Cast Shakeups Continue on Grey's Anatomy
With the death of George O'Malley greeting Grey's Anatomy fans at the beginning of this season, Seattle Grace has experienced a void ... or should we say a vacancy?
Thanks to the merger, however, new residents will be abundant soon enough.
And, as we reported yesterday, Kim Raver will is the latest to join the crowded ranks, playing a surgeon and possible love interest for Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd).
Raver's prior credits include 24, Third Watch and most recently Lipstick Jungle, which was canceled after 20 episodes, yet had a surprisingly vocal cult following.
The addition of a known actor like Raver could be seen as a concerted effort to bolster the show's audience, which has shrunk over the last few seasons.
After peaking in Season 3 with an average of 21.3 million viewers per episode, ratings for Grey's Anatomy have tapered off somewhat and now hover in the 13-15 million range (typically depending on who is about to die), though it remains a top 10 show.
** INSIDER NOTE: This website's highest-ever traffic came after the cliffhangers that seemingly left Meredith dead in Season 3, and George and Izzie in peril last May.
It's likely, however, that Raver won't have much screen time with two of the show's biggest leading ladies, as this move is probably also meant to counter the reality that Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl will both be missing a decent chunk of time this season.
With those two literally out of the picture, Raver's task will be to continue the show's tradition of strong female leads ... for better or worse, depending if you like her.
The Raver casting also comes on the heels of the news that Greek star Jesse Williams and veteran actress Martha Plimpton will join the cast for multi-episode arcs.
Is Grey's Anatomy having a resurgence in its sixth season, or are these just preventive measures to try and keep more viewers from being tempted by other shows?
Given the intriguing Owen-Cristina love triangle storyline, will Raver's surgeon serve as an antidote for a show that might be suffering from some character fatigue?
What do you think? Is Grey's Anatomy hitting its stride again? Or are there just too many guest stars and too little time for the regulars we've grown to love?
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October 8th, 2009 2:29 PM
roll - eyes associated mit izzie? WTF? what are you talking about? there are still many fans out there..KH might not be the nicest and most sympathique actress ever..but thta has NOTHING to do with the character isobel stevens. I hate hate HATE it when websites like this one are biased and show what kind of opinion they have from character etc. like ausiello who always makes clear whom he loves and hates..BLAH..
October 8th, 2009 2:37 PM
I think we need to try and hold on to what Grey's has left. I don't want the main characters to be taken out of focus. They are who we know and love. Why would they do this to us.
October 8th, 2009 2:38 PM
I got to say the show is losing me fast with all of these useless characters additions.
October 8th, 2009 3:00 PM
Enough characters already. We have 11 characters already. Concentrate on them. I've been watching the reruns and they are so great. It really shows why we love these main characters so much. Many shows have had a character out for a week or two and it wasn't the end of the world, and didn't require a whole new strategy. Start with good writing for the main characters and you will keep your audience and maybe some you have lost will come back.
October 8th, 2009 3:26 PM
Hold up a minute!!! What do the writer's mean a LOVE INTEREST for OWEN!!!
Has everyone lost there minds???
I love Kim Raver, she is an exceptionally talented. But, This is NOT going to go over well with the Cristina/Owen fans!!!
Do the writers want a backlash/ uprising??? Who's idea was this?? They really need to rethink this one.
October 8th, 2009 3:59 PM
Love intrest for Owen Please no. What got me hooked on this show was Owen and Cristina, without them i will have to say that the show will lose a lot of its viewing desirabilty. Why can they not leave them alone.
I do not know if I will be able to watch if owen and cristina are not together:(
October 8th, 2009 5:07 PM
SERIOUSLY!!!!! If they mess with Owen and Cristina I am sooo DONE!!!! Cristina and Owen right now are the best thing on that show and Shonda with her great freakin ideas wants to mess with them!! I don't get it Owen would NEVER cheat on Cristina with anyone I don't care who this freakin girl is, Owen loves her too much to hurt her! I swear if this girl puts the moves on Owen Shonda is going to lose alot of fans!!! This is seriously the dumbest idea ever messing with Owen and Cristina! I think they messed with them enough! SERIOUSLY!!!
Oh and really could they have not done any better casting?! Kim Ravers is a terrible actress everything she has done has been cancelled hopefully she doesn't get Greys cancelled!
Seriously this sucks!!!!! I think Shonda has a lot of angry Owen and Cristina fans!!
October 8th, 2009 5:20 PM
I love Kim Raver and as long as she brings the feistiness she's usually typecast for, I'll be happy... but let's just give Christina a run for her money, I'm sick to death of all these fickle guys going off with the nearest available female - Owen is bigger than that!
October 8th, 2009 5:59 PM
Too many guest characters. To be honest, I don't see the real motive of having long-term guest stars when the permanent cast is already huge. I'd focus on them, especially so in into the show and so far, we know so little of them.
I am trying to understand the motives that they add these new characters but I wish that the writers also saw how we see it.
As for the ratings, I don't care much since it's known that ratings decrease with passing time. ER used to have 30/40 million viewers per week and finished up with 16 million (it's a lot of lost viewers). CSI used to be the most watched show on Thursdays and GA is either winning or really close to it. Ratings decrease, it's not new and GA is still doing well.
Finally, to all the O/C fans,
I don't expect for this to calm you down but as a hard core MerDer fan, I know what you are feeling right now and I can tell you this: don't worry, love interest don't last long, especially if we all know that they'll end up together.
I was forced to watch Addison (who I got to like at the end), the Vet, and the Plant (I don't think there is a worse character). And you know what? They're all gone and never (at least the vet and the plant) heard again. It'd be old to see Owen fall on the Derek/Mark of it, but I guess that it's already happening, so maybe something really good is going to come out it. Think of the Candle House...but for you guys. I am also rooting for O/C and hoping the best. I'd love to see Cristina bring her game on.
The triangle thing is old. I hope that it stops. Soon. Sometime.
October 8th, 2009 9:15 PM
Have I missed what is up with Izzie I thought she was leaving with George not that i'm upset I happy she is stll here we need George also. This is going to be a great year...