Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy
Grey’s Anatomy intertitle
Genre	Medical drama, Comedy-drama
Created by	Shonda Rhimes
Starring	Ellen Pompeo Sandra Oh Katherine Heigl Justin Chambers T. R. Knight Chandra Wilson James Pickens, Jr. Kate Walsh (2005-2007) Sara Ramírez Eric Dane Chyler Leigh Brooke Smith Isaiah Washington (2005-2007) Patrick Dempsey
Narrated by	Ellen Pompeo (as Meredith), occasionally narrated by other main cast characters
Theme music composer	Psapp
Opening theme	"Cosy in the Rocket"
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	78 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Shonda Rhimes Betsy Beers Mark Gordon Krista Vernoff Rob Corn Mark Wilding
Production location	Los Angeles
Running time	approx. 43 minutes
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	March 27, 2005 – present
Related
Private Practice

Grey’s Anatomy is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American primetime television medical drama. It debuted on ABC as a midseason replacement for Boston Legal on March 27, 2005, immediately following Desperate Housewives.

The series revolves around Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who began the show as a surgical intern at Seattle Grace Hospital in Seattle.

The title of the show is a reference to the famous medical handbook Gray's Anatomy.

On February 11, 2008, ABC picked up Grey’s Anatomy for the 2008-09 television season. However, there is a possibility that the production of Season 5 of Grey’s Anatomy will be affected by the upcoming Screen Actors Guild strike.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of characters from Grey's Anatomy

The characters of the series include a group of surgical interns and the various physicians who serve as mentors to the interns in their professional and personal lives. The show's producers used a "blind-casting" technique, resulting in a racially diverse cast. All roles for Grey’s Anatomy are cast without the characters' race being pre-specified, in keeping with creator Shonda Rhimes' vision of diversity.

Towards the end of the third season, candidacy for the position of Chief Resident among the residents became a prominent subject, for Dr. Callie Torres and especially for Dr. Miranda Bailey. The race for Chief of Surgery between Dr. Addison Montgomery, Dr. Derek Shepherd, Dr. Mark Sloan and especially Dr. Preston Burke highlighted the final few episodes of the third season.

As of the third season finale, Dr. Meredith Grey, Dr. Cristina Yang, Dr. Izzie Stevens and Dr. Alex Karev have become second-year residents, except Dr. George O'Malley who failed his intern exam by a single point.

The fourth season introduced Dr. Lexie Grey, a first-year intern; as well as Dr. Erica Hahn, as the new Head of Cardiothoracic surgery.

Level	Character	Actor	Specialty (where selected)	Starring
Intern	George O'Malley	T. R. Knight		Season 1 -
	Lexie Grey	Chyler Leigh		Season 4 - (Season 3; guest)
Resident	Meredith Grey	Ellen Pompeo		Season 1 -
	Cristina Yang	Sandra Oh		Season 1 -
	Izzie Stevens	Katherine Heigl		Season 1 -
	Alex Karev	Justin Chambers		Season 1 -
	Miranda Bailey	Chandra Wilson	Chief Resident, General Surgery	Season 1 -
	Callie Torres	Sara Ramírez	Orthopedics	Season 3 - (season 2; recurring)
Attending	Richard Webber	James Pickens, Jr.	Chief of Surgery, General Surgery	Season 1 -
	Derek Shepherd	Patrick Dempsey	Head of Neurosurgery	Season 1 -
	Mark Sloan	Eric Dane	Head of Plastic Surgery	Season 3 - (season 2; guest)
	Erica Hahn	Brooke Smith	Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery	Season 4 - (Season 2, 3; guest)
	Addison Montgomery	Kate Walsh	Former Head of Neo-Natal Surgery; OB-GYN	Season 2 - 3 (Season 1, 4; guest)
	Preston Burke	Isaiah Washington	Former Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery	Season 1 - 3

Seasons

See also: List of Grey's Anatomy episodes

Season One: 2005

Main article: Grey's Anatomy episodes (Season 1)

Nielsen Ranking (2004-05 U.S. TV season; based on average total viewers per episode): #9 (18.5 million viewers)

File:Greys-anatomy-1-cast.jpg

The season 1 cast of Grey’s Anatomy

Season one began airing Sunday, 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, the 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 would be her closest friends during the intern program. Other characters include Dr. Miranda Bailey, nicknamed "Nazi" due to her "tough love" capability; Alex Karev, an intern who is not very popular with the others (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 internship 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. Although for other areas where the season was aired, the season end is Meredith waiting (Season 2, Episode 5).

Season Two: 2005-2006

Main article: Grey's Anatomy episodes (Season 2)

Nielsen Ranking (2005-06 U.S. TV season; based on average total viewers per episode): #5 (21.3 million viewers)

File:Fullcast-s2a.jpg

The season 2 cast of Grey’s Anatomy

The second season aired Sunday, September 25, 2005, and ended on May 14 and May 15, 2006 with a three-hour finale spanning both nights. The first season had 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 first 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. 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 Derek's relationship, which came to an abrupt halt when it was revealed that Derek is married to surgeon Addison Montgomery. Izzie and Alex embark on a relationship of their own (although cut short when Izzie falls for heart patient Denny Duquette), as do Cristina Yang and Preston Burke. Doctor Baily becomes pregnant, and more is revealed about her personal life. 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.

Once the second season ended on May 15, 2006, the show had two previously recurring actors, Sarah Ramirez (Callie Torres) and Eric Dane (Mark Sloan), join the regular cast. The series' opening credit sequence was also dropped by the last half of the second season, replaced by 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 Three: 2006-2007

Main article: Grey's Anatomy episodes (Season 3)

Nielsen Ranking (2006-07 U.S. TV season; based on average total viewers per episode): #4 (22.3 million viewers)

File:Greys-anatomy-3-cast.JPG

The season 3 cast of Grey’s Anatomy

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. ET. 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. ET, and thus positioned Grey’s Anatomy against CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Without a Trace, Fox Network's The OC, 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. ET. 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.

The third season ended on May 17, 2007. As the season came to a close, Burke called off his wedding to Cristina at the church, Chief Webber stayed on as the Chief of Surgery, Callie was appointed Chief Resident, and George learned he failed the final intern exam. The relationship between Derek and Meredith, as well as the triangle between Callie, George, and Izzie were left unresolved. Addison decides to start a new life in Los Angeles in the spin-off Private Practice.

Season Four: 2007-2008

Main article: Grey's Anatomy episodes (Season 4)

File:Normal 1001.jpg

The season 4 cast of Grey’s Anatomy

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 character Dr. Erica Hahn (The Silence of the Lambs fame actress Brooke Smith) joined the main cast, reprising her antagonizing role in the season's fifth episode. She replaces Preston Burke as head of Cardiothoracics. Upon her return, she makes Sandra Oh's character, Cristina Yang work harder for her success in Cardiothoracics and initially served as a new love interest for Eric Dane's Mark Sloan.

It was reported that a new male character would be introduced. This character would somehow be in "competition" with Dr. Derek Shepherd. Fourth 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 became 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 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. Kate Walsh returned as Dr. Addison Montgomery on May 1.

On February 20, 2008, it was confirmed that Grey’s Anatomy would return on April 24, 2008 for five new episodes. Where the Wild Things Are was the first episode shown after the incubation resulted from WGA strike. The double episode finale (Freedom) aired May 22, 2008. It was centered around Meredith having a huge breakthrough with her personal life including Derek and her mother. Derek also realized he continually failed Meredith. Meredith and Derek preformed clinical trials on patients with brain tumors. They lost all of their patients except for one whose boyfriend died just before her life saving surgery. After finally succeeding, Meredith finally took a risk and reunited with Derek. Almost all the cast had a kiss, including Meredith and Derek, George and Lexie, Richard and Adelle, Alex and Izzie, and, Erica and Callie. To prepare for the lesbian story line, which will continue in season five, Grey’s consulted with GLAAD. We also learned about Alex's needy mother and part of his past. After Meredith and Derek's resumption of their relationship, Derek left to break up with Rose, his girlfriend who had come between the two previously.

Season Five: 2008-2009

It has been confirmed that Grey’s Anatomy will have a fifth season starting sometime this Fall. There is also a possibility that the production of the fifth season could be delayed because of the possibility of a Screen Actors Guild strike. The season is to start on September 25 straight after the third season premiere of Ugly Betty for a two-hour long premiere. OK! magazine reported that Katherine Heigl is still staying on Grey's Anatomy and wants her character Dr. Izzie Stevens to have a brain tumor.

Production

Locations

Fisher Plaza, which houses Seattle's ABC affiliate KOMO-TV, is used for some exterior shots of Seattle Grace Hospital, such as air ambulances landing on the KOMO-TV news helicopter helipad. 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. While the interior of Meredith's house is a built set, the actual home used for exterior shots is in Seattle.

Rise to prominence

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 pulled in a record 38.1 million viewers. 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.

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.

Dismissal of Isaiah Washington

In October 2006 as season 3 began, the show's actors attracted media attention when Washington was alleged to have referred to T.R. Knight as a "faggot" during an on-set altercation with Patrick Dempsey. Afterwards, cast member T.R. Knight 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."

Golden Globes

The controversy later reignited at the 2007 Golden Globe Awards. After the show won for Best Drama Series, the cast and crew appeared in the press room 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 criticized Washington for revisiting the incident publicly and using the slur in the press room, and said "he needs to just not speak in public. Period." Later that week, Knight appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' daytime talk show and said he and others had heard Washington use the slur during the October incident.

Aftermath

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation 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." In an effort to try to come clean with the viewers, Washington surprisingly checked into a residential treatment facility to undergo a psychological assessment for the slur.

Dismissal

However, on June 7 2007 ABC announced they had decided not to renew Washington's contract, and that he would be dropped from the show. "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," Washington said in a statement released by his publicist. He has also spoken out about the controversy and said that "I have to clear my name. I'll start from the beginning. I'm telling everything. So here's the truth ... I used the word during a disagreement with Patrick Dempsey. I apologized for that. We shook hands and went back to work." He has also stated that it was Knight who spun the slur into a personal attack, alleging it may have been to increase his salary or storylines and is considering legal action. He has stated that Patrick Dempsey will support him in saying the previous statement.

Since then Isaiah Washington has spoken about the firing and has said that he was not mad but "saddened" by his firing. He also said that if he was asked to make a cameo appearance on the show, he would not hesitate to say "yes".

Private Practice

Main article: Private Practice

On February 21, 2007, The Wall Street Journal reported that ABC was pursuing a spin-off of Grey’s Anatomy featuring the character Addison Montgomery. On May 3, 2007, a two-hour episode of Grey’s Anatomy doubled as a backdoor pilot for the proposed spinoff. ABC officially picked up Private Practice for its fall 2007 lineup on May 11. The series aired its first nine episodes during fall 2007 on Wednesday nights on 9:00PM Eastern/8:00PM Central, premiering on September 26, 2007 on ABC. The premiere episode followed the second part of the season debut of Dancing with the Stars and provided a lead-in to fellow freshman series Dirty Sexy Money. Pushing Daisies, a third new series for the evening, rounded out the evening's lineup as a lead-in to Private Practice on October 3, 2007.

Reception

While the series garnered generally favorable ratings and a full-season episode order from ABC, production was halted on Private Practice after the ninth episode, due to the WGA strike which similarly halted the fourth season of Grey’s Anatomy. Upon resolution of the strike, ABC announced Private Practice would resume broadcasts of new episodes at the start of the 2008-2009 season, retaining its timeslot alongside the other two series it had accompanied on Wednesday evenings in fall 2007, if the Screen Actors' strike doesn't begin first.

Reception

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Grey’s Anatomy.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Season	Timeslot	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Ranking	Viewers (in millions)
1	Sunday 10:00PM	March 27, 2005	May 22, 2005	2005	#9	18.5
2	Sunday 10:00PM	September 25, 2005	May 15, 2006	2005–2006	#5	19.9
3	Thursday 9:00PM	September 20, 2006	May 17, 2007	2006–2007	#4	19.5
4	Thursday 9:00PM	September 27, 2007	May 22, 2008	2007–2008	#10	15.9

Awards

Among many others Grey’s Anatomy is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning television show.

Main article: List of Grey's Anatomy awards and nominations

DVD releases

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (formerly Buena Vista Home Entertainment) has released seasons 1, 2 and 3 of Grey’s Anatomy on DVD in Region 1 & Region 2. Season 4 (Region 1) will be available for DVD and Blu-Ray on September 9,2008.

Season releases

DVD Name	Release Date	Ep #	Discs	Additional Information
Season 1	February 14 2006	9 (R2-14)	2	Alternate title sequence, audio commentaries, an extended pilot episode and a making-of featurette, Easter Egg (disc 2).
Season 2	September 12 2006	27 (R2-22)	6	The Doctors Are In and The Softer Side of Dr. Bailey featurette, Exclusive set tour, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, Extended episodes for Thanks for the Memories, It's The End of the World, What Have I Done To Deserve This? and Losing My Religion.
Season 3	September 11 2007	25	7	Seriously Extended edition: 4 extended episodes, a "one-on-one with Ellen Pompeo", a visit to the race track with star Patrick Dempsey, Cast and Crew favorite scenes featurette, and a cast commentary on selected episodes.
Season 4	September 9 2008	16	5	Expanded Edition: Extended episode of "Forever Young", the cast of Grey’s tell of their favorite scenes from Season 4, audio commentaries, deleted scenes and bloopers.

Other releases

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.

A bi-monthly magazine has also been produced and is currently being sold in stores across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The title of the magazine is GREY’S ANATOMY and it is a published work through Titan Magazines, and ExpressMag (for subscriptions). The first issue was released in March 2007.

Music

See also: Grey's Anatomy (soundtrack)

The show's main title theme during its first two seasons is an excerpt of "Cosy in the Rocket", by British artist Psapp. It is featured on 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.[2] Patsavas similarly gained acclaim for selecting the music used for the FOX series The O.C. prior to her work with the ABC series. A second soundtrack, featuring songs from the series' second season, was released September 12, 2006.

In addition to use within the series, certain songs have been become key to promotion of Grey’s Anatomy. Prior to the series debut, The Postal Service's song "Such Great Heights" was used as part of series previews aired on ABC. As the series has continued, it has been instrumental to the success of songs such as 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. “Chasing Cars” gained in popularity after its use late in the second season, and was used in a video of second season clips. “How to Save a Life” was the song used for the series' third season promotional music video, and all Grey’s Anatomy previews for the season. Brandi Carlile’s “The Story” and Mat Kearney’s “Breathe In, Breathe Out” have also been featured prominently.

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 featured on Grey’s Anatomy include Adele, Beck, Tegan and Sara, Kate Havnevik, Roisin Murphy, Snow Patrol, Maria Taylor, Mat Kearney, Medeski Martin & Wood, Ingrid Michaelson, Joshua Radin, The Hereafter, Jem, Brandi Carlile, Anya Marina, Duffy, Corinne Bailey Rae, Chris Garneau, Devics, KT Tunstall, Sia, and Anna Nalick.

See also

• House (TV series)‎
• ER (TV series)

External links

• Official Website
• Grey Matter Writers' Blog
• Grey’s Anatomy Wiki - created by and for the fans!
• Grey's Anatomy at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• Watch full episodes of Grey’s Anatomy online now (Canada)
• Blog de Anatomía de Grey

Preceded by American Dad! 2005

Super Bowl lead-out program 2006

Succeeded by Criminal Minds 2007