Grey Matters

Sometimes I think there is something wrong with me. I mean, really, what kind of person loves Grey’s Anatomy re-runs so much that she feels she must hide that fact from her husband, who pretty much knows anyway?  I sneak into my bedroom, turn on my computer, attach the headphones, go into Amazon.com, click right to Instant Video and voila! There in my video library is Grey’s Anatomy, seasons 1-8.

At some point during real-tv season 7, I got sick of the preposterousness of the situations, and stopped watching; but last week, I pushed through my misplaced disdain and kept going. I worked through seasons 6 and 7, and am in the throes of season 8.

My diagnosis? The situations are still preposterous, but I simply cannot resist them. Examples, taken from the last couple of shows in season 7 and the first two of season 8, are as follows. 1. Chief of Surgery Dr. Weber figures out a way to arrest or even cure diabetes by replacing the old pancreas with a new one. 2. After a bar fight, one drunk, with a knife stuck in his skull, with the handle sticking out, is taken to our beloved Seattle Grace Mercy West by a second drunk. There, the knife is removed, so the drunks can return to the bar. 3. A man is so obese that he is driven to the ER in the back of a truck instead of an ambulance. 4. Doctors slip into the on-call room for intimate moments, and all sorts of naughtiness and uncomfortable conversations occur in the elevator, the slowest one in the world. 5. Every time someone is rushed into the ER, that patient gets a blood workup, CT scans, 5 ccs of epi, paddle shocks and the attention of at least five doctors. 6. Every time someone undergoes surgery, the surgeon calls for “a number 10 scalpel,” “More suction!” and “Clamp!” 7. If I had a dime for every time I heard one of the doctors yell, “Someone, get a crash cart in here!” I’d be a rich lady indeed. And yet still, I watch.

I can't help it. I’m a little in love with the characters. There’s “the nazi,” Miranda Bailey, a softy at heart, who loves to scare the residents, Dr. McDreamy, who is just that, Dr. McSteamy, who is also just that, and the twisted sisters, Meredith Grey and Christina Yang, best friends and surgical competitors. Meredith’s little sister, Lexi, of whom she knew nothing, shows up at the hospital one day, out of the blue, as a new resident. My favorite character is Dr. Karev, who looks like a thug taken off the streets because he basically is a thug taken off the streets, a testimony to what a little hard work and determination can do.

However, I must say, I think the real reason why I love Grey’s Anatomy is that out of all the folks at UPMC Presbyterian, with whom I talked, for the five days following my back surgery a year-and-a-half ago, 100% of them watched Grey’s Anatomy religiously and couldn’t wait to talk to me about it. This endorsement is enough for me.  I'm in.  Even if I think I have to hide.