicks, a family dramedy that will star Ellen Pompeo and is eyeing a September start of production in New York.
Chicks is set in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods of old Boston and follows Chickie and Doreen, two estranged half-sisters who are both struggling to get by when their father unexpectedly dies. Their inheritance turns out to be a legacy of two‑bit crime that pushes them into increasingly audacious frauds; as the cons grow, so does their odd‑couple bond.
The pilot was written by Katie Robbins and developed by Robbins specifically for Pompeo after conversations the two had on the set of Good American Family. Robbins will executive produce Chicks alongside Pompeo and Laura Holstein, with 20th Television serving as the studio. Good American Family premiered last March and amassed 6.3 million views in its first six days on Hulu, a performance that helped focus attention on projects tied to Pompeo.
Pompeo’s involvement goes beyond acting: she will executive produce Chicks while also continuing her roles on Grey’s Anatomy. She “continues to recur and narrate Grey’s Anatomy,” remains an executive producer on the series and on an upcoming spinoff set in West Texas, and previously executive produced Station 19. Pompeo left Grey’s Anatomy as a series regular in 2023 after starring in eight episodes of season 19 and appeared on screen for a handful of episodes in season 22; the show has been renewed for a 23rd season. On her continuing ties to the flagship series she has said, “I’m going to always be a part of that show” and “I’m an executive producer. I spent two decades of my career on [Grey’s Anatomy] — it’s my heart and soul. I’ll never truly be gone as long as [it’s] on the air.”
The decision to mount a pilot for Chicks places Pompeo in the unusual position of taking a new starring job while remaining tied to her long‑running franchise. The pilot’s planned September production window in New York sits alongside Pompeo’s narration and recurring commitments to Grey’s Anatomy and her producing duties on the ABC spinoff, creating a practical scheduling question about how those pieces will be balanced if Hulu moves forward.
Practical details are sparse beyond the pilot order and the targeted production start. Katie Robbins wrote the script and conceived the project for Pompeo; 20th Television will produce. Hulu has not announced a series pickup — the order is for a pilot only, with production the next immediate step if schedules align.
What to watch: crews assemble in New York in September, whether the pilot translates into a series order, and how Pompeo’s recurring appearances and producing responsibilities on Grey’s Anatomy and its West Texas spinoff are scheduled around any Chicks commitments. The pilot’s shoot will give Hulu the material it needs to decide whether Chicks becomes Pompeo’s next long‑running vehicle or remains a one‑off experiment alongside her continued work on Grey’s Anatomy.
