Here's How Grey's Anatomy Spin-off Will Affect Ben and Bailey

The forthcoming season of Grey's Anatomy will be a bittersweet one, as it is expected to set up Dr. Ben Warren (Jason George) for a major career shift from wearing hospital scrubs to donning the thick gear of the fire department for the as-yet-untitled Grey's Anatomy spin-off.

The shift has a left a lot of fans wondering what will become of Dr. Warren's relationship with Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), but according to George, their relationship will likely remain a regular fixture of the ever-changing Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital dynamic.

He told TVLine that fans can expect that "there will definitely be crossovers between Grey's and the spin-off show... I think kind of along the lines of what happened with Private Practice and Grey's. Bailey can come home and fall into bed, and there's Ben, and they can talk about their day. Or Ben comes home from fighting fires all day and falls into bed, and there's Bailey."

So, at least from George's perspective, Ben and Bailey 'shippers don't need to stockpile handkerchiefs just yet because it sounds like they'll remain a solid pair throughout the new show's inception.

Hey, maybe he can even anchor a mega episode a la One Chicago wherein one of his day-saving adventures requires some on-site support from the docs, but that's just wishful thinking.

In the meantime, details on the spin-off series are still slim, although we do know that it will star Jaina Lee Ortiz and be run by Grey's executive producer Stacy McKee.

Also, some TV fans will already know what Ben will look like in a firefighter's suit thanks to Jason George's very brief stint on Friends' seventh season, so at least that's not hard to picture.

Grey's Anatomy returns Thursday, Sept. 28 at 8/7c on ABC.