Only Murders' Faux Grey's Anatomy Spinoff Had Jesse Williams 'Howling,' Says EP

Move over, Station 19. There's a new Grey's Anatomy spinoff in town.

In Season 3 of Hulu's Only Murders in the Building, Meryl Streep's struggling actress Loretta Durkin lands the audition of a lifetime. "It's an offshoot of an offshoot of a Grey's Anatomy spinoff," she explains in Episode 3 (out Tuesday). And the name of that spinoff is... Grey's New Orleans: Family Burn Unit.

"It's for the mother of a dermatologist, so she has a backstory. And lines!" an excited Loretta tells Oliver. "And the producers said they might give her a limp, so... it's juicy!"

Naturally, we needed to know what Grey's vet Jesse Williams (aka Tobert) thought about the show within a show, so we went to series boss John Hoffman for the scoop.

"Jesse was very sweet about that," he tells TVLine of the Artist Formerly Known as Dr. Jackson Avery. "He was howling [during our Zoom table read] about the reference. And it's a real homage. I mean, has there been a more successful show than Grey's Anatomy? What a windfall for an actress [like Loretta] to have that opportunity.... Watching Meryl Streep get excited about that for herself is just a dream."

Later on, Loretta's manager Dickie brings her the good news: She got the part! And the limp! Oliver is reluctant to let Loretta out of her Death Rattle contract, but he doesn't want to hold her back. He agrees to release her if she'll do him one favor: Sing for mother-son duo Donna and Cliff DeMayo, and convince them that his musical is worth producing. What follows is a mesmerizing performance of the original show tune "Look for the Light," which was written for Only Murders by Oscar-, Grammy-, Tony- and Golden Globe-winning duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, along with fellow Grammy winner Sara Bareilles.

"The onus was so heavy on that song — what it needed to do for that episode, what it needed to do for the themes that reverberate through the stories that we're following, and what it needed to do for our [entire] season — and working with Pasek and Paul was incredible," Hoffman says. "They called up and said, 'We would like to work with Sara Bareilles on this,' and I thought, 'Sure, have at it!'

"After many deep talks with Pasek and Paul and Sara about what the song needed to be, and what resonance it had to have for our story, they sent a video with Justin at the piano and Sara singing that lullaby," he recalls. "I'll never forget that moment of just, 'Are you kidding me?' And I'll never forget when I Zoomed with Meryl and said, 'I'm going to play you this video of Sara singing your song.' When Sara hit that line — 'my love is a light house, so darling, look for the light' — Meryl kind of just collapsed over on her side."

Loretta ultimately decides to forfeit the role on Grey's New Orleans and honor her commitment to Death Rattle — but that doesn't mean we've heard the last about Family Burn Unit. "More to come on that one," Hoffman teases. "Hang tight."