Viewpoints News (Page 9)

Devoted fans probably noticed that the voiceover during the beginning and end of "From a Whisper to a Scream" was by Cristina (right), a departure from the usual narration provided by Meredith.

This has occurred twice before in the show's brief history - in "What Have I Done to Deserve This," when George provided the narration after his awful experience with Meredith, and during the season-ending "Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response," when the entire staff delivered an ominous introduction.

Despite being extended by 10-15 minutes from the show's usual hour-long time slot, the episode airing on Thanksgiving featured only three songs, which is less than the average of 5-7 songs per episode.

The reason for this? The writers felt that while nearly every cast member has a soundtrack playing in their heads, Cristina would not have one, for she is so incredibly focused at all times. Since Dr. Yang's inner turmoil was the focal point of the episode, the writers decided to reduce the amount of music.

At least the three selections were good ones. Many fans have discussed "9 Crimes" by Damien Rice as a terrific inclusion, and Kate Havnevik (whose "New Day" was featured Thursday) is one of the producers' favorites.

Is George the pig? Will he ever be?

That's a question that may be answered tonight. Or not. Regardless, the "ham and eggs" analogy made by the patient who inspired George has been around a long time, and even appears in December's Reader's Digest.

Howard Schnellenberger, 72, the head football coach at Florida Atlantic University and formerly the head coach at the University of Miami and the University of Oklahoma, uses it to outline the difference between mere involvement and commitment to his players:

"When you're eating ham and eggs, the chicken that laid the eggs was involved. But the pig that provided the ham was totally committed," he says.

It's interesting that this is being used in the sports world as well as in the case of intimate relationships. We thought Grey's Anatomy fans might appreciate this - especially if you were still confused by the pig metaphor made by Dr. O'Malley in "Let the Angels Commit."

This is the story of Grey's Anatomy and ER, both of which air tonight.

Grey's Anatomy has been watched by an average of 24 million viewers this season, garnering the highest ratings on TV. Before this, ABC hadn't had a No. 1 hit on Thursday in nearly 30 years. ER was TV's big dog from 1995-1998, and a top-10 staple for the better part of 13 seasons.

In terms of commercial potency, this has been one of the stellar hits in network history -- and remained so until senescence struck. With all of the original cast gone, ratings way down in 2005 and a prevailing sense that the show's creative arteries were sclerotic, this was expected to be the last season.

Now, take another look.

So far this season, ER is NBC's most-viewed scripted series (averaging 15 million viewers) and virtually tied with the network's hot Monday newcomer Heroes among younger viewers (both get 6.5 percent of adults ages of 18-49).

Once again, ER is winning its time period. Besides the fact that aging hits almost never reverse downward spirals, why is this unusual?

There are a couple of reasons. First, many believe ER is actually the best of the two Thursday hospital shows. Gone are last season's histrionics and violent nuttiness. The show has gotten back to doing what it always did best -- telling the stories of average people in extreme peril. The recent "Ames v. Kovac" episode with guest star Forest Whitaker was superb.

While the drama seems richer and sturdier than in recent seasons, the show has shrewdly added a stubble-faced counterpart to Grey's Anatomy's "Dr. McDreamy," played by Patrick Dempsey -- John Stamos (above) as Dr. Tony Gates. Stamos is the same vintage (43) as Dempsey (40), and both were late-'80s teen icons. Curiously, Grey's Anatomy is probably the key reason that ER is back on top.

"I didn't anticipate this. I was afraid that what the audience would feel is that if they saw one (hospital) show at 9, then they might not want to see another one at 10. I'm happy to say I was wrong," ER's executive producer, David Zabel, said.

What's happening is called "drafting" an audience from one show to another. If a program (Grey's Anatomy) on one network is a huge hit, then another following on a competing network gets viewers in its draft. ER appears to be as much a beneficiary as the ABC show that should be getting the assist, Six Degrees, which follows Grey's Anatomy at 10.

Networks don't like the draft effect, but the TV audience is fickle and uncontrollable, so they can't entirely eliminate it.

First, the San Diego Tribune's descriptions of the various Grey's Anatomy maladies devotees can contract. Now, it's the Boston Globe's turn -- only this column centers around the diseases it believes the show has caught.

Specifically, Shark-jump-itis, more commonly referred to as self-parody. And with November sweeps are heating up, the symptoms are bound to worsen.

In the opinion of the column's author, Matthew Gilbert, Grey's Anatomy needs early detection and behavior modification to live a healthy, happy, and, of course, humorously narcissistic life.

Otherwise, even as the ratings soar and the media buzz grows deafening, the product will become infected and compromised by its own fame. Desperate Housewives is a great example, he writes, having succumbed in record time as it lost its original vision amid the hype of his first season.

Now that bug is threatening Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. Here are five prescriptions needed for Grey's to get its groove back.

1. Free Bailey!

Dr. Miranda Bailey should be ruling the roost, barking and biting. Not wallowing like her young doctors. The newbies on Grey's Anatomy are all about Seattle Grace gossip and their own sex lives, and that self-absorption is entertaining, particularly since it counteracts the heroic approach to doctoring on the likes of ER.

But we could always count on Dr. Bailey to burst the others' self-centered bubbles. This season, however, she has succumbed to the vacuum. Bailey has gone from telling George to stop looking at her "va-jay-jay" to moping guiltily with Izzie. Rhimes needs to make sure Chandra Wilson stays on course.

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Karla Peterson of the San Diego Union-Tribune has come up with a unique guide to Grey's Anatomy -- one she feels encompasses the pain mixed with the joy addicted viewers get from watching it.

She admits that Grey’s Anatomy is the most watchable show in TV, but thinks that even the most ardent fans will admit it is also likely to drive you insane in the process.

As a result, we're hooked. Diseased. Sicker than some of the patients who walk through the halls of Seattle Grace. Here's Peterson's guide to some of the more common Grey-related maladies:

HYPER-CARRIEOSIS

One cure for chronic Grey's Anatomy-itis? Give the bracing Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh, right) her own show.

THE SYMPTOMS: After being symptom-free since Sex and the City went off the air in 2004, we are once again haunted by breathy voice-over narration from a woman whose whimsical observations on life, love and shoes aren't nearly as clever as the writers think they are.

Yes, the ghost of Sex and the City-gal narrator Carrie Bradshaw has come back to TV in the form of the chipper, chatty Meredith Grey. And it takes more than a martini to keep her quiet.

THE CURE: Cover your ears and wait for George to appear. Suddenly, Meredith doesn't sound so bad!

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To commit or not to commit? That's the question of the hour, the subject of last Thursday's "Let the Angels Commit," and the subject of our SeattleGirl's weekly Grey Chatter. Here's what the Insider's West Coast correspondent thought of the most recent Grey's Anatomy drama...

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The title of this episode has to do with commitment. But it seems like it’s more about avoiding commitment than actual commitment. Except in the case of Cristina and Burke, of course. It’s fairly obvious from the way the episode ended -- a light bulb going off above Bailey’s head as she watched Cristina write on the OR board -- that things are going to get very bad very quickly for Burktina.

However, you do have to admire Cristina’s resolve.

She loves and worships Burke, for both personal and professional reasons. Whether she’s out to further her career or she’s just trying to protect her boyfriend, she’s putting it all on the line and proving herself to Burke. There’s a rumor going around of a wedding in the near future, and as of Thursday night’s show, it looks like Burke and Cristina could be in the running.

Then there’s George and Callie.

It’s actually kind of painful, all the flip-flopping going on in George’s mind. He likes Callie, but doesn’t love her. He gets jealous when he thinks she’s sleeping with someone else. She dumps George and now he wants her back. Is she a safety net for him? Does he want the icing but not the cake?

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Grey's Anatomy is one of the hottest shows on TV, especially for those in the medical community.

The show, as we all know, centers in large part around the medicine and romance practiced by female surgeons. Every week, the doctors at Seattle Grace Hospital engage in a little bit of medicine and a lot of romance.

Still, there are aspects of the show that are realistic; for instance, the by-the-book surgeries and the high number of women performing them.

"You look at our department alone; nearly half of our residents are women," said Dr. Carol Salem, a real life urological surgeon in San Diego who lives, quite literally, on the cutting edge.

Men entrust to her their most prized anatomy.

"More important than their brains, you mean? That's right, and most men would admit to that," said Salem.

She maneuvers the latest in robotic surgery, the "da Vinci," to remove cancerous prostates.

"It's basically the technology of tomorrow for surgical procedures," said Salem.

Salem said her patients care more about her training than her gender -- a point the Grey's Anatomy cast drives home. Two of the show's featured surgeons are female, along with three of the interns. Race is equally unimportant, with a black chief of surgery and several other minorities.

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There's nothing like Patrick Dempsey to bring two girls together.

Brooke Shields (right) is now saying she has a new TV pal, and it's the fiancée of the man who once criticized her for taking antidepressants.

Shields, 41, told ABC news that she's "absolutely" friends with 27-year-old former Dawson's Creek star Katie Holmes, who is currently planning her wedding to Tom Cruise in Italy. The two bonded over Grey's Anatomy and have gone on to be good friends.

Though separated by 14 years, the two actresses have more in common than just a fondness for hot TV doctors. Seven months ago, they gave birth on the same day at the same hospital. Shields' second daughter, Grier, and Holmes' first child, Suri, share an April 18 birthday.

"Life is really short," Shields said. "And when you see these babies … I think you never know how life is going to bring people together, and it can be absurd and it can be interesting."

Several weeks ago, however, Shields acknowledged that she and Cruise buried the hatchet, and that he had apologized to her.

Not only have they let bygones be bygones, she now confirms that she and Holmes get together to watch Grey's Anatomy.

"It's true. There were a bunch of us here and we were insane about it, and you weren't allowed to speak or talk," said Shields. "Everyone was in my living room and [I] got this new TV... I love them, the acting is so great and it's such a good soap opera -- love it, it's fun."

Amen, Brooke. Amen to that.

Chandra Wilson put it succinctly.

"Interns are just nasty, that's what they are," said the star of Grey's Anatomy. "Everybody is sleeping with everybody."

Furthermore, the Houston Chronicle reports, Wilson said recently on Live with Regis and Kelly she's under the impression "this is the way it is everywhere."

Wilson can afford to say that -- she plays a doctor, not an intern. But she probably overstated it when she lumped all interns into the same bed

On the other hand, it does seem that "everybody is sleeping with everybody" on prime-time TV, and that includes interns, lawyers, housewives and others. All this promiscuity may make it difficult for these characters to focus on their jobs, but it sure is entertaining for viewers.

Behold, the Chronicle's Top 10 TV Tramps:

1. Christian McNamara (Julian McMahon), Nip/Tuck

Miami plastic surgeon proudly performs operations at all hours. Nary an episode goes by without at least one glimpse of his bare butt.

2. Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Grey's Anatomy

She strung along Derek and Finn, though in fairness, she never slept with the latter. She did, however, sleep with George one time, along with assorted bar pick-ups. Maybe she's just confused. We love her anyway!

3. Denny Crane (William Shatner), Boston Legal

Yes, he's Denny Crane, but his M.O. is shagging in coat closets... with little blue pills if needed. He's also dating a midget.

4. Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), How I Met Your Mother

He's a professional lover extraordinare. Just ask him. It ain't bragging if it's true, right, Barney?

5. Kimber Henry (Kelly Carlson), Nip/Tuck

She had her way with Christian and is now having her say with Scientologists.

6. Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria), Desperate Housewives

She cultivated a taste for gardening tools, and from that bed flowered a husband's outrage. Divorce, here we come.

7. Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen), Two and a Half Men

Ah, to be rich, young and single. So what if he has roommates, one of whom is a child. A playboy's life must go on.

8. Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez), Grey's Anatomy

A special favorite, fiery Callie knows what she wants and goes after it, sometimes on the rebound. What's so wrong with that? Plus, who is going to resist McSteamy (Eric Dane)? Come on now.

9. Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius), Ugly Betty

Daniel's one busy dude — and we're not talking about his fashion magazine.

10. Michael and Darlene (Jere Burns and Darlene Hunt), Help Me Help You

We'd shed a tear for these tortured souls if we weren't so busy laughing.

Historically, TV medical dramas arrive in pairs.

In 1961, Dr. Kildare and Ben Casey established popular practices. In 1969, Marcus Welby, M.D. and Medical Center started offering diagnoses. In 1994, Chicago Hope and ER battled for viewers while saving lives.

NBC's ER ultimately won. In its 13th season, and with none of the original stars remaining, a reinvented ER flourishes in a surprising medical boom, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

ER wins its time slot at 10 p.m. Thursday nights... even as Grey's Anatomy on ABC ranks as TV's top overall show an hour before.

Fox's House, which moves to 9 p.m. Tuesday next week, has been a smash hit in its own right and made a star out of Hugh Laurie.

Eager for a piece of the medical action, CBS is pinning its hopes on 3 Lbs, which debuts November 14. Stanley Tucci (above) plays a neurosurgeon; the title refers to the brain's weight.

"If the four are successful at once, it will be a first in TV history," says Tim Brooks, co-author of The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows.

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