Grey's Anatomy



Grey's Anatomy is an Emmy, SAG Award, and Golden Globe award-winning popular United States of America|American primetime television medical drama. It debuted on ABC as a midseason replacement on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2005, immediately following the 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 anatomy textbook Gray's Anatomy.

Cast and characters
Main article: List of characters from Grey's Anatomy

The characters of the series include a group of surgical residents, the various physicians who serve as mentors to the them, and additional people in their professional and personal lives.

Interns:

Residents: Attendings:

Former Cast Members:

1 Season 4+; recurring previously 2 Season 3+; recurring previously 3 Seasons 2-3; recurring previously 4 Seasons 1-3

The show has been applauded for its non-traditional cast. The show's producers pride themselves on the fact that they used a "blind-casting" technique, resulting in a racially diverse cast. The writers carefully chose the specialty of each doctor as an important analogy to their character and foreshadowing of their development, which adds a layer of complexity to the show.

Seasons

 * Season 1

Season 2: 2005-2006

 * Nielsen Ranking (2005-06 U.S. TV season; based on average total viewers per episode): #5 (19.9 million viewers)

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 Italic textDesperate 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 came to an abrupt halt 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 (although this is cut short when Izzie falls for heart patient Denny Duquette), 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: 2006-2007
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. 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, 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 move to Thursdays was viewed as a vote of confidence in the series from ABC, as well as a bid to attract more advertising dollars, since movie studios heavily advertise movies on Thursday evenings for that weekend's box office. The move was cited as one 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.

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.

Once the season commenced, the show had two previously recurring actors, Sara Ramirez (Callie Torres) and Eric Dane (Mark Sloan), join the regular cast. The series' opening credit sequence was also dropped beginning this season, with a title card displayed at the end of the first act and credits displayed over the opening of the second act of each episode.

Season Four: 2007-2008
The show was renewed for a fourth season, with the first episode airing on September 27, 2007.

In the official blog, creator Shonda Rhimes gave a few clues as to plotlines for season four, indicating that Mark Sloan will be given a bigger role and in the aftermath of the finale, events for Derek Shepherd and Cristina Yang will be "interesting to watch." Due to her producing responsibilities on both Grey's and the spin-off, Rhimes assigned the day-to-day showrunning duties to writer and executive producer Krista Vernoff.

For the first time in the show's history, many of the series regulars were not returning. Kate Walsh's character was transferred to the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice. On June 7, 2007, it was announced that Isaiah Washington's contract had not been renewed. Former Reunion star, Chyler Leigh, guest starred in the final two episodes of season three as Lexie Grey, a new intern and Meredith Grey's younger half-sister. On June 11, 2007, it was announced that Leigh would become a series regular, instead of a 13 episode story arc as previously planned.

The Silence of the Lambs actress Brooke Smith joined the main cast, reprising her antagonizing Dr. Erica Hahn in the season's fifth episode. She replaces Preston Burke as head of Cardiothoracics.

It was reported that a new male character would be introduced. This character would somehow be in "competition" with Dr. Derek Shepherd. Third season guest stars included former Gilmore Girls actor Edward Herrmann who appeared in three episodes. Seth Green of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame guest starred in a two-part episode. Lauren Stamile plays a scrub nurse named Rose, who is a potential love interest for Derek. Dawson's Creek alumnus Joshua Jackson was scheduled to make his return to television in a multi-episode arc as a doctor with his first appearance in the season's eleventh episode. . Jackson's appearance was cancelled due to the 2007-08 Writers Guild of America strike.

Criticism, praise, and 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 so called "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.

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, with the season premiere drawing 3 million more viewers than CSI.

Another criticism drawn against the show is the parallels of Grey's Anatomy's format with the NBC comedy, Scrubs (TV_series)|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 popularized them for the mass audience, even to the point of Scrubs referencing it directly with the main character John_Dorian|Dr. John "JD" Dorian, mentioning Grey's Anatomy, saying "It's like they've been watching our lives and just put it on TV" in the episode "My Buddy's Booty." George is sometimes also called 'Bambi', a nickname Carla frequently uses when talking to JD on Scrubs. The writers of "Grey's Anatomy" seem to tacitly mention "Scrubs" as well. During the season two finale, at a particularly dramatic moment, the character of George exclaims, "Why didn't I take the internship in San Diego? None of this would be happening if I was in San Diego." "Scrubs" is thought to be set in a hospital somewhere in southern California -- likely San Diego.

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.

In October 2006 as Season 3 began, the show's actors attracted media attention when Isaiah Washington was alleged to have referred to another cast member as a "Faggot (epithet)|faggot" during an on-set altercation with Patrick Dempsey. This cast member transpired to be T.R. Knight who came out about his sexual orientation following media speculation. While Washington denied using the word, he issued a public statement apologizing for his "unfortunate use of words." The controversy later reignited at the 2007 Golden Globe Awards. After the show won for List of Golden Globe Awards: Television, Best Series, Drama|Best Drama Series, the cast and crew appeared in the pressroom to answer reporters' questions. While creator Shonda Rhimes was being asked about the incident, Washington unexpectedly stepped in front of the microphone and stated: "No, I did not call T.R. a faggot." (The Hollywood Foreign Press Association placed the footage on their website) Afterwards, in an interview with Access Hollywood, Katherine Heigl criticised Washington for revisiting the incident publicly and using the slur in the pressroom. Later that week, Knight appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' The Ellen DeGeneres Show|daytime talkshow and said he and others had heard Washington use the slur during the October incident. LGBT group GLAAD then called on Washington to apologize.

Network executives went on to reprimand Washington, who then agreed to undergo counseling and issued a statement saying: "I can neither defend nor explain my behavior...I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I've asked for help." .

On February 21, 2007 the Wall Street Journal reported that ABC was pursuing a spin-off (media)|spin-off of Grey's Anatomy featuring the character Addison Montgomery. According to the Hollywood Reporter, an expanded two-hour episode of Grey's Anatomy, scheduled to air in May, will serve as a television pilot#Backdoor pilots|backdoor pilot for the potential spinoff. The backdoor pilot episode is understood to feature Montgomery being close to leaving Seattle Grace Hospital. Taye Diggs is tapped to star in the spinoff series opposite Walsh.

Wins
Producers Guild Awards: Golden Globe Award: Screen Actors Guild Awards: TV Land Awards: NAACP Image Award: Television Critics Awards: Emmy Awards: People's Choice Awards: Entertainment Weekly:
 * Best Television Series - Drama: Grey's Anatomy (2007)
 * Best Television Series - Drama: Grey's Anatomy (2007)
 * Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-series, or Motion Picture Made for Television: Sandra Oh (2006)
 * Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series: Sandra Oh (2006)
 * Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series: Chandra Wilson (2007)
 * Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a TV Series - Drama: Grey's Anatomy (2007)
 * Future Classic (2006)
 * Outstanding Drama Series (2006)
 * Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series: Isaiah Washington (2006)
 * Program of the Year (2006)
 * Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series: Linda Lowy, John Brace (2006)
 * Favorite TV Drama: Grey's Anatomy (2007)
 * Favorite Male TV Star: Patrick Dempsey (2007)
 * Entertainers of the Year: Cast of Grey's Anatomy (2007)

Nominations
Emmy Award:
 * Outstanding Drama Series (2006)
 * Outstanding Makeup For A Series (Non-Prosthetic)
 * Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
 * Outstanding Direction in a Drama Series: Peter Horton (A Hard Day's Night) (2005)
 * Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series: Linda Lowy, John Brace (2005, 2006)
 * Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Sandra Oh (2005, 2006)
 * Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Chandra Wilson (2006)
 * Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Kate Burton (actress)|Kate Burton (Ellis Grey) (2006)
 * Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series: Christina Ricci (Hannah the paramedic) (2006)
 * Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series: Kyle Chandler (Dylan Young) (2006)
 * Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: Shonda Rhimes (It’s the End Of The World, As We Know It ) (2006)
 * Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: Krista Vernoff (Into You Like A Train) (2006)

Golden Globe Award:
 * Best Television Series - Drama (2006)
 * Best Actor in a Television Drama Series : Patrick Dempsey (2006, 2007)
 * Best Actress in a Television Drama Series: Ellen Pompeo (2007)
 * Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-series, or Motion Picture Made for Television: Katherine Heigl (2007)

Image Awards:
 * Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Chandra Wilson (2006, 2007)
 * Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: James Pickens, Jr. (2006, 2007)
 * Outstanding Drama Series (2007)
 * Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series: Isaiah Washington(2007)
 * Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series: Shonda Rhimes (It's the End Of The World, As We Know It) (2007)

Screen Actors Guild Awards:
 * Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2006)
 * Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series: Patrick Dempsey (2006)

Grammy Award:
 * Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media: Alexandra Patsavas, Mitchell Leib (2007)

DVD releases
Season releases

The show's main title theme is a snippet of "Cosy in the Rocket", by British artist 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 featured in each episode, which are all selected, mixed and supervised by Alexandra Patsavas, can be found on the program's official website. 

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 Season 3 promotional music video. While the popularity of "How to Save a Life" was largely credited to its use in Grey's Anatomy, the song had already been used during a cliffhanger episode of NBC's Scrubs titled "My Lunch." There was also a Season Two video with Chasing Cars as its track.

However, in another instance of "borrowing" from NBC's Scrubs, the show has used two artists who made their breakthrough on the comedy, Joshua Radin and Cary Brothers. The two artists feature quite prominently on Scrubs due to their connection with actor Zach Braff.

The Greenskeepers' song "Lotion" was featured prominently in the season 2 episode "Much Too Much". As the song plays in the background, George tells Meredith that if she does not curb her recent promiscuity, she will end up in a well with a killer ordering her to rub the lotion on her skin; a reference to the movie Silence of the Lambs which "Lotion" also pays homage to. "You Don't Know Me" and French band Los Chicros' "Back in the Wild" remixed by the same band have also been featured on Grey's Anatomy.

A second soundtrack, featuring songs from Season Two, was released September 12, 2006.

Music plays a key role in the creation of Grey's Anatomy. Each episode of the show is uniquely named after a song. The episode titles usually have something to do with the theme or moral of the episode's storyline and this moral is reproduced by the voice-overs heard at the beginning and end of each episode.

Many artists are featured in several episodes on Grey's Anatomy. Among those are Beck, Tegan and Sara, Kate Havnevik, Roisin Murphy, Snow Patrol, Maria Taylor, Mat Kearney, Ingrid Michaelson, The Hereafter, Jem, Brandi Carlile Anya Marina, Chris Garneau, Devics, and KT Tunstall.

Catchphrases
The characters on Grey's Anatomy speak in a very contemporary way, resulting in unique dialogue. As a result, the show has spawned several catchphrases, many of which are only used once or a few times. The use is noted in the following form (Season, Episode # of that season)


 * A trend began of "McLabeling" characters or adding "Mc" to other terms


 * Euphemisms for female genitalia or other sexually-related terms
 * Va-jay-jay: Dr. Bailey's euphemism for vagina: during the season 2 episode "(As We Know It)", George was assisting Addison Shepherd in Dr. Bailey's childbirth, and Bailey told him to "stop looking at my va-jay-jay!" On the "Frequently Asked Questions" page of the show's official website, Shonda Rhimes credits assistant Blythe Robe as her source for the phrase. The network tries to limit the use of the word "vagina."
 * My good girl: A supporting character called her genitalia "my good girl" in the episode Damage Case.
 * V-card: Chief Webber's wife Adele (Loretta Devine) used the phrase "cashing in her V-card" to describe her niece losing her virginity in the second-season finale.


 * Cristina used the term "the Nasty Nasty" to refer to sex. This was first used in the episode Time Has Come Today [3,01], when Cristina said "You and McDreamy did the Nasty Nasty?"


 * The characters often say "seriously", usually at the end of a sentence, as a question or as a pronouncement. On the "Frequently Asked Questions" page on the show's website at ABC.com and the audio commentaries, creator Shonda Rhimes explains that one of the writers, Krista Vernoff, used the saying all the time and it spread to the writing staff, and eventually, to the dialogue.

Trivia

 * Every episode title comes from the title of a song.
 * As is common for major TV and film productions, stars of the show have become famous in roles other than those they originally sought. Sandra Oh was initially looking to audition for the part of Dr. Bailey. On Oprah, Isaiah Washington (Dr. Burke) said that he had auditioned to play the role of Dr. Shepherd.
 * Rob Lowe was originally considered for the role of Derek Shepherd, but passed on it.
 * Patrick Dempsey auditioned for the role of Dr. Chase on FOX's primetime medical mystery show, House, before taking the role of Dr. Shepherd.[citation needed]
 * Fisher Plaza, which houses Seattle's ABC affiliate KOMO-TV, is used for some exterior shots of Seattle Grace Hospital. This puts Seattle Grace conveniently close to the Space Needle, the Seattle Monorail, and other local landmarks. However, the hospital used for most other exterior and many interior shots is not in Seattle; these scenes are shot at the VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center in North Hills, California.[citation needed]
 * Other shows have referenced Grey's Anatomy, or its characters and setting, as the show grew in fame and popularity. In the second season of "The Office" on NBC, character Kelly tells co-worker Kevin "I was watching 'Grey's Anatomy' and there was a life guard on it. And he had skin cancer too." In the fifth season of Scrubs Elliot asks J.D., "J.D., I really don't wanna do this. Can't we just go home, and put on our PJ's, and watch "Grey's Anatomy"?" (In response, J.D. says, "Oh, I do love that show. It's like they've been watching our lives and then just put it on TV.") In the third episode of season 4 on The O.C., Dr. Neil Roberts is offered a new job. He tells his daughter the offer is from a hospital known for being "wonderfully quirky" and specifically names Seattle Grace Hospital. On the following episode, Kaitlin Cooper asks her mother Julie Cooper if Neil is still being bossed around by a short, sassy lady (presumably hinting at Dr. Miranda Bailey). Once again, in the tenth episode of season 4 on The O.C., Seth Cohen goes to visit Dr. Neil Roberts at Seattle Grace Hospital and Seth asks him "so, you likin' it up here?" and Neil asks "seriously?" and Seth responds with "seriously." A phrase which is often repeated by every intern on Grey's Anatomy. One scene between Seth and Neil take place in an outdoor dining hall exceedingly similar to the one featured on Grey's Anatomy. In the TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation Emma asks Manny to come over and watch TV saying it will just be: "you, me, and McDreamy" - referring the the nickname established for Dr. Shepherd.
 * The character Alex Karev was not in the original pilot script. He wasn't added until after the pilot was shot, therefore scenes with him were either reshoots or digitally altered.
 * The Inuit doll that frequently appears in episodes is named Ipecac. Ipecac is featured in an Easter Egg in the Season One DVD Bonus Features, were the cast and crew discuss the doll, its name, origins and a plot to kidnap it.
 * The producers of Grey's Anatomy recently released a novel depicting the lives and minglings of two bit-part characters; Joe the Bartender and Nurse Debbie. The book is double sided written in blog and IM form, while gossiping on the actions of the Grey's characters. The events discussed give background information for Joe and Debbie themselves and give insight on the events and cases the doctors deal with in the show.
 * Both of ABC's 2005 midseason replacements featured neurosurgeons named Shepherd as male leads. Lost focused on a spinal surgeon named Jack Shephard, while Grey's Anatomys main character was of course Derek Shepherd. In the third season Lost also introduced a character named Dr. Juliet Burke although her professional training is closer to that of Addisons.