The series premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The show's title is a mixture of the protagonist's surname and the title of the classic anatomy textbook Gray's Anatomy. Set in Seattle, Washington, the series is filmed primarily in Los Angeles, California, and Vancouver, British Columbia. The original cast consisted of nine star-billed actors: Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers, T. R. Knight, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., Isaiah Washington, and Patrick Dempsey. The cast has undergone major changes throughout the series' run, with only three original members remaining.