show as a possible recurring role for Season 12. On April 28, 2015, it was announced that Joe Adler was cast for the show, and would appear in the final 2 episodes of the season. Despite signing on for 2 more years after the tenth season, Patrick Dempsey decided that the eleventh season would be his last. The announcement was made on April 23, 2015, just a few hours before his final episode, "How to Save a Life", premiered. Showrunner Shonda Rhimes spoke out about the departure as she said "Derek Shepherd is and will always be an incredibly important character—for Meredith, for me and for the fans. I absolutely never imagined saying goodbye to our ‘McDreamy.’" Filming Not even a week after the Season 10 finale episode aired, the Grey's Anatomy team of writers began collaborating on ideas for Season 11 storylines. Shonda Rhimes tweeted that they were hard at work in the writing room, but would have the month of June off before coming back in full swing to write actual episodes. After the 4th of July weekend, Rhimes tweeted that the writers' room was once again buzzing, as the team had returned from vacation to start writing new episodes for Season 11. Camilla Luddington confirmed that the filming for the eleventh season would begin on July 25, 2014. Reception Ratings Grey's Anatomy's eleventh season opened up to 10.14 million viewers with a 3.1/11 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. The premiere episode "I Must Have Lost it on the Wind", was the season's most-viewed episode. "When I Grow Up" was the season and series' least-viewed episode, with 6.64 million viewers and a 1.9/7 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. The season finale was the series lowest-watched season finale with 8.33 million viewers and 2.2/8 in the 18–49 rating demo. Grey's Anatomy, in its eleventh season, ranked #36 overall in total viewers (11.08 million). This is much lower than Season 10, which was ranked #15. In the 18–49 key demographic, Grey's Anatomy ranked #13 (the lowest ranking in the series' history). The highest ranking for the 18–49 key demographic was #3 for seasons 3, 4, and 5. Last season, Grey's Anatomy was ranked #5. For the 2014-2015 primetime TV schedule, Grey's Anatomy was the ##1 drama in the 18–49 key demographic. Live + SD ratings Live + 7 Day (DVR) ratings Critical response The first half of the