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THE ARTICLES; Writing On the Walls/Industry Notes
Topic Started: May 23 2007, 12:31 PM (108 Views)
oncetherewasaway	May 23 2007, 12:31 PM Post #1
McEditor Posts: 1,625 Group: .Grey Girls. Member #23 Joined: October 25, 2006	[size=7]Magazine & Online Articles[/size] Grey’s Magazine site – May 17, 2008 And that’s not all – we also bring you all the latest news from the world of Grey’s Anatomy! In this issue, check out the Grey’s mobile game, find out where your favorite stars have been spotted lately, and get the lowdown on Lauren Stamile, the newest kid on the Grey’s block. http://www.titanmagazines.com/app?service=...1&sp=Sen&sp=SUS Strike Watch: Writers (90 Percent) Authorize It - Oct 19 2007 11:37PM EDT It was around 7 p.m. in Los Angeles when the WGA sent out their release announcing that 90.3 percent of their voting membership--based on a record turnout of 5,507 votes--had voted to authorize a strike. Writers Guild of America East President Michael Winship, more forcibly than also-quoted West Coast president Patric Verrone, threw down the gantlet: "This historic vote sends an unequivocal message to the AMPT [Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers], loud and clear. We will not be taken advantage of and we will not be fooled."...........cont’d http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/the-h...nt-authorize-it WGA Strike Vote; Slowly They Turned...Oct 19 2007 5:22PM EDT From a Writers Guild press relase that went forth minutes ago at 2:15 p.m. Pacific time: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 19, 2007 .................”A brimming turnout would seem to corroborate the early word on the jungle telegraph that a good majority of voting writers' support has been handed to president Patric Verrone as a mandate. The further speculation is that the guild will permit some sort of extension to keep the membership working while further negotiations plow toward the new year. I know of at least one producer who has his fingers crossed hard, having just replaced a key cast member in an important project and now fervently hoping his writer will get the time to do the needed and logical rewrite.That story stands in for any number of projects that are poised on a knife edge between ready to shoot, and needing work.”.................cont’d http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/the-h...wly-they-turned Don't throw a 600-page book at a new media problem- October 19, 2007 Producers' representative says the WGA needs to modernize - For months now, the union that represents film and television writers has made no movement at the bargaining table. The current Writers Guild of America contract expires at midnight on Oct. 31, and it appears that the leaders of the guild are eager to take their 12,000 members out on strike. Thursday's vote results have given them authorization to do so. Unfortunately, the guild leadership had already been talking strike well before negotiations began. We don't see what a strike solves. The last WGA strike in 1988 lasted five months, and current estimates are that a similar stoppage could cost the industry — and all whose livelihoods depends on it — $3 billion...............cont’d http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/web/la...ack=4&cset=true [size=6]----------------------------------------------------------------------- [/size] Medical School Enrollment in U.S. Rises to Record (Update2) - Oct. 16 The number of first-year medical students in the U.S. rose to a record, according to a study by the Association of American Medical Colleges. A total of 126 medical schools enrolled 17,759 first-year students for the current term, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier, after attracting 42,315 applicants, the Washington-based association said today. The number of students who applied to medical school for the first time also reached an all-time high, almost 32,000, as the TV series ``Grey's Anatomy'' aroused interest in the field, educators said. .............cont’d http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...53c2p0&refer=us More MerDer, Less Gizzie on 'Grey's Anatomy' - September 20, 2007 Viewers who are rooting for Grey's Anatomy's supercouple can rest easy. It seems the Emmy-winning medical drama is serving up some more MerDer in the upcoming season, as series creator Shonda Rhimes says she really can't picture Derek (Patrick Dempsey) with anybody else. "I want to be clear that Derek loves Meredith," Rhimes told TV Guide's Michael Ausiello. "Derek loves Meredith [Ellen Pompeo] more than anything and I can't imagine Derek going anyplace else other than Meredith." With the way the previous season ended, fans of MerDer have been worried about the fate of the two characters. In the third season finale, Derek confronted Meredith about the level of her commitment to their relationship. Although he affirmed his love for her, Derek told Meredith that she should end their relationship if she is not in it for the long haul. Meredith failed to address his concerns, leaving a big question mark hanging over the relationship.......cont’d....... http://www.buddytv.com/articles/greys-anat...-gre-11197.aspx "Grey's Anatomy" set tops DVD sales chart - Wed Sep 19, 6:43 PM ET LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The Season 3 DVD set of "Grey's Anatomy" topped the national DVD sales chart Wednesday, ending the weeklong reign of another TV-DVD release, Season 3 of "The Office," which slipped to No. 3. In between, former champ "Blades of Glory" remained at No. 2 on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart for the week ending September 16, http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070919/tv_nm/dvd_dc What to expect in season 4 of Grey's Anatomy - Posted Sep 18th 2007 7:22PM http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/09/18/what-to-...-greys-anatomy/ Tales From the Grey’s Anatomy Set - Posted on September 24th, 2007 In an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the set of Grey’s Anatomy, USA Today’s William Keck lends his observations of what goes on that we don’t see… http://www.greysanatomyinsider.com/2007/09...natomy-set.html Recapping "Grey's Anatomy" Season Finale - “Didn’t We Almost Have It All” So this is the end of Season 3. As sad as we are to see the gang go, we are so NOT sad to see the end of Season 3, am I right? We’ve all lamented how far off track Shonda and the writers went last spring and in seven days time, we get to see if they got their hootchie back................................ http://www.tvfodder.com/greys_anatomy/arch...my_season.shtml -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A lighter shade of 'Grey's' on the set - September 23, 2007 http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2007/09...mainx-large.jpg http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/ne...reys-main_N.htm Scenes from the 'Grey's Anatomy' set http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/ne...nterstitialskip 'Grey's Anatomy' brings back fun after dark season’ - 09/26/2007 During the second half of last season, "Grey's Anatomy" went from being the TV pal with whom every get-together feels like a giddy first date, to the grating houseguest who constantly gets on your nerves. You know the story line: Offscreen, cast members squabbled over Isaiah Washington's nasty homophobic slur. Onscreen, a dark cloud hung over Seattle Grace as death, destruction and personal devastation reigned. And oh, those creative missteps: George (T.R. Knight) and Izzy (Katherine Heigl) making booty calls? Ugh. By the time the season of discontent was over, two key members of the cast were gone -- Washington getting the heave-ho and Kate Walsh getting her own spinoff show in "Private Practice" (9 tonight, Channels 7 and 10). Gone, too, was much of the good will the show had built up with fans and critics. As "Grey's" returns for its fourth season (9 p.m. Thursday, Channels 7 and 10), its vital signs are flagging and one has to wonder: Can this show get back to being the frothy, intoxicating guilty pleasure it once was? Fortunately, creator Shonda Rhimes is saying all the right things: It's time to lighten up, sex it up and have a ball.......cont’d after the jump http://www.mercurynews.com/tv/ci_7002766?nclick_check=1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- TV Guide Network Celebrates the Fall Television Season with Programming and Specials Dedicated to the Most Anticipated Returning Shows on Network Television - September 26, 2007 TV GUIDE SPECIAL: THE DOCTORS OF GREY’S Premieres October 13th at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT The sexy ensemble cast from Seattle Grace Hospital gets the treatment in the TV Guide Special, THE DOCTORS OF GREY’S. What does it take to make stethoscopes and surgical scrubs so seductive? Find out first hand from Grey’s Anatomy stars Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh, Chandra Wilson, T.R. Knight, Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers, Ellen Pompeo and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Also, get an early look inside the Grey’s Anatomy spin off, Private Practice. http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/g...211&newsLang=en Pop goes a new line of Hallmark greeting cards- Cards feature quips from stars, TV, films - Sunday, August 05, 2007 With sources such as the late George Burns and Lucille Ball and the movie "Casablanca,'' not all of the 81 sayings are contemporary, but they are when compared to much of the verse that expresses sentiment in greeting cards. The line includes gifts, journals, totes and napkins. "Once in a blue moon, people will surprise you ... and once in a while, people may even take your breath away,'' reads one quote from "Grey's Anatomy'' on the outside of a card, with this on the inside: "Thank you for making mine a lifetime of blue moons.'' ............cont’d.......... http://www.mlive.com/business/annarbornews...5280.xml&coll=2 The Maze continues.........How the Characters Relate to One Another http://mygallery.galacnet.com/sgh-board/al...Weekly%2001.jpg http://mygallery.galacnet.com/sgh-board/al...Weekly%2002.jpg Which Couple Are You http://mygallery.galacnet.com/sgh-board/al...magazine_01.jpg http://mygallery.galacnet.com/sgh-board/al...magazine_02.jpg http://mygallery.galacnet.com/sgh-board/al...magazine_03.jpg http://mygallery.galacnet.com/sgh-board/al...magazine_04.jpg Grey's Anatomy: Are They Falling from Grace? - Published Aug 21, 2007 www.associatedcontent.com/article/351186/greys_anatomy_are_they_falling_from.html Under The Needle: Many Men Get Botox - Men Seek Cosmetic Treatment in Effort to Ward Off Aging -July 7, 2007 http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=3355127&page=1 Anatomy of a hit - Monday, March 19, 2007 'Grey's' a top-rated draw, especially among women http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pb.../703190330/1005 Ellen and Patrick on EW's cover - September 23, 2005 issue This is an article that I have never read. Be sure and take note of the McName PD was given during the pilot. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1105056,00.html EW.com Seattle Grace Under Fire - More ''Grey's Anatomy'' drama: Amid salary spats and reported discontent over a planned spin-off of ABC's hit, Isaiah Washington tells EW he's uncertain about his future on the show next season http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20014219,00.html Visit these doctors at your own risk The doctors of Grey's Anatomy (19.3 million viewers, No. 2 among scripted series) and ER (11.6 million in Season 13 but lately in need of a viewer transfusion) have devoted fans, but would you want to be their patient? USA TODAY offers examples of how hot TV M.D.'s can be hazardous to your health: http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/ne...eys-chart_N.htm Us Poll: Grey's Anatomy Fever - Wednesday April 25, 2007 http://www.usmagazine.com/greys_spinoff Taking Sides on Izzie - 02 April 2007 From Entertainment Weekly. http://bp3.blogger.com/_RrObyQ3XzcY/RhCpwW...1600-h/izzy.jpg TV Salary Survey: Deal or No Deal - EW March 30, 2007 - Issue #927 http://img120.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ew033007tocik3.jpg http://img103.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ew033007salmt9.jpg http://img103.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ew033007salazf1.jpg http://img377.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ew033007salblz0.jpg http://img120.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ew033007salcyb6.jpg http://img377.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ew033007salduo3.jpg http://img377.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ew033007saleav7.jpg http://img377.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ew033007salfjy3.jpg The Anatomy of Grey's Anatomy - March 29, 2007 6:00 AM Thursday's must-see jumped to ABC. If it’s Thursday night, it’s Grey’s Anatomy. ABC’s hit is consistently the most-watched scripted show on TV. Some 25 million people tune in each week to watch a gaggle of hot young surgical interns juggle unlikely medical situations and thorny personal relationships. At Seattle Grace Hospital, almost anything that can happen does, along with some things that can’t. This season has seen the death of a father, a patient with toxic blood, the loss of a mother to Alzheimer’s, engagements and marriage, (partial article) http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGE0M...WE0ZGQ4NDZiYjQ= Watch Grey's Anatomy Online - 04/28/07 10:57 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 March 27, 2005, immediately following the immensely-popular Desperate Housewives. Currently, the show airs immediately following Ugly Betty. http://alloftv.net/index.php?contetn=episo...how=64&season=3 Candiru:Vampire Fish - The amazing tale of a fish that lodges itself in the genitals of men and women in the Amazon river. http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/2-29-2004-51087.asp Television Commentary - Character Assassination? What's going on with Izzie on ''Grey's Anatomy''? -- The good & the bad of Seattle Grace's model intern (link article below) http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20033308,00.html Ever wonder how new shows are picked? - 04/15/2007 NETWORKS SEEK FRESH IDEAS AMID CHAOTIC FRENZY - Mercury News In the world of TV, there's an annual high-stakes craps game. Millions of dollars are wagered, and there's just a handful of winners. As you read this, pilots (essentially sample episodes) of 112 new dramas and comedies are in various stages of production, with thousands of studio executives, producers, writers, directors and actors hoping their projects will make it onto the networks' fall schedules. Fewer than a third will make the cut; even fewer of those that do will last for more than a season. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_5672584?nclick_check=1 Grey's Anatomy Stars Getting Along Better now, From a Distance - April 5, 2007 Dempsey was approached by IMDB reporters recently to check in on how things are going since Washington spent his week in anger rehab. Dempsey's response was tentatively reassuring at best.(partial...see below) http://www.buddytv.com/articles/greys-anat...ng-al-5608.aspx Today's News: Our Take - by Matt Webb Mitovich Read Will Grey's End Season with Some "I Do"? Spin-off shmin-off. Let's talk Grey's Anatomy proper. The popular rom-dram may — just may — wash away its Season 3 backstage troubles and on-screen waterski-flirtations with a May wedding for Christina and Burke. Judging by pics and sightings shared at JustJared, Katherine Heigl's Izzie is suited up as a bridesmaid, while Ellen Pompeo appears to be the Mer of honor. The spied scenes, though, are merely from a bridal-shop try-on session for Yang & Co., so will the vow-swap actually go off without a hitch? Or will a presumed-dead Tina Lord crash the ceremony toting Burke's long-lost son, Milagro? Actually, that I'd rather see. http://community.tvguide.com/blog/TVGuide-...-News/700000044 The Anatomy of Grey's Anatomy - March 29, 2007 6:00 AM Thursday's must-see jumped to ABC. If it’s Thursday night, it’s Grey’s Anatomy. ABC’s hit is consistently the most-watched scripted show on TV. Some 25 million people tune in each week to watch a gaggle of hot young surgical interns juggle unlikely medical situations and thorny personal relationships. At Seattle Grace Hospital, almost anything that can happen does, along with some things that can’t. This season has seen the death of a father, a patient with toxic blood, the loss of a mother to Alzheimer’s, engagements and marriage, (partial article) http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGE0M...WE0ZGQ4NDZiYjQ= Taking Sides on Izzie - 02 April 2007 From Entertainment Weekly. http://bp3.blogger.com/_RrObyQ3XzcY/RhCpwW...1600-h/izzy.jpg Bill Clinton's a 24 fan, but Grey's is his favorite - Mar 26th 2007 http://www.tvsquad.com/ ABC ANNOUNCES FOURTEEN EARLY PICK-UPS FOR THE 2007-08 SEASON March 21, 2007 ABC Television Network today announced fourteen early pick-ups for the 2007-08 season for new breakout series “Brothers & Sisters,” “Ugly Betty” and “MEN IN TREES,” as well as returning hits “The Bachelor,” “Boston Legal,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Lost.” The announcement was made by ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson at the March Development Meeting in Los Angeles. These series join previously announced “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “Supernanny” and “Wife Swap,” which have also been renewed for the 2007-08 season. Grey’s Anatomy Stars are BANKIN’! - Contract Negotiations are Underway http://walktaken.com/2007/03/10/greys-anat...ars-are-bankin/ Tensions Escalate on 'Grey's Anatomy' (3/15/07) http://www.etonline.com/tv/spotlight/47396/ Grey's Anatomy Actor Makes a Donation - (3/15/07) IW donates $25,000 to a nonprofit foundation. http://www.buddytv.com/Greys-Anatomy.aspx "Grey’s Anatomy” The award-winning drama follows the interconnecting relationships of Seattle’s hottest doctors who live life to its fullest amid the daily life-and-death stakes of their jobs. It’s the drama and intensity of medical training mixed with the funny, sexy, painful lives of interns who are discovering that neither medicine nor relationships can be defined in black and white. Real life only comes in shades of grey. “Grey’s Anatomy” has established a strong presence on Thursday night, winning its 9 o’clock time period and qualifying as Thursday’s No. 1 TV show across each of the adult demographics. It’s the highest-rated scripted show on all of television this season with key adults. http://www.abcmedianet.com/specials/u/docs...p07_release.pdf 'Grey' shifts for Vernoff, Noxon - April 24, 2007 Faced with the prospect of running two big medical dramas next season, Shonda Rhimes has picked Krista Vernoff as the day-to-day point person on "Grey's Anatomy." Marti Noxon also has been tapped for the same position on the anticipated "Grey's" spinoff series. Rhimes, creator/executive producer of both "Grey's" and its potential spinoff, will serve as showrunner on both series........ (link below for complete article ) http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...55c8263388d21aa Grey's Anatomy Vs. the spin-off - Posted Apr 23rd 2007 http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/04/23/greys-an...s-the-spin-off/



oncetherewasaway	May 31 2007, 12:46 AM Post #2
McEditor Posts: 1,625 Group: .Grey Girls. Member #23 Joined: October 25, 2006	As audience's hair grays, network execs pull theirs out - Friday, July 13, 2007 Turning 40 can be a bit traumatic. Nobody but your parents will ever think you're young again. It's just a number, the saying goes, but it's a number that scares the daylights out of TV network executives. Every year a new batch of statistics is dumped on their doorsteps saying that, despite their best efforts, their prime-time audience is growing grayer. The news got worse this year when research firm Magna Global USA announced that, for the first time in its history, the median age of the viewers of all four big broadcast networks crept past the big 4-0. (A median age of 40 would mean they had as many viewers over 40 as under.) .........(cont’d) http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.d...STS15/707130327 Buffalo News, February 4, 2006 Excerpts from : Life is a dream on "Grey's Anatomy" for Patrick Dempsey By Alan Pergament - NEWS TV CRITIC ***** Dempsey said he has no plans to leave "Grey's," whose success will depend on how long Rhimes can keep up all the romantic entanglements in the medical series. ** Rhimes was fortunate that a pilot for another series that Walsh made last season didn't become a series. If it had, the role of Addison and the love triangle story line wouldn't have continued. Dempsey concedes that the moment Dr. McDreamy told his wife that he was in love with Meredith jolted him as much as it did this critic. Addison did have an affair with his best friend, but still . . .Asked what his wife would have done if he ever had a conversation like that, Dempsey said: "Under those circumstances, she'd slug me, most likely. Or she would leave. . . . Yeah, I am wrestling with it as well." "It is clearly, you know, Shonda Rhimes' show and she has a very clear path where she is taking these characters . . . You can go into her office and say 'I don't buy this because I personally would not make this choice. If he doesn't have a child with this woman, why is he staying in the relationship? What is it about this relationship that he needs to invest in? "That is slowly coming out. We get little bits and pieces as the episodes go on. It's about the ring, it's about the commitment and I'm sort of basing it on that. Even though the vows have been broken, he does feel he needs to at least commit to what he did on the altar and work through it in order to get past it so he doesn't create that mistake again, so he can then go on and hopefully be with Meredith. But we'll see." ********* It is unclear if Dr. McDreamy will eventually decide whether Meredith is his princess. Rhimes said she knows what the last scene in the series finale will be years from now. Dempsey says he likes the final scene. "I think she has it really well thought out," said Dempsey. Buffalo News, May 14, 2006 Ellen Pompeo struggles to survive 'Grey's Anatomy' By Kate O'Hare - ZAP2IT In some projects, actors have a great deal of influence over their characters, but most of the time, they just learn the lines, show up and try to make it seem real for the audience. Very often, just like fans, they look at characters' actions and say, "Huh?" That's frequently true for Ellen Pompeo, who plays romantically confused surgical intern Meredith Grey on the hit ABC medical melodrama "Grey's Anatomy," which closes out its second season with a three-part finale (one hour airs tonight and the next two on Monday). The series launched with Meredith's one-night-stand, which turned into a major complication when her paramour was revealed to be Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), a top surgeon at her Seattle hospital. Worse yet, he also turned out to be married -- which didn't stop the mutual attraction or flirtation. "It's done very much on purpose," says Pompeo of Meredith's quirks and flaws, "to create a female lead character who is very flawed. Shonda (Rhimes, the series' creator and co-executive producer) feels like she's diving into new waters there. You know, I don't really have much of a say. I just show up and say my lines. There's no collaboration on the characters and the writing. This is a 9-to-5 job. I have to show up and say what they write. "Some of the individual scenes I struggle with, and that's OK, because if it's a struggle, I'm learning. My biggest fear about doing a series television show is that I would be bored. But at the same time, there are episodes where I struggle with the choices that Meredith makes. So something I say a lot is, 'Why hasn't she learned this lesson? Why hasn't she learned any lesson? Why does she keep making these stupid mistakes?' "She's smart enough to make it through medical school, but she can't figure out that she shouldn't be sleeping with strangers." Of course, there are worse things than sleeping with strangers. As she pined for Shepherd -- nicknamed "McDreamy" -- Meredith ignored the steadfast admiration of fellow intern and roommate George O'Malley (T.R. Knight). At a low point this season, Meredith gave in and slept with George before bursting into tears of remorse and spurning him. That caused a serious rift that affected both their personal and professional lives.Admitting that Meredith's choices frustrate her "all the time," Pompeo says, "Sleeping with George was definitely, definitely, definitely a top frustrating moment. I just didn't understand why she would make such a massive mistake and sleep with someone who is close to her. I just can't. I could never justify it, and I still can't. "That's probably the most frustrating thing." Many fans don't understand Meredith's actions either, to which Pompeo says, "Well, Shonda understands it, and that's all that matters. In series television, they need these catastrophic events to happen, to supply the next five episodes with material. "It's a catalyst for all the little waterfalls that have to happen, so I understand it from a writing standpoint, why things happen. But you do have to bring them to life, and when you don't understand something, it's quite difficult to do that." "Grey's Anatomy" marks Pompeo's first gig as a TV series regular, and she didn't come to the job through the normal audition process. She had screen-tested for another ABC pilot about the Secret Service, but then-ABC chief Lloyd Braun didn't think she was right for the part. It eventually went to "Prison Break" star Sarah Wayne Callies, but the show didn't get picked up. "To his credit," Pompeo says, "Lloyd said, 'She's not right for this, but she's right for this untitled Shonda Rhimes pilot.' He just didn't slam the door in my face. He slammed one door but opened this one." San Jose Mercury News, February 5, 2006 'Grey's Anatomy' fans tune in for the complications: IT'S A 'RELATIONSHIP SHOW,' WITH A LITTLE SURGERY MIXED IN By Charlie McCollum Early last year, Shonda Rhimes, the creator and executive producer of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," had a vision. Rhimes and her cast and crew had filmed 13 episodes of the hospital drama, but the network had yet to decide when (or even if) the series would make it onto the schedule. At that point, she told one of the show's other producers that "if this show never goes, I'll just be selling episodes out of the trunk of my car. I could just hear me saying, 'Want some "Grey's Anatomy?" A little bit of "Grey's Anatomy" over here!' " But Rhimes never had the chance to try out her skill at street corner sales. "Grey's Anatomy" became last season's biggest surprise hit. Thrown onto ABC's Sunday night schedule in March as a temporary replacement for "Boston Legal," the show about the loves and relationships of interns at Seattle Grace Hospital took off with viewers almost immediately, quickly eclipsing "Legal" in the ratings. When it returned in September, its audience jumped to 20 million and it became ABC's most talked-about Sunday show, out-buzzing "Desperate Housewives." Co-star Sandra Oh ("Sideways") was nominated for an Emmy and last month won a Golden Globe for her performance. The series recently finished fourth in Television Week's semiannual TV critics' poll of top shows. And tonight, it gets the viewer-rich spot behind ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XL, a coveted showcase for any series. "We chose it because it's one of the best shows on television, and it's gaining momentum," says Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment. "It's going to be a huge part of our future, and so we want to give it every boost we can." Rhimes -- who hadn't done series television until "Anatomy" -- says the key to the show's success is that it isn't a typical hospital drama even though it includes the trappings of high-tension surgery and peculiar, hard-to-diagnose illnesses. (She bridles when it gets compared to "ER," which she calls "that other show.") "We're a relationship show with surgery in it," says Rhimes, one of the few African-American executive producers in television. "I've said that before, and I'll say it again." The core of "Anatomy" is a group of five interns: Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), trying to follow in the footsteps of her famous mother; overachieving, sharp-tongued Cristina Yang (Oh); Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigel), who financed medical school by being a lingerie model; lovable loser George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), who has become more lovable and less of a loser over time; and hunky Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), who is not as good a doctor as he seems at first glance. Swirling around the group are the more established doctors at the hospital. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) is the "Nazi" who oversees the interns. Chief of surgery Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) has had a long relationship with Grey's mother (Kate Burton). Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) and Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) are the hotshot surgeons. The pivot point of "Anatomy" from the very first episode has been the relationship between Grey and Shepherd, often referred to as "Dr. McDreamy." The two slept together in the show's very first scene -- she didn't know he was a doctor -- and things got really complicated at the end of Season One when his previously unmentioned wife and fellow surgeon, Addison (Kate Walsh), showed up at Seattle Grace. Over the summer, Dempsey says, "I was despised. Old ladies at the airport would yell at me, 'You are awful. How dare you do that to Meredith!?' " Meanwhile, Walsh -- who was born and raised in San Jose -- says Rhimes was "afraid that viewers might chase me in the streets with torches and stone me." But Addison Shepherd, like the other characters in the show, has become so complex that Walsh says people now come up to her and say, "I really wanted to hate you, but I couldn't. I ended up liking you." Rhimes says all of the characters are "a little bit like me. There's something about the interns that's very clearly part of my personality. "George always does the thing you so hope you're not going to do in public. That's definitely me. Izzie is very sort of optimistic about everything turning out fine. That's me on certain days. Cristina has absolutely no emotional filter and says whatever comes out of her mouth, no matter how harsh it can be. That's me a lot of the time." And Meredith, Rhimes says, is "a lead character who is flawed. She's not always nice. She doesn't always do the perfect thing. She doesn't always say the perfect thing. She is somebody without a home, without a family, without ties. And she's a woman who, on many a bad day, goes to a bar, gets drunk, picks up a boy and brings him home. "She's a little screwed-up, and that's what makes her interesting." Rhimes admits to having been so uncertain about the future of "Anatomy" that she "threw everything I knew that I wanted to happen to the characters into the first 13 episodes -- and then had to start again" this season. (The current season actually will be longer than usual for dramas: 27 episodes, including four that originally were supposed to air in Season One. When the show became a hit and was renewed, ABC decided to hold the episodes until the fall.) Trying to pry information out of Rhimes about where "Anatomy" is going and how the characters will develop is an exercise in futility. (Ditto the cast members, who are under a very strict gag order from their boss.) For example, Rhimes refuses to talk about the post-Super Bowl episode except to say (which you can tell from the promos) that it involves a code black -- hospital speak for a bomb threat. "One of the things I feel really strongly about is knowing what's going to happen on an episode of television before you see it. It just seems like a waste," she says. "To me, the show is more interesting because nobody knows what's going to happen next." And Rhimes is trying to keep her distance from suggestions about how the relationships on the show should evolve. "It's really hard not to be influenced because people come up to you and say, 'Why aren't Derek and Meredith together?' or 'When are you going to do this or that?' I'm really trying hard not to be influenced by all that and just stay with what the characters would do." The Houston Chronicle,March 30, 2006 Simple as falling off a blog; Getting hooked is easy, especially with Grey Matter BYLINE: MARY VUONG, Staff Life stops when great blogs surface. This month I discovered Grey Matter, which features the often entertaining musings of writers from "Grey's Anatomy". The night I stumbled onto www.greyswriters.com turned into early morning, easily. To think I'd just weaned myself off my previous addiction, TVgasm's take on "Laguna Beach". I found www.tvgasm.com during the second season of the soap opera of a reality show and it quickly became my weekly dose of profanity-laced, deliciously clever snarkiness. TV blogs at their best deliver smart analysis and scoops, either straight from the source or from a witty fan, whenever and wherever you want it. They extend the experience of a must-see show and offer viewers a chance to digest the plot and anticipate what's next. The Internet is bursting with such blogs. Those with the respective show's stamp of approval include Grey Matter, Confessions of a Mad Soap Opera Star (fans of Dixie on "All My Children" should head to www.cadysconfessions.com) and Dave's Diatribe (that's Dave on " Invasion"; www.didyouseethelights.com). Unaffiliated blogs include TVgasm and the Chronicle's Tubular at blogs.chron.com/tubular.Here's the thing about these blogs: It's not the entries that suck up my time; it's the comments. The lazy/insulting/inquisitive/lame/ funny remarks that cause the hours to pass so freely. On Grey Matter, after George had sex with longtime crush Meredith, 1,300-plus opinions flooded in following the related post. The entry recapping the scandalous "Laguna Beach" episode when Jason kissed ex Jessica in front of current love LC prompted more than 700 comments.I'm not 'fessing up to reading all of them, but certainly enough to get that blogs can be an intensely personal thing for readers. When you're dealing with their fictional best friends and enemies, it's doubly personal.Take the unsatisfying Grey's post on March 13. The two writers who blogged dwelled on how great guest star Natalie Cole was and what a fabulous time they had at creator Shonda Rhimes' Super Bowl party. Such tidbits are swell, but fans tune in to relationship-heavy "Grey's Anatomy" for the relationships. We look to the blog for insight on why George and Meredith hooked up. Or why should we root for Meredith/Addison instead of Addison/Meredith when it comes to the impossibly dreamy McDreamy. Throw us a bone, a scoop, "anything", regarding next week's episode. Many blog readers found the post lacking and said so. Declared one: "Where's the insight and layers of meaning. WE NEED MORE!!!! Hello? McDreamy was dreamy with his wife for the first time we've ever seen. MUST HAVE MORE INFO!!!" Note the capitalization and punctuation. "Even though it started out as a behind-the-scenes (look)," co-executive producer and writer Mark Wilding says in a phone interview, "people respond much more about what we think of the characters." Wilding, who penned the Dec. 4 episode involving real leeches and fake quintuplets, decided to blog about the mechanics of putting such things on camera. "People weren't interested (in) that at all," he admits, laughing. "They wanted to know what I think about Meredith and Derek." While the writers definitely read the comments section, it usually doesn't influence future story lines, Wilding says. The show's mix of comedy and drama, with themes including love, rejection and death, resonates with the average human being. The very mockable "Laguna Beach", currently on hiatus, is a different animal. In a reality show that revolves around, like, teenage infatuations, shopping and surfing, viewers such as myself need affirmation that our guilty pleasure is acceptable, that it isn't strange for a 20-something to enjoy MTV's production about tan teens from the real O.C. enduring semi-manufactured angst. TVgasm fulfills this need. B-Side the blogger, a 27-year-old Dartmouth grad in Los Angeles, first tuned in because "it looked amusing," he says in a phone interview. "I liked it. (But) I wasn't crazy about "Laguna Beach"." Plenty of viewers are, though; just peek at the comments trailing his laugh-out-loud funny posts. Sure, the teen drama, which capitalizes on the viewers' own high school nostalgia, is relatable. But it's also an ego boost. Meaning: Thank God I was never that whiny/spoiled/airheaded. "I think there are a lot of people out there who are stuck at work and are bored and they want to talk about (their show)," B-Side says. "We like to think our readers are smart people." So have TV blogs replaced water-cooler chatter? B-Side doesn't think so. He says they've enhanced it - now fans not only discuss what happened on their favorite show, they're talking about what the bloggers will say or have said or "what some jerk in the comments section just said." But with "Laguna Beach" on hiatus and "Grey's Anatomy "winding down its season, I'm in serious withdrawal. I need another blog.



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