July 2008 News Archive

The woman behind Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice recently gave E! tons of gossip, rumors and spoilers for the upcoming fifth season.

Let's dispense with the intro and get right to it. Check out what Shonda Rhimes had to say, then sound off with comments and reactions:

Q: Where is the story taking us next season?

Shonda Rhimes: I think a lot of the focus is going to be on the five core interns we've gotten to know — who aren't interns anymore — George (T.R. Knight), Izzie (Katherine Heigl), Cristina (Sandra Oh), Alex (Justin Chambers) and Meredith (Ellen Pompeo). I really want to focus on them as they deal with the next step in their training. We're also going to spend a lot of time with Mark (Eric Dane), Derek (Patrick Dempsey), Callie (Sara Ramirez) and Erica (Brooke Smith) and see their interactions.

Q: On to MerDer, are you tired of talking about them?

Shonda Rhimes: I was until I got them together. Now it's a whole new world. There's a whole host of problems that come with Meredith and Derek being together, and a whole host of other storylines, drama and excitement. So I'm really excited about them being together, because I feel like what I wanted you to leave with last season is Meredith standing in that field, having done this incredible thing, and the look on her face is a little bit like, "Oh my God, now I actually have to do this." That's important.

Q: Is it more fun for you to write them together?

Shonda Rhimes: Absolutely. It was a real challenge to figure out how to get them together...how to get Meredith to the place where she was healthy enough to make this step with Derek. Now that she's made the step with Derek, it's really exciting to see what's going to come next and how she's going to deal with living with a boy, and all the things a man like Derek, who has been married and is a grown-up, might expect.

Q: MerDer is living together? Are they living in Derek's trailer or in Meredith's house?Continue Reading...

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, beloved by Grey’s Anatomy fans as doomed patient Denny Duquette, isn’t ruling out the possibility of a Season Five return.

His comments come after said return has pretty much been confirmed.

“We’ll see,” Morgan said of rumors that Denny would return to Grey’s Anatomy next fall in a possible brain tumor storyline for Katherine Heigl’s character, Izzie Stevens.

“I read that, too. Who knows what’s going to happen?”

If the call does come from the medical drama, Morgan said he'd be thrilled to be romantically paired with Katherine Heigl again on-screen.

“She’s awesome,” Morgan said. “I had a blast with her. She’s wonderful and I can’t say enough good things about her and that whole cast.”

Morgan and Heigl in Season Two's memorable plot line.

As for Heigl’s recent Emmy flap - which some perceived as an insult to the writers of Grey's Anatomy - Jeffrey Dean Morgan says her comments were most likely misunderstood, and even if they weren’t, he likes her candor.

“I think that stuff gets blown completely out of proportion,” he said. “She just speaks her mind. That’s exactly what she does. Maybe more people should speak their mind.”

Vanity Fair has published its list of Best Dressed Men and Grey's Anatomy leading man Patrick Dempsey is among the publication's Top 10.

McDreamy didn’t take the top spot, but he did finish #4, and defeated Brad Pitt in the process, so it's hard to complain about the result!

Here's the Vanity Fair Top 10 Best Dressed:

1. Djimon Hounsou
2. Daniel Craig
3. Alejandro Santo Domingo
4. Patrick Dempsey
5. Brad Pitt
6. Luis Medina
7. Mickhail Baryshnikov
8. Rafael Medina
9. Johnny Depp
   
10. Jay-Z

Grey's Anatomy stars Ellen Pompeo and Justin Chambers are stepping out to show support for their presidential candidate of choice.

You’re also invited, if you support Sen. Barack Obama.

The Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee cordially invites you to a night of cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and political chatter with Ellen Pompeo and Justin Chambers of Grey's Anatomy.

Proceeds go toward benefiting the Obama Victory Fund. Private Practice star Kate Walsh is also a huge supporter, though not participating in this event.

The event will be held in Seattle, Washington on August 16. For additional information, check out the candidate's website for more details ...

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Katherine Heigl with a baby carriage? Not so fast, says her husband, Josh Kelley.

"It's nothing that we're talking about right now," Kelley, her singer-songwriter spouse of seven months, told People. "We're pretty busy."

Josh spent the summer vacationing with Katherine Heigl as well as touring. He returns to performing August 8 alongside Rod Stewart.

"I have time for my family, which is good. I have time for me and my wife," Kelley said. "I've actually been trying to tour a little less. And, basically, by touring less I've been making more music as a result."

The Grey's Anatomy actress said in March that she'd like to have children sooner than Josh Kelley would – but she agreed that wasting the current career opportunities both have at the present time, would be "foolish."

And despite Heigl's controversial comments about Grey's Anatomy's writers, Kelley said his wife is thrilled to be back at work on the hit show.

"She's stoked, man," said Kelley, adding that the flap has been overblown. "It's a great show, and I think it's going to be a great season."

Okay, we mean his car - but Grey's Anatomy leading man Patrick Dempsey certainly can be described as such in his own right! The actor spent some one-on-one time with his favorite toy - a shiny Mercedes convertible - this week. See below ...

HOT WHEELS, HOT GUY: In a vintage car instead of his bicycle this time, Grey's Anatomy's incomparable Patrick Dempsey takes a spin around Beverly Hills.

Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl enjoyed in little company in the form of her best friend, T.R. Knight, during a shopping trip to Americana at Brand, a shopping mall in Glendale, Calif., on Tuesday afternoon. Check it out ...

During their visit, the Grey's Anatomy stars hit up the Apple store, Sephora and some other institutions. Always fun to see them out and about!

Looks like a quiet week on the Grey's Anatomy spoiler front, but Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly does have a few pieces of info ...

Q: I'm dying for something, anything, on Grey's Anatomy.
A: Well, would you look at this — I found something! I'm hearing that young Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) - who turns into a big ball of confusion following her impromptu smooch with George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) - reaches out to the unlikeliest of colleagues for advice: That raging whorebag known as McSteamy (Eric Dane)!

Q: Can you give me some Grey's Anatomy scoop?
A: Would you settle for Private Practice instead? Shonda Rhimes is looking for a "star name" to play a charming new doctor in his 30s.

The nominations for the 2008 ALMA (American Latino Media Arts) Awards are in, and Grey's Anatomy star Sara Ramirez (Callie Torres) has been given a nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Television Series!

Sara's competition in the category include:

• Valerie Cruz (The Dresden Files)
• Roselyn Sanchez (Without A Trace)
• Cote de Pablo (NCIS)

Sara Ramirez was also nominated last year in the category of Outstanding Actress – Television Series, Mini-Series, or TV Movie.

The ALMA Awards have rearranged categories slightly this year. In '07, Sara represented Grey's Anatomy and went up against the likes of America Ferrera (the winner, for Ugly Betty), Constance Marie (George Lopez) and Alexa Vega (Walkout).

We're happy to see Sara Ramirez get recognized - and with the exciting Callie and Erica developments in Season 5 of Grey's Anatomy, perhaps a Golden Globe or Emmy Award nomination isn't out of the question for next year at this time!

Never far from controversy, embattled Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl wants to go back to her Mormon roots - or so she told the UK's Daily Mail.

"I'm not as disciplined as I once was," she said. "But I hope to find my way back as I get older and a little less selfish. I'm ashamed to say that I've just got very lazy about it. I satisfy my vices instead of fighting them."

Could she be talking about smoking? Katherine Heigl, as we know, has been pictured many times in recent years with cigarette in hand.

Maybe seeing herself with one in her hand all the time has prompted the Grey's Anatomy star to finally do something about it:

"If I start going back to church, I'd have to stop the smoking and drinking. And I wouldn't be able to curse anymore," she says.