Posted Feb 8th 2010 7:00PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, Grey's Anatomy, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free

If you're one of the fortunate few who make it big in the television biz, shouldn't you take the opportunity to use that cushy cushion you have built for yourself and take a big risk on something exciting and new? Not if you're one of these big television producers.
Big shots like Shawn Ryan, David E. Kelley, and Shonda Rhimes all have pilots in the can that don't seem to stray much farther from the shows that made them the big shots that they are today.
For instance, Ryan, creator of the groundbreaking FX cop drama
'The Shield,' has another cop drama premiering with Fox called 'Ridealong.' Kelley, the writer/producer behind
'The Practice' and
'Boston Legal,' has created a reality drama for NBC called 'Kindred.' Even Rhimes, the woman behind ABC's
'Grey's Anatomy,' has another medical drama show for ABC called 'Off the Map.' Is ABC looking to create an all-medical soap opera cable channel in the coming year?
Posted Feb 5th 2010 3:05AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(
S06E13) There was no reason for
'Grey's Anatomy' to have had a rerun last week. Why didn't the producers start one week later? Either way, Derek takes over Seattle Grace this week as the chief and struggled on his first day. While he managed to figure everything out by the end of the day, it's nice to see Derek's evolution handling the responsibilities.
The Chief, or I guess he's just now demoted to "Richard," struggled with his decision to retire or go to rehab for the whole episode. While Derek, Meredith, and Bailey tried to talk to him, it was all his decision to make the next step. Here's hoping that he comes back stronger than ever.
Continue reading Review: 'Grey's Anatomy' - 'State of Love and Trust'
Posted Jan 22nd 2010 3:30AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S06E12) This episode of
Grey's Anatomy reestablished Meredith as the core character of the show: she was the one who had to deal with Derek's problems with the chief, the aftermath of Alex and Lexie, Christina's driven nature, and had to console the chief. Fortunately for her, it was one of those weeks where she actually had the time to brush her hair.
I've gotten some criticism when I declined to watch the
Private Practice crossover. After seeing this episode, I don't think that I needed to watch the crossover episode at all. Mark was devastated about Lexie, had sex with Addison because he was so depressed, and was upset that Lexie acted so immature. He quickly explains that in one minute. There goes that relationship.
Continue reading Review: Grey's Anatomy - I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked
Posted Jan 15th 2010 12:40AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(
S06E11) I'll be the first person to admit that I loved Addison on
Grey's Anatomy, but I hate
Private Practice. Whenever crossovers happen, I never watch the
Private Practice half and yet the storyline isn't lost by me. It's one of those ABC ploys for me to watch another show, and I'm not having it. The episode did make me miss Addison. She melded perfectly into Seattle Grace with her interactions with Callie, Bailey, Mark, and Derek as if she wasn't a guest character.
Overall, the episode continued its strong, character-driven direction this season and felt like a return to the core characters with Bailey's frankness, Cristina's determination, and Meredith's stereotypical facial expression she gives.
Continue reading Review: Grey's Anatomy - Blink
Posted Jan 1st 2010 11:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Battlestar Galactica, Grey's Anatomy, Celebrities, Awards, TV Squad Lists, Damages, Emmys, Reality-Free
More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about the best dramatic actresses of the decade.
Television has always been good to the ladies. Actresses have flourished in dramatic series, and in the past decade, we've seen some amazing performances. There have been lawyers, cops, a U.S. president, nurses, doctors, judges, mothers, daughters and even a real housewife from New Jersey whose husband was in the waste disposal business.
Many of these women have already been honored with Emmys and Golden Globes... and now they get the recognition of TV Squad.
Here, then, without further vamping, the best dramatic actresses of the past ten years:
Continue reading Best TV of the '00s: Dramatic Actress
Posted Nov 20th 2009 3:20AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(
S06E10) In the last episode of 2009,
Grey's Anatomy combines Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years all in one eventful episode. I'm still not in the holiday mood, but the show got me there, except for the fact that they played Christmas music on New Years. Christmas music should stay between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
What happened to Alex in this episode? This would probably be the hardest time for a husband who doesn't have his wife for their first Christmas together. Wasn't he invited to Christmas Dinner? At least Meredith could have mentioned that he was stuck at work?
Continue reading Review: Grey's Anatomy - Holidaze
Posted Nov 18th 2009 10:02AM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Grey's Anatomy, Ask TV Squad, Chuck, Reality-Free

The "
Ask TV Squad" column, published every Wednesday, answers your questions about current and past TV shows, as well as about the celebrities appearing on TV. Every week, I will pick a question (or more) sent to us and provide answers in the column. If your question is not picked for a column, it may be answered in a subsequent column or in
TV Squad's APB Podcast.
To submit questions to the "Ask TV Squad" column, you can post them below in comments or email them to asktvsquad@gmail.com.
This week, I answer questions about
Chuck, Katherine Heigl, and where to legally watch shows online for the U.S. and Canada.
Continue reading Ask TV Squad: Chuck, Katherine Heigl and where to watch shows online
Posted Nov 13th 2009 12:42AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(
S06E09)
"According to Google, you don't exist" - Cristina Yang
We've reached a maximum capacity on
Grey's Anatomy where all the billed characters showed up for a few seconds on the show then disappeared; even the bartender showed up. This left a lot of characters segregated to the side. Meredith returned and was out of the loop for most of the episode, stuck in a room practicing her craft on a plastic dummy.
We also found the return of Izzie and the introduction of a new cardio doctor, Dr. Teddy Altman. While I grew to like Teddy, I really wished that Izzie would just go home and never come back.
Continue reading Review: Grey's Anatomy - New History
Posted Nov 6th 2009 2:20AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(
S06E08) This episode of
Grey's Anatomy shows that
Grey's can be strong without having a Grey sister (or Izzie) involved. All the other characters are strong on their own, and it's nice seeing Arizona evolve as a character. Sadly, these episodes will come to an end next week.
I still laugh that pagers are still the standard for communicating with doctors outside of work. It's interesting to see the doctors dreading the fact that they didn't get enough sleep.
Who thinks of throwing a surprise birthday party anymore? I guess I'd rather take the $25 million donation to the hospital.
Continue reading Review: Grey's Anatomy - Invest in Love
Posted Oct 30th 2009 3:00AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(
S06E07) This week's episode of
Grey's Anatomy focused on Derek and evolved the character as someone that's not just McDreamy. The show should start with Patrick Dempsey talking more often. I didn't realize how mellow his voice was, though saying the words "calm," "quiet," and "peace" automatically sound calming. I hope he narrates a Disney movie soon.
If the show continues to be strong with character driven development per episode, I suggest keeping Meredith bed ridden. She's already forgiven her father and has strengthened her relationship with her sister. Let's evolve the rest of the one-dimensional characters while she stays in bed.
Continue reading Review: Grey's Anatomy - Give Peace a Chance
Posted Oct 25th 2009 6:00PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

Let me take that one step further --
Grey's Anatomy is
great without Izzie or Meredith.
For the first time since the announcement of her temporary departure from the show, Katherine Heigl wasn't in this past week's episode of Grey's Anatomy and Ellen Pompeo, who's on maternity leave, was only featured in two very brief scenes that book-ended the hour.
The episode expertly blended the Seattle Grace docs with the Mercy Westers and featured a very cool Rashomon-esque story (CSI did the same thing a few years ago).
Continue reading Grey's Anatomy works just fine without Izzie or Meredith
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 2:02AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S06E06) There were so many people on screen last week on
Grey's Anatomy that I didn't even realize that Mark Sloan wasn't in the whole episode. Luckily for any Mark fan, he becomes an essential character when burn victims show up.
This week, one of many hotel fire victims dies because of negligence; everyone tells their side. The multiple perspectives became more and more difficult to keep up with, because the original Seattle Grace doctors defended each other, while the Mercy West doctors tried to throw any of the Seattle Grace doctors under the bus.
Continue reading Review: Grey's Anatomy - I Saw What I Saw
Posted Oct 16th 2009 12:25AM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(
S06E05) We've finally reached the big merger episode of
Grey's Anatomy. The orange doctors of Mercy West have invaded Seattle Grace Hospital. I can't get warmed up to all of the new characters that this show is shoving down my throat in one episode. All of them seem too pushy in a place where they're foreigners. If the show wants me to warm up to these Mercy West characters, they shouldn't act like dumb jocks or pushy girls with low self esteem.
In the end, the only losers are the patients that were being fought over. All of them went through hell because of the competition.
Continue reading Grey's Anatomy: Invasion
Posted Oct 11th 2009 11:03AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Reality-Free

A lot happened in
this week's Grey's Anatomy, including Meredith making the difficult decision to give her dad part of her liver. That's convenient for the real-life Ellen Pompeo, who
just had her baby on Sept. 15.
And there's still the issue of the Mercy West merger, which docs will get the axe, and the usual patient drama and staff angst. But what stood out for me happened in the first few seconds of this episode, when Alex stepped outside of Derek's trailer and came face to face with a bear. Alex screamed! The bear screamed! Everyone screamed! But mostly Alex!
I wonder how many takes it took for Justin Chambers to get that awesome girly scream. Or perhaps it was dubbed in? Whatever the case, it surely is one of the best TV screams I've heard in quite some time, and
Michael agreed that Alex should get more storylines with funny situations.
What did you think of Alex's scream? Are there any others in recent TV history that even come close?
Posted Oct 8th 2009 11:52PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: OpEd, Grey's Anatomy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(
S06E04) I love how
Grey's Anatomy can bounce between serious and hysterical moments. Old people wanting penile implants, bears attacking a groggy Alex, and a witty jab at
CSI in the first ten minutes of the show counterbalanced with Mercy West drama, Christina being ignored, and Lexie's father arriving at the hospital hacking blood.
One interesting point that clears up one question is how much the residents make. According to Izzie, she and Alex barely make $30K a year. I'm not sure if that's combined or individual, but it makes me solidify why a) Lexie lives with Mark and b) Christina and Callie are still roommates.
Continue reading Grey's Anatomy: Tainted Obligation
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