Arguments on Why Grey's Anatomy is the Best TV Show
Conceivably, the most heard of drama show that has ever aired on the ABC network, Grey’s Anatomy is one that, when brought up in a discussion, draws the attention of about any discourser or TV viewer immediately. The tv show seems to have caused an endless amount of controversy when dealing with individuals who state their own opinion about whether it is time for the show to stop creating new seasons or keep striving forward with more. With 14 seasons, 317 episodes, and over a period of 13 years, Grey’s Anatomy is the longest-running drama in ABC’s records and with good reason.
Astonishingly, on September 27, 2018, season 15 got released. That’s another 24 episodes. It seems like season 15 is ready in the hopes of adding more popularity to the tremendous Grey’s legacy. Of course, with a show that has been watched worldwide and for so long, people may have one question; shouldn’t it be time for Grey’s Anatomy to end? I find that many people, including myself, have wondered this. The belief that most people uphold is that any show, no matter how good, eventually must experience a fallout and die.
Luckily, in this situation, they couldn’t have been more wrong. In fact, over the years involving new seasons, new characters, and new plots, Grey’s Anatomy’s nature has enhanced and intensified over time. The outcome is not too surprising, showing a frenzy of high ratings. Grey’s Anatomy was first aired in 2005.
The show’s focus was on the life of a new intern named Meredith Grey who participated in a ‘‘hook-up’’ with a neurologist named Derek Shepherd, the night before her new job. During the short time she spent with Derek, she hadn’t received the chance to learn anything about him or how he was a highly-respected doctor. So, the morning after Meredith’s one-night stand, she encounters Dr. Shepherd again. And what do you know, it happens to be at Seattle Grace Hospital where she was assigned and where he currently works. And so, the drama begins.
From the first season of Grey’s, we are introduced to multiple key characters such as first-year interns, Izzie Stevens and Meredith Grey, as well as important doctors like Dr. Derek Shepherd, Dr. Mark Sloan, Dr. Callie Torres, and Dr. Arizona Robbins. Right away it is seen how there is an evenly distributed amount of ethnical diversity among the cast. With society’s view of the world always changing, Grey’s made an amazing choice to include all its progressive views into the plot such as different cultures and sexual preferences. For instance, the partnership between Dr. Callie and Dr. Arizona exhibits an example of different sexual preferences since those two main characters take part in a lesbian relationship. Another example is how there are a decent number of female surgeons of all colors and ethnicities. In present day, women have been fighting for equality such as getting paid the same amount a male would get paid for doing the same job, so it is quite impressive to see so many accomplished females in the show. Unlike ER, another hospital related show, Grey’s Anatomy focuses on the interns and their time spent in the hospital. With this focus, it opens the show to a youthful audience instead of just an older one. With that, the characters and the viewer should be able to connect on a few levels when dealing with struggles and fears they themselves face.
The term “doctor” usually comes with the assumption that the medical professional is indeed a “professional,” and with that comes the belief that he/she may never make an error in judgment. However, throw newbie interns into the mix in a highly-stressed situation and they are prone to make a mistake. It’s just expected. What makes this an important technique used by the producer is to show how it is okay to make mistakes and the audience can relate to how the interns deal with them. The viewers what to see how the intern handles the problem as well as the outcome; it’s intriguing and sparks curiosity and interest. Grey’s exhibits a very serious example when intern Izzie Stevens falls in love with a patient of hers, Denny Duquette.
Denny is in need of a heart transplant and without one soon, he will die. With Izzie hearing her loved one pleading her to cut his wire that would end his life, she complies and in turn, murders her patient. With committing such a huge mistake, Izzie ends up getting fired from the program, but is lucky enough to not get arrested and thrown in jail for life. It shows that everyone can make errors, especially if they feel like they had no choice in the matter. Not only was Izzie’s mistake a serious example of interns being able to mess up, but it also was an example of how the plotline and story are created. Out of all the things Grey’s Anatomy does to keep the show captivating, the largest and most key feature used is to never repeat an injury or tragedy. And for having so many hour-long episodes, it is extremely impressive to see that Grey’s has followed that technique. However, another one of the most popular shows heard of other than Grey’s is The Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead is known to have been super successful at the start but unfortunately, they repeated incidents and never really took any risks with the show. Then after the show started to fail, they thought creating another show, just like it only with few different characters would be a good idea. That show is known as Fear of The Walking Dead. However recently, they have been bringing characters from The Walking Dead into the new show that was supposed to be its own with its own characters. So clearly what is making Grey’s Anatomy be able to last so long without getting tiresome is their technique of adding new drama and new tragedies in every episode. Throughout Grey’s, the hospital and its employees experience unbelievable tragedies to add a sense of freshness; some are large traumatic incidents while others are smaller individual difficulties to keep the show alive while sparking powerful emotions within the viewer. A memorable conflict that appeared in the show is when Seattle Grace experienced a financial problem.
They had no choice but to merge with another hospital, Mercy West, also known as their competitor. What seemed like an endless number of employees being laid off, was actually only a few main characters dropped from the plot. As expected, fans were upset over the sudden change exclaiming, “how could the directors do that to us? We want the old characters back!” However, even though Grey’s decided to mix the hospitals together and evidently lose some characters, they were in fact smart about it.
The show now introduced a whole new set of interns and in turn, created more area to add new drama into the plot. This leads me to talk about how a few traumatic and totally unexpected events shook across the screen and ended up taking the lives of many adored characters. Grey’s horrific plane crash scene. The ending results were heartbreaking with the loss of Dr. Mark Sloan, and sister intern of Meredith Grey, Lexie Grey, two of the most loved and long-standing characters. Some other examples of an insane moment are when a shooter entered the hospital firing his weapon at employees, a ferry boat explosion, and a bomb placed inside a patient. However, even with all the losses of key characters, the greatest portrayal is shown on how well the show has handled these catastrophes. Even with major loss in members and shocking events, the show hasn’t been knocked down but instead has thrived by gaining more of an audience and satisfying regular fans. Ultimately, Grey’s Anatomy has survived by taking risks such as allowing loss of key members, allowing diversity, creating unrepeatable emergencies, and adding new characters with new drama to keep the viewer interested.
