Melissa George Character Rewritten Amid Brooke Smith Firing
As we reported early this morning, sources confirmed that Brooke Smith, who plays Dr. Erica Hahn (a heart surgeon who recently realized she is gay), has been axed from the Grey's Anatomy cast. Brooke Smith sounded off on this to EW's Michael Ausiello.
You may have already seen this, but in the wake of Smith's surprise and sudden firing, insiders connected to the ABC series tell E! Online that some of the gay-themed story lines are being downplayed - and even erased from upcoming Grey's Anatomy scripts.
And that goes for the series' latest (and controversial) newcomer, Melissa George of Alias fame, who is set to join the medical drama this month ...
Melissa came on to the show as a bisexual character and love interest for Callie (Sara Ramirez), but a reliable insider says that's no longer in the cards, "They changed the script, and now she isn't. She starts off flirting with Callie but it never goes anywhere."
Melissa will portray Meredith's (Ellen Pompeo) best friend - with a possible history - and a new intern at Seattle Grace. No word on how that will play out.
Grey's Anatomy included a prominent bisexual / lesbian storyline in Season Five in the blossoming (and complex) relationship between Hahn (Smith) and Callie (Ramirez). That storyline will end in this Thursday's episode, "Rise Up" - which will be Smith's last on the series.
"They don't really give her a goodbye," an ABC source says. "It ends rather abruptly."
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November 4th, 2008 3:53 PM
I just feel so sorry for Brooke Smith...she is such a great actress. I reckon I'll be downloading and watching her last episode...
November 4th, 2008 3:58 PM
i think ABC is making a mistake in deleting the gay-themed storylines. a lot of ppl loved it, including me.
if they wanna delete smith for the show for some reason, that's their choice. but changing ALL the storylines involving homoseksuality, why??
like smith said, it's 2008... and grey's anatomy started as a revolutionairy show, so why suddenly pull back??
November 4th, 2008 4:05 PM
I ♥ Brooke Smith / Dr. Erica Hahn! I´m sad :(
November 4th, 2008 4:25 PM
If this is true, I'm switching ABC off altogether. In this day and age, this is how the execs act. I love Grey's but this Thursday will be the last episode I watch.
November 4th, 2008 4:35 PM
Seriously?? They gonna change all the story lines?
Okay... and people say that Brooke getting fired wasn't a homophobical issue...
uh... who knows?
November 4th, 2008 4:43 PM
Its not fair. I didn't really like calle/erica as a relationship but she was one of my favorite characters. This ruins like half the season cuz now they have to rewrite the whole meredith and her bisexual friend plan and i was looking forward to seeing where callie and erica's relationship ended up!
November 4th, 2008 4:53 PM
Wow. Just. Wow. Drama. So much of it. Lot's of people were unhappy with the story line, but big numbers of fans, gay and straight alike appreciated the risk and reward of exploring the theme. I think?
Emotions mixed right now, but talking it out at greysanatomyabc.livejournal.com/
Thanks for being here Greysanatomy insider. When you need to be with fans, it's nice to know you are here.
November 4th, 2008 5:01 PM
I never really liked callica and I didn' like brooke smith or her character but I'm against this! ABC is just lame...
and I doubt that they are changing everything because of the ratings-I didn't heard that they were bad so...they don't have a good reason-most of people liked callica...
lame!
November 4th, 2008 5:16 PM
Shonda doesn,t take big risk. She dropped Gizzie because it had some backlash even though they had a lot of fans. Now she is doing the same with callica. expect her to drop any story thta has any backlash in the future and for ehr to constantly stay the safe route. She is afraid of taking risks now. That's why the show is so boring and predictable lately. ABC controls her too.
Ratings are bad for Grey but went up last week, they have 15 millions, in season 3, thy had around 20 millions.
November 4th, 2008 6:13 PM
Homophobia anyone? This is a clear statement that ABC executives weren't happy with the gay storyline, which sucks because it was giving the show a different air to focus on. I wasn't adoring the Callica storyline but didn't found it boring. It was interesting to watch, Callie in particular, to see how this situation changes her.
I couldn't care less of Melissa's character AS LONG AS SHE STAYS OUT OF MEREDITH AND DEREK! Make her the third wheel in the Izzie/Alex triangle or write her to Sloan, whatever, just as long as she doesn't messes up MerDer.
Katia, seriously? OBVIOUSLY ABC controls her. They are her bosses. If the network didn't control the writers to a certain point, maybe The O.C., for example, could've been fixed on time. Few networks, starting by the gods at CW, are taking creative risks to be something. Someone like ABC, who is already stablished, want to maintain where they are at their level of success. This is no new science. It's a tale as old as time. Also, get Gizzie out of this. That is another story. This is a tougher issue.
Oh, and it's also no new science that ratings tend to come down after a few seasons. Look at ER for example, they had 40 million (yes, 40) when they started. They got to average 30 million viewers for A LOT of seasons. It fell down and now that they are in their last season (15th) they average about 8 million. Grey's is no different. As much as I love Grey's, I know that it'll eventually fall down.