For the past four years, I have been a fan of “Scrubs” on NBC. However, in the past two seasons, the show has reveled in a wackiness that threatens its charm. I needed something fresh to fuel my dream of being a doctor – without the loss of humanity and the crippling debt. “Grey’s Anatomy” has filled that void.
The show follows Dr. Meredith Grey during her years as a medical resident. Through trial and tribulations, she bands with three other doctors played by Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigel and T.R. Knight. Each week assaults the doctors with new challenges and personal issues. Meredith’s famous mom is AWOL, Sandra Oh’s character thinks too highly of herself, Katherine plays a model-turned-doctor and Mr. Knight plays me – if I had managed to fool someone into giving me an M.D.
The first four episodes did a great job of setting up the season and establishing the characters. From Oh dealing with a dying patient who was a former nurse to Knight’s O’Malley dealing with a gay patient who is not afraid to flirt to Heigel defending her former modeling career to colleagues, the interesting situations show differences in the characters.
The funny thing is, Meredith, the main character, remains terribly undeveloped besides her relation to her mother and the one-dimensional puppy love relationship she is developing with Patrick Dempsey’s senior surgeon. Both scenarios still have room to grow and evolve and fall apart in a gastric bypass of pure misery. However, Meredith is just the peg that binds the series together. For a character modeled in a similar fashion to J.D. from “Scrubs,” she does not have the lovable nature of J.D., and you do not relate to her nearly as well.
Another “Scrubs” inspired aspect has been the show’s use of catchy indie music. “Grey’s Anatomy” will play an entire song during a scene, especially if it involves surgery. While it’s nice and gives you a good predictor whether the schmuck is about to die in surgery or not, there is no need to have an entire song played. It is distracting, and the only mood or scene it sets is an “oh God, get it over with” montage of apprehension.
For now, “Grey’s Anatomy” has the potential to be a great addition to my Sunday night TV routine – as long as the core characters are further developed, especially the title character. The show is getting a lot of attention thanks to the glut of “Desperate Housewives” watchers desperate to find an actually entertaining show on ABC on the weekend. This show could fill the niche and be just what these actors-pretending-to-be-doctors ordered.