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"GREY'S ANATOMY" PRESCRIBES
MORE OF THE SAME
May 6, 2005
ABC, it seems, can do no wrong. "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" have been uncontested smashes since their fall premieres. Now, along comes "Grey's Anatomy," a show that can't possibly succeed because (a) it's a hospital drama (ugh -- another one?) and (b) it's a hospital drama that's not all that good.
Apparently, the masses would disagree as evidenced by the 19 million people who have been tuning in to watch every week. ABC execs are so happy, they're keeping "Anatomy" on Sundays at 10 p.m. for the rest of the season while benching former timeslot occupant "Boston Legal" (a much better show).
Why the stunning success? Well, it's obvious that a lot of those viewers roll over from "Desperate Housewives," which airs right before. And I'll even admit that "Grey's Anatomy" makes a better fit with "Housewives" than "Boston Legal" did. Conceding all that, 19 million people is still a massive audience for such a decidedly average show.
In fact, comparing "Grey's Anatomy" with some of the great hospital dramas past or present isn't even fair since "Anatomy" makes little attempt to realistically portray the workings of a medical facility. This is more a relationship show - the "chick flick" of hospital dramas, if you will, what with all the writhing and smooching and snuggling contained within. You know realism isn't a concern when, within the first six episodes, we have two doctors breaking the rules to sleep with their surgical interns (while hospital management turns a blind eye).
Yes, this is the kind of series where characters such as the cute new resident Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) struggles with her relationship quandaries by saying things like, "I have to end it. I definitely have to end it. I have to end it, right?" The characters whine about their love lives on this show constantly. CONSTANTLY.
In "Anatomy"'s defense, it doesn't attempt to hide it's soapy intentions. Heck, the opening credits contrast various hospital images with their thematic cocktail party counterparts. I'll also own up that the cast here is pretty competent. The best surprise being Patrick Dempsey as medical lothario Dr. Derek Shepherd. Dempsey's been fighting the good Hollywood fight since … jeez … how long now? (I looked it up - it's been 18 years since he played the teenage lead in "Can't Buy Me Love.")
The rest of the cast is made up of a slew of "where-have-I-seen-that-person-before?" folks. With that in mind, consider this a public service: Pompeo was the object of Luke Wilson's affection in "Old School." Sandra Oh (Dr. Yang) was featured in last year's Oscar-nominated "Sideways" and used to be a regular on HBO's "Arli$$." Isaiah Washington (Dr. Burke) played one of the creepiest street thugs ever in the movie "Out of Sight." And Katherine Heigl is the ex-model who's appeared in everything from sci-fi fave "Roswell" to slasher sequel "Bride of Chucky."
Yeah, it's easy to get a warm, fuzzy feeling when considering that all these capable actors finally have a hit. But then you start paying attention to "Grey's Anatomy" again and realize that we've seen all these plots before on "ER" and "Chicago Hope" and the million other hospital dramas that have plagued our airwaves during the last two decades.
Each episode of "Grey's Anatomy" ends exactly as you'd expect. People die, lessons are learned, and some light-rock-flavored piano music wraps everything up nice and neat. Regardless, if people keep watching, this series will be around for a while. Who knows, maybe "Anatomy" will eventually find a distinctive voice? At this point, though, I'd say that prognosis amounts to little more than wishful thinking.
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