Grey's Anatomy is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning American primetime television medical drama. It debuted on ABC as a midseason replacement on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2005, immediately following the immensely popular Desperate Housewives. The story revolves around Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital in Seattle, Washington. The show features an ensemble cast, though Meredith is featured as the central character, providing voice-over narration at the beginning and end of most episodes.
The title of the show is a reference to the famous anatomy textbook Gray's Anatomy.
Criticism, Praise & Media Coverage
Grey's Anatomy, despite its popularity, has its share of detractors. The show has been widely criticized by various groups, many of them medical, for inaccurately presenting medical situations and greatly exaggerating the degree to which doctors and medical professionals fraternize with one another. In particular, the show was initially targeted as showing a disrespect for nurses (several lines of dialogue had doctors referring to nurses in sarcastic or belittling ways; in the pilot episode, Meredith is offended when Alex thinks she is "just" a nurse). The creator defended this line saying that it shows what would be offensive to a surgeon and that in the scenes after it is shown that the nurses know more than the new interns. Second season episodes seem to address this, as a nurses' strike shows how lost the hospital is without them.
However, supporters of the show have defended its lack of realism, claiming that a dry, precise medical show would lack the charms that make Grey's Anatomy so popular with its wide audience and pointing out that very few TV programs, including ones purporting to be far more serious, hew strictly to realism.
Another criticism drawn against the show is the parallels of Grey's Anatomy's format with the NBC comedy, Scrubs. Both shows use a diary-style narration by the main character, with many similarities between the characters on both shows. Given that Scrubs first aired in 2001, some have noted that Grey's Anatomy has "borrowed" these elements and popularised them for the mass audience, even to the point of Scrubs referencing it directly with the main character Dr. John "JD" Dorian, mentioning Grey's Anatomy, saying "It's like they've been watching our lives and just put it on TV". George is sometimes also called 'Bambi', a nickname Carla frequently uses when talking to JD on Scrubs. The show has also been criticized for borrowing heavily from the plotlines and extraordinary medical procedures featured on the television drama, House. Regardless of any similarities in the medical cases presented, one thing it does seem to share with House is the use of an underlying hook borrowed from nineteenth century authors. House of course borrows from Arthur Conan Doyle, and Grey’s Anatomy from Jane Austen, especially in offering the viewer/reader the vicarious thrill of being pursued by two very attractive yet quite different men.
In 2005, ABC gave the hit show a vote of confidence by announcing that Grey's Anatomy would receive the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot which aired on February 5, 2006. The special episode got a record-high 38.1 rating. The network's faith in the show was proven further when it removed it from its comfortable post-Desperate Housewives berth and scheduled it opposite the CBS ratings blockbuster CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in fall 2006. The gamble paid off dramatically, with the season premiere drawing 3 million more viewers than its formidable crime drama competition.
The series has twice been featured as a subject of special episodes of the ABC News program 20/20, including one 2006 episode on the realism of the sometimes outlandish medical stories of Grey's Anatomy, and real cases similar to them. Additionally, a 2005 broadcast of ABC News Nightline more specifically covered Grey's Anatomy's multiracial cast and race relations depiction in entertainment.
Seasons
Season 1
Season one began airing March 27, 2005 and ended on May 22, 2005. The first season was shortened by the network to nine episodes instead of 14. (The original season finale was "Bring the Pain."). Meredith Grey, daughter of the once-renowned surgeon Ellis Grey, becomes an intern at the Seattle Grace Hospital. She meets fellow interns Cristina Yang, Isobel "Izzie" Stevens, and George O'Malley who will be her closest friends during the intern program. Other characters include Dr. Miranda Bailey, who is nicknamed "The Nazi" due to her "tough love" capability; Alex Karev, another intern who is not very popular with the other interns (especially Izzie); and renowned surgeons Dr. Derek Shepherd and Dr. Preston Burke. The chief of surgery is Richard Webber, who was once more than close friends with Meredith's mother. The season chronicles the first few months of the intern program and the day-to-day life of a surgical intern. Recurring plots include Meredith's battle to keep her mother's Alzheimer's disease a secret and her relationship with Dr. Shepherd. Others include George's infatuation with Meredith and a power struggle between Dr. Burke and Dr. Shepherd in the hospital. The season's end introduces Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, Derek's estranged wife.
Season 2
The second season began airing September 25, 2005, and ended on May 14 and May 15, 2006 with a three-hour finale spanning both nights. The first season originally contained 14 episodes, representing ABC's original midseason order for the show. However, it was decided to end the season early because ABC executives wished for the show's first season to end with ABC's Desperate Housewives (which had the timeslot before Grey's Anatomy for the first two seasons). Rather than condensing or throwing out plotlines, Grey's Anatomy producers chose to end the season with the ninth episode and save the following episodes for the second season. Episodes 10-14 were then held and broadcast as the first five episodes of Season 2. ABC ordered 22 episodes in addition to the five being carried over, bringing the total number of episodes for the second season to 27. The count apparently does not include the recap specials "Straight From The Heart" and "Under Pressure"; however, a 27th original episode was eventually added to the season. "Bring the Pain," which aired as the series' 14th episode, has been cited in series creator Shonda Rhimes' blog as having been originally intended as the first season finale. The second season focuses on Meredith and Dr. Derek Shepherd's relationship, which was destroyed when it was revealed that Dr. Shepherd is married to the surgeon Addison Montgomery-Shepherd. Izzie Stevens and Alex Karev embark on a relationship of their own, as do Christina Yang and Dr. Preston Burke. Dr. Miranda Bailey becomes pregnant and more about Meredith's family is revealed. On some of the weeks airing after its highly-watched February 5, 2006 post-Super Bowl episode, the program attracted more viewers than its lead-in, Desperate Housewives.
Season 3
On May 16, 2006, the morning following the close of the second season, ABC announced plans for a third season of Grey's Anatomy to anchor the network's Thursday evening programming, set to air at 9 p.m. EST. As Thursday has historically been the most competitive programming night among American broadcast networks, the announced schedule change for the series has been viewed by media analysts as another vote of confidence in the series from ABC. By extension, the move of the series has been cited as one potential factor for competing network NBC's decision to move its own Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, originally intended to air Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST. ABC announced on July 18, 2006, that the third season would premiere on September 21, 2006.
ABC first tested the series' potential for Thursday audiences on February 9, 2006, as it aired an encore of the Super Bowl XL-leadout episode titled "It's the End of the World." The following Thursday, February 16, 2006, the network repeated the second part of the story arc, "(As We Know It)." Both airings began at 9:30 p.m. EST, and thus positioned Grey's Anatomy against CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Without A Trace also Survivor and NBC's long-running medical drama ER. Solid performance on these nights, with the repeat airings maintaining a strong second-place finish, may have been influential in the fall scheduling decision.
The series assumed its new Thursday slot on July 6, 2006, as part of a two-hour event featuring a repeat of the pilot episode, "A Hard Day's Night." Throughout July and August, the series aired twice weekly — once in the new Thursday time period, and once in its previous Sunday time period. Grey's Anatomy performed strongly in the show's new timeslot in its season premiere. It was able to snatch away the #1 position from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation during the 9 p.m. hour, bringing in an impressive 25.14 million viewers throughout the hour and a strong 10.9 rating in the vital 18-49 demographic. In comparison, CSI's season premiere earned a competitive 22.04 million total viewership and a 7.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
Two actors, the previously recurring Sara Ramirez and Eric Dane, join the regular cast as Callie Torres and Mark Sloan. The series continues to center on Dr. Derek Shepherd and Meredith Grey, bringing in Meredith's other boyfriend, the veterinarian Finn Dandridge (Chris O'Donnell). Finn Dandridge was on the show for the first four episodes of the third season, until his departure when Meredith chose Derek. Since choosing Derek, Meredith and Derek have not been having any problems, unlike before. Callie Torres and George O'Malley experience problems in their relationship. Izzie Stevens deals with the death of her fiancé Denny Duquette and her decision to leave the surgical program, as well as the $8.7 million check that her fiancé left for her upon his passing. Cristina Yang and Dr. Preston Burke try to heal his injured hand. Addison Montgomery and Derek Shepherd end their marriage and plastic surgeon Mark Sloan joins the Seattle Grace hospital staff, much to the chagrin of Derek. Geroge's dad enters the hospital and the past couple episodes have revolved around it. The chief decides to retire in order to save his marriage, and Burke is put in charge. There will not be a new episode until January.
Music
The show's main title theme is a snippet of "Cosy in the Rocket," by British artists Psapp. It is featured in the soundtrack album released via ABC corporate cousin Hollywood Records on September 27, 2005. A list of all the songs aired for each episode can be found on the program's official website. [1] Grey's Anatomy has been instrumental to the success of Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" and The Fray's "How to Save a Life", both of which became top 5 hits after appearing in the show. "How to Save a Life" was the song used for all Grey's Anatomy previews, as well as being the music for the show's music video.
A second soundtrack, featuring songs from Season Two, was released September 12, 2006.
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