Last year, the alphabet network introduced a breakthrough hit with its medical drama comedy “Grey’s Anatomy,” now in its second season. Rather than be faced with the so-called sophomore slump many new shows experience in their second year, “Grey’s” has done the opposite. It has taken the television world by storm, carving out a niche among longer-running medical shows like “Scrubs” and “ER,” both NBC primetime staples.
“Grey’s Anatomy” tells the stories of five surgical interns at Seattle Grace Hospital: Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Isobel “Izzie” Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Christina Yang (Sandra Oh), George O’Malley (T.R. Knight), and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers). The show follows the interns as they learn how to balance their careers and their own personal lives. Between dealing with train wrecks, demanding schedules, and their resident, Dr. Bailey (Chandra Wilson), also known as “The Nazi” because of her fierce attitude, but they also find themselves in forbidden relationships and family problems, drama that keeps viewers wanting more.
“I think it’s an interesting combination of hospitals, doctors, and their personal life,” Nicole Adams, a freshman communications major, said. “I think there are enough relationships and characters to keep the show going for a while.”
If QU viewers have anything to say about it, this new show will remain a mainstay in the primetime lineup for a good while. “I think it has a lot of staying power,” Anthony Fay, freshman communications major, said of the Sunday night show, which airs following “Desperate Housewives.” “I think that right away the show did a good job of getting people to know the characters as well as the situation. ‘ER’ started out being mostly about the medicine, then they tried to integrate more of the characters, but ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ has been doing that throughout the show. When ‘ER’ started doing that, the show started to lose some of its integrity,” Fay said.
“Grey’s” has certainly had no difficulty in drawing in viewers recently, particularly with its recent post-Super Bowl episode. The network used the game as an advertising tool, with numerous airings of a fast-paced, dramatic trailer for the night’s episode. With screaming, blood, and quickly changing scenes, culminating in Burke (Isaiah Washington) declaring a “Code Black” bomb threat in the hospital, this episode promised an edge-of-your-seat show, generating much anticipation and delivered with an even greater number of viewers.
“I never really watched the show before, but I saw the preview for the most recent episode, and wanted to tune in,” Nicole Colomonico, a freshman English major, said.
Is “Grey’s” the next big television phenomenon? Will the intimacy into the characters’ lives continue to put this show above others? Only time can tell; but for the present, viewers will have to be content with cheering on their favorite interns, and wondering what sort of incredulities will come next week.
