Information about Grey's Anatomy

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Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy intertitle
Created by	Shonda Rhimes
Starring	see below
Narrated by	Ellen Pompeo (as Meredith), occasionally narrated by other main cast characters
Opening theme	"Cosy in the Rocket" by Psapp
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	64 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Shonda Rhimes Betsy Beers Krista Vernoff Mark Gordon
Location	Seattle, Washington, USA
Running time	approx. 43 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV)
Audio format	Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1
Original run	March 27, 2005 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Grey's Anatomy is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American primetime television medical drama. It debuted on ABC as a midseason replacement on March 27, 2005, immediately following Desperate Housewives. The series revolves around Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who began in the show as a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital in Seattle, Washington. She and the other former interns became residents at the end of the third season. The show features an ensemble cast, though Meredith is presented as the central character, providing voice-over narration at the beginning and end of most episodes. The show is now in production for its fourth season with the first new episode that aired on Thursday, September 27, 2007.^[1]

The title of the show is an allusion to the anatomy textbook Gray's Anatomy, and is a play on the name of the central character (Meredith Grey).

Cast and characters

Main article: List of characters from Grey's Anatomy

The characters of the series include a group of surgical interns and the various physicians who serve as mentors to the interns in their professional and personal lives. As of the third season finale, the interns have become second-year residents, except Dr. George O'Malley who failed his intern exam.

Interns: >

Character	Actor	Character information
Dr. George O'Malley	T. R. Knight	Repeating intern year after failing exam
Dr. Lexie Grey (Season 4+)	Chyler Leigh	Graduated from Harvard Medical School

Residents: >

Character	Actor	Specialty
Dr. Meredith Grey	Ellen Pompeo	Expressed interest in neurosurgery, plastics and general surgery
Dr. Cristina Yang	Sandra Oh	Expressed interest in cardiothoracics
Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens	Katherine Heigl	Expressed interest in neo-natal surgery
Dr. Alex Karev	Justin Chambers	Expressed interest in plastics and neo-natal surgery
Dr. Callie Torres (Season 3+; recurring previously)	Sara Ramírez	Orthopedics, Chief resident
Dr. Miranda Bailey	Chandra Wilson	General surgery

Attendings: >

Character	Actor	Specialty
Dr. Richard Webber	James Pickens, Jr.	General Surgery, Chief of Surgery
Dr. Derek Shepherd	Patrick Dempsey	Head of Neurosurgery
Dr. Mark Sloan[2] (Season 3+; recurring previously)	Eric Dane	Head of Plastic surgery

Former Cast Members: >

Character	Actor	Specialty
Dr. Addison Montgomery (Season 2-3; recurring previously) (See also: Private Practice)	Kate Walsh	Former Head of neo-natal surgery; obstetrics and gynecology; Maternal Fetal Medicine; Medical Genetics fellow, specializing in the study of Cystic Fibrosis
Dr. Preston Burke (Season 1-3)	Isaiah Washington	Former Head of Cardiothoracics

All roles for Grey's Anatomy are cast without the characters' race being prespecified, in keeping with creator Shonda Rhimes' vision of diversity.^[3] The writers carefully chose the specialty of each doctor as an important analogy to their character and foreshadowing of their development, which adds a layer of complexity to the show.

Locations

Fisher Plaza, which houses Seattle's ABC affiliate KOMO-TV, is used for some exterior shots of Seattle Grace Hospital. This puts Seattle Grace conveniently close to the Space Needle, the Seattle Monorail, and other local landmarks. However, the hospital used for most other exterior and many interior shots is not in Seattle; these scenes are shot at the VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center in North Hills, California.^[4] While the interior of Meredith's house is a built set, the actual home used for exterior shots is in Seattle.

Seasons

Season One: 2005

Nielsen Ranking (2004-05 U.S. TV season; based on average total viewers per episode): #9 (18.5 million viewers)^[5]

Season one began airing Sunday, March 27, 2005 and ended on May 22, 2005. The first season was shortened by the network to nine episodes instead of 14. (The original season finale was "Bring the Pain."). Meredith Grey, daughter of the once-renowned surgeon Ellis Grey, becomes an intern at the Seattle Grace Hospital. She meets fellow interns Cristina Yang, Isobel "Izzie" Stevens, and George O'Malley who will be her closest friends during the intern program. Other characters include Dr. Miranda Bailey, who is nicknamed "The Nazi" due to her "tough love" capability; Alex Karev, another intern who is not very popular with the other interns (especially Izzie); and renowned surgeons Dr. Derek Shepherd and Dr. Preston Burke. The chief of surgery is Richard Webber, who was once more than close friends with Meredith's mother. The season chronicles the first few months of the intern program and the day-to-day life of a surgical intern. Recurring plots include Meredith's battle to keep her mother's Alzheimer's disease a secret and her relationship with Dr. Shepherd. Others include George's infatuation with Meredith and a power struggle between Dr. Burke and Dr. Shepherd in the hospital. The season's end introduces Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, Derek's estranged wife.

Season Two: 2005-2006

Nielsen Ranking (2005-06 U.S. TV season; based on average total viewers per episode): #5 (19.9 million viewers)^[6]

The second season began airing Sunday, September 25, 2005, and ended on May 14 and May 15, 2006 with a three-hour finale spanning both nights. The first season originally contained 14 episodes, representing ABC's original midseason order for the show. However, it was decided to end the season early because ABC executives wished for the show's first season to end with ABC's Desperate Housewives (which had the timeslot before Grey's Anatomy for the first two seasons). Rather than condensing or throwing out plotlines, Grey's Anatomy producers chose to end the season with the ninth episode and save the following episodes for the second season. Episodes 10-14 were then held and broadcast as the first five episodes of Season 2. ABC ordered 22 episodes in addition to the five being carried over, bringing the total number of episodes for the second season to 27. Bring the Pain, which aired as the series' 14th episode, has been cited in series creator Shonda Rhimes' blog as having been originally intended as the first season finale.^[7]

The second season focuses on Meredith and Derek's relationship, which came to an abrupt halt when it was revealed that Dr. Shepherd is married to surgeon Addison Montgomery-Shepherd. Izzie and Alex embark on a relationship of their own (although cut short when Izzie falls for heart patient Denny Duquette), as do Cristina Yang and Burke. Dr. Bailey becomes pregnant and more about Meredith's perrenial tragedy is revealed. On some of the weeks airing after its highly-watched February 5, 2006 post-Super Bowl episode, the program attracted more viewers than its lead-in, Desperate Housewives.

Once the second season ended on May 15, 2006, the show had two previously recurring actors, Sara Ramirez (Callie Torres) and Eric Dane (Mark Sloan), join the regular cast. The series' opening credit sequence was also dropped by the last half of the second season, replaced by a title card displayed at the end of the first act and credits displayed over the opening of the second act of each episode.

Season Three: 2006-2007

Nielsen Ranking (2006-07 U.S. TV season; based on average total viewers per episode): #6 (19.5 million viewers)^[8]

On May 16 2006, the morning following the close of the second season, ABC announced plans for a third season of Grey's Anatomy to anchor the network's Thursday evening programming,^[9] set to air at 9 p.m. ET. ABC first tested the series' potential for Thursday audiences on February 9, 2006, as it aired an encore of the Super Bowl XL-leadout episode titled "It's the End of the World." The following Thursday, February 16, 2006, the network repeated the second part of the story arc, "(As We Know It)." Both airings began at 9:30 p.m. ET, and thus positioned Grey's Anatomy against CBS' and Without a Trace, Fox Network's The OC, and NBC's long-running medical drama ER. Solid performance on these nights, with the repeat airings maintaining a strong second-place finish, may have been influential in the fall scheduling decision.

The move to Thursdays was viewed as a vote of confidence in the series from ABC, as well as a bid to attract more advertising dollars, since movie studios heavily advertise movies on Thursday evenings for that weekend's box office. The move was cited as one factor for competing network NBC's decision to move its own Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, originally intended to air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET. ABC announced on July 18, 2006, that the third season would premiere on September 21, 2006.

The series assumed its new Thursday slot on July 6, 2006, as part of a two-hour event featuring a repeat of the pilot episode, "A Hard Day's Night." Throughout July and August, the series aired twice weekly — once in the new Thursday time period, and once in its previous Sunday time period. Grey's Anatomy performed strongly in the show's new timeslot in its season premiere. It was able to snatch away the #1 position from during the 9 p.m. hour, bringing in an impressive 25.14 million viewers throughout the hour and a strong 10.9 rating in the vital 18-49 demographic. In comparison, CSI's season premiere earned a competitive 22.04 million total viewership and a 7.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic.^[10]

The third season ended on May 17, 2007. As the season came to a close, Burke called off his wedding to Cristina at the church, Chief Webber stayed on as the Chief of Surgery, Callie was appointed Chief Resident, and George learned he failed the final intern exam. The relationship between Derek and Meredith, as well as the triangle between Callie, George, and Izzie were left unresolved. Addison decides to start a new life in Los Angeles in the spin-off Private Practice.

Season Four: 2007-2008

The show was renewed for a fourth season, with the first episode airing in September 2007. For the first time in the show's history, many of the series regulars were not returning. Kate Walsh's character was transferred to the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice. On June 7, 2007, it was announced that Isaiah Washington's contract had not been renewed.^[11]

Former Reunion star, Chyler Leigh, guest starred in the final two episodes of season three as Lexie Grey, a new intern and Meredith Grey's younger half-sister. On June 11, 2007, it was announced that Leigh would become a series regular, instead of a 13 episode story arc as previously planned.^[12]

It was also reported that a new male character would be introduced. This character would somehow be in "competition" with Dr. Derek Shepherd.^[13]

In the official blog, creator Shonda Rhimes gave a few clues as to plotlines for season four, indicating that Mark Sloan will be given a bigger role and in the aftermath of the finale, events for Derek Shepherd and Cristina Yang will be "interesting to watch."^[14]

On June 16, 2007, contrary to rumors that Isaiah Washington's character (Dr. Preston Burke) would be played by another actor (possibly Danny Glover), Shonda Rhimes confirmed that there would be no replacement for Dr. Burke.^[15]

Due to her producing responsibilities on both Grey's and the spin-off, Rhimes assigned the day-to-day showrunning duties to writer and executive producer Krista Vernoff.^[16]

The season premiere episode is titled A Change Is Gonna Come^[17] and premiered on September 27, 2007.^[18] The episode featured the song "To Build A Home" by The Cinematic Orchestra during the dramatic last segment.^[19] Edward Hermann from Gilmore Girls will be on the 3rd episode of the season, "Let The Truth Sting".

Lauren Stamile will be cast as a mysterious woman in Grey's Anatomy.^[20]

Seth Green of Austin Powers fame will guest star in a Grey's Anatomy two-part episode.^[21]

Behind the scenes

Rise to prominence

In 2005, ABC gave the hit show a vote of confidence by announcing that Grey's Anatomy would receive the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot which aired on February 5, 2006.^[22] The special episode pulled in a record 38.1 million viewers. The network's faith in the show was proven further when it removed it from its comfortable post-Desperate Housewives berth and scheduled it opposite the CBS ratings blockbuster in fall 2006. The gamble paid off, with the season premiere drawing 3 million more viewers than CSI.

The series has twice been featured as a subject of special episodes of the ABC News program 20/20, including one 2006 episode on the realism of the sometimes outlandish medical stories of Grey's Anatomy, and real cases similar to them.^[23][24] Additionally, a 2005 broadcast of ABC News Nightline more specifically covered Grey's Anatomy's multiracial cast and race relations depiction in entertainment.

Grey's Anatomy is one of former U.S. President Bill Clinton's three favorite shows.^[25]

Isaiah Washington controversy

In October 2006 as season 3 began, the show's actors attracted media attention when Washington was alleged to have referred to another cast member as a "faggot" during an on-set altercation with Patrick Dempsey. This cast member transpired to be T.R. Knight who came out about his sexual orientation following media speculation. While Washington denied using the word, he issued a public statement apologizing for his "unfortunate use of words." The controversy later reignited at the 2007 Golden Globe Awards. After the show won for , the cast and crew appeared in the pressroom to answer reporters' questions. While creator Shonda Rhimes was being asked about the incident, Washington unexpectedly stepped in front of the microphone and stated: "No, I did not call T.R. a faggot." (The Hollywood Foreign Press Association placed the footage on their website) Afterwards, in an interview with Access Hollywood, Katherine Heigl criticised Washington for revisiting the incident publicly and using the slur in the pressroom, and said "he needs to just not speak in public. Period." Later that week, Knight appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' daytime talkshow and said he and others had heard Washington use the slur during the October incident. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation then called on Washington to apologize.^[26] Network executives went on to reprimand Washington, who then agreed to undergo counseling and issued a statement saying: "I can neither defend nor explain my behavior...I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I've asked for help." In an effort to try to come clean with the viewers, Washington surprisingly checked into a residential treatment facility to undergo a psychological assessment for the slur.

However, on June 7 2007 ABC announced they had decided not to renew Washington's contract, and that he would be dropped from the show. "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," Washington said in a statement released by his publicist.^[27]

He has also spoken out about the controversy and said that "I have to clear my name. I'll start from the beginning. I'm telling everything. So here's the truth ... I used the word during a disagreement with Patrick Dempsey. I apologized for that. We shook hands and went back to work." He has also stated that it was Knight who spun the slur into a personal attack, alleging it may have been to increase his salary or storylines and is considering legal action. He has stated that Patrick Dempsey will support him in saying the previous statement.^[28]

Since then Isaiah Washington has spoken about the firing and has said that he was not mad but "saddened" by his firing. He also said that if he was asked to make a cameo on the show, he would not hesitate to say "yes".^[29]

Private Practice

Main article: Private Practice

On February 21, 2007, reported that ABC was pursuing a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy featuring the character Addison Montgomery.^[30] On May 3, 2007, a two-hour episode of Grey's Anatomy doubled as a backdoor pilot for the proposed spinoff. ABC officially picked up Private Practice for its fall 2007 lineup on May 11. It is currently scheduled to air on Wednesday nights on 9:00/8:00c, premiering on September 26 2007 on ABC, following Pushing Daisies while leading out Dirty Sexy Money.^[31]

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Grey's Anatomy.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Season	Timeslot	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Ranking	Viewers (in millions)
1	Sunday 10:00PM	March 27, 2005	May 22, 2005	2005	#9	18.8
2	Sunday 10:00PM	September 25, 2005	May 15, 2006	2005–2006	#5	19.9
3	Thursday 9:00PM	September 20, 2006	May 17, 2007	2006–2007	#6	19.5[8]
4	Thursday 9:00PM	September 27, 2007	Spring 2008	2007–2008	N/A	N/A

Awards

Main article: List of Grey's Anatomy awards and nominations

DVD releases

Buena Vista Home Entertainment has released seasons 1, 2 and 3 of Grey's Anatomy on DVD in Region 1 & Region 2.

Season releases

DVD Name	Release Date	Ep #	Discs	Additional Information
Season 1 [Region 1]	February 14 2006	9	2	Alternate title sequence, audio commentaries, an extended pilot episode and a making-of featurette, Easter Egg (disc 2).
Season 1 [Region 2]	July 10 2006	14	1	Alternate title sequence, audio commentaries, an extended pilot episode and a making-of featurette.
Season 2 [Region 1]	September 12 2006	27	6	The Doctors Are In and The Softer Side of Dr. Bailey featurette, Exclusive set tour, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, Extended episodes for Thanks for the Memories, It's The End of the World, What Have I Done To Deserve This? and Losing My Religion.
Season 2 [Region 2]	May 28 2007	22	7	The Doctors Are In and The Softer Side of Dr. Bailey featurette, Exclusive set tour, deleted scenes, audio commentaries for Into You Like a Train, It's the End of the World (As We Know It), and Losing My Religion, Extended episodes for Thanks for the Memories, It's The End of the World and As We Know It, What Have I Done To Deserve This? and Losing My Religion.
Season 2 [Region 4]	January 8 2007	27	8	The Doctors Are In and The Softer Side of Dr. Bailey featurette, Exclusive set tour, deleted scenes, audio commentaries for Into You Like a Train, It's the End of the World (As We Know It), and Losing My Religion, Extended episodes for Thanks for the Memories, It's The End of the World and As We Know It, What Have I Done To Deserve This? and Losing My Religion.
Season 3 [Region 1]	September 11 2007	25	7	Seriously Extended edition: 4 extended episodes, a "one-on-one with Ellen Pompeo", a visit to the race track with star Patrick Dempsey, Cast and Crew favorite scenes featurette, and a cast commentary on selected episodes.
Season 3 [Region 2]	October 20 2007	25	7	Scheduled release date

Other releases

The producers of Grey's Anatomy recently released a novel depicting the lives and minglings of two bit-part characters; Joe the Bartender and Nurse Debbie. The book is double sided written in blog and IM form, while gossiping on the actions of the Grey's characters. The events discussed give background information for Joe and Debbie themselves and give insight on the events and cases the doctors deal with in the show.

A bi-monthly magazine has also been produced and is currently being sold in stores across Canada and the United States. The title of the magazine is GREY'S ANATOMY and it is a published work through Titan Magazines, and ExpressMag (for subscriptions). The first issue was released in March 2007

The Season 3 box-set was released in stores on September 11th, 2007.

In Australia the Season 3 box-set is to be released on the 31st October 2007.

Music

The show's main title theme is a snippet of "Cosy in the Rocket", by British artists Psapp. It is featured in the soundtrack album released via ABC corporate cousin Hollywood Records on September 27, 2005. A list of all the songs aired for each episode can be found on the program's official website. [1]

Grey's Anatomy has been instrumental to the success of Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" and The Fray's "How to Save a Life", both of which became top 5 hits after appearing in the show. "How to Save a Life" was the song used for all Grey's Anatomy previews, as well as being the music for the show's Season 3 promotional music video. While the popularity of "How to Save a Life" was largely credited to its use in Grey's Anatomy, the song had already been used during a cliffhanger episode of NBC's Scrubs titled "My Lunch." There was also a Season Two video with Chasing Cars as its track.

However, in another instance of "borrowing" from NBC's Scrubs, the show has used two artists who made their breakthrough on the comedy, Joshua Radin and Cary Brothers. The two artists feature quite prominently on Scrubs due to their connection with actor Zach Braff.

The Greenskeepers' song "Lotion" was featured prominently in the season 2 episode "Much Too Much". As the song plays in the background, George tells Meredith that if she does not curb her recent promiscuity, she will end up in a well with a killer ordering her to rub the lotion on her skin; a reference to the movie Silence of the Lambs which "Lotion" also pays homage to. "You Don't Know Me" and French band Los Chicros' "Back in the Wild" remixed by the same band have also been featured on Grey's Anatomy.

A second soundtrack, featuring songs from Season Two, was released September 12, 2006.

Music plays a key role in the creation of Grey's Anatomy. Each episode of the show is uniquely named after a song. The episode titles usually have something to do with the theme or moral of the episode's storyline and this moral is reproduced by the voice-overs heard at the beginning and end of each episode.

Many artists are featured in several episodes on Grey's Anatomy. Among those are Beck, Tegan and Sara, Kate Havnevik, Roisin Murphy, Snow Patrol, Maria Taylor, Mat Kearney, Ingrid Michaelson, Jem, Brandi Carlile Anya Marina, and KT Tunstall.

References

External links

• ABC.com: Grey's Anatomy
• Grey Matter Writers' Blog
• Grey's Anatomy at TV.com
• Full episodes of Grey's Anatomy
• Grey's Anatomy Soundtracks'' Website where you can listen to all the musics

''' GREY'S ANATOMY   •  • [ e]
Characters
Interns: Lexie Grey • George O'Malley Residents: Meredith Grey • Cristina Yang • Izzie Stevens • Alex Karev • Miranda Bailey Chief Resident: Callie Torres Attendings: Mark Sloan • Derek Shepherd Chief of Surgery: Richard Webber Former Characters: Preston Burke • Addison Montgomery
Episodes
Season One • Season Two • Season Three • Season Four
Music/Soundtrack
Chasing Cars • How to Save a Life • The Story • Ingrid Michaelson
Related content
Shonda Rhimes (creator) • Cast • Private Practice • Official Website

Private Practice  •  • [ e]
Cast/Characters	Kate Walsh (Addison Montgomery) • Tim Daly (Peter Wilder) • Audra McDonald (Naomi Bennett) • Paul Adelstein (Cooper Freedman) • KaDee Strickland (Charlotte King) • Chris Lowell (William "Dell" Parker) • Taye Diggs (Sam Bennett) • Amy Brenneman (Violet Turner)
Episodes	List of episodes • The Other Side of This Life, Parts One and Two
Related	Shonda Rhimes (creator) • Grey's Anatomy

Preceded by American Dad! 2005	Super Bowl lead-out program 2006	Succeeded by Criminal Minds 2007