Grey’s Anatomy

When it first premiered on the small screen, Grey’s Anatomy quickly set viewers’ hearts aflutter with its leading man Dr Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). His ensuing romance with feisty intern Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) produced a kind of white-hot chemistry that hooked audiences.

And then something happened. Somewhere along the lines, Grey’s Anatomy stopped being a drama with soapy overtones and just became a full-blown soap opera. Where the characters were previously faced with difficult decisions grounded in reality, the cast now engaged in non-stop antics that verged on the unbelievable. With such randy surgeons helming the hospital, would you really want to be admitted to Seattle Grace as a patient?

The perceptible fall in standard lies squarely with the writers. Given the chance to create something truly memorable, they chose to go for instant, commercial success. And this decision to sell-out has hurt the show in the long run. No audience member is going to buy that these people are doctors.

But if you religiously tune into ABC’s, um, medical drama, you’re not really there for the deep drama. You’re there for your regular serve of scandal and escapism. And what’s wrong with that really?

Minh Nguyen