TVSquad

(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.

(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.

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).

(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.

(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.

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?

(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.

With Grey's Anatomy and its spin-off Private Practice starting new seasons, I decided to refresh my brain with the previous seasons of these two ABC shows. So this week's Jane After Dark was all about the dreamy doctors.

I've been on board with Private Practice since the beginning, and was especially interested to see what happened with Violet and her baby in the season three premiere. Happy ending there, thank goodness! And while Grey's Anatomy has certainly ebbed and flowed since it began in 2005, I've stuck with it because I've grown to love the dysfunctional characters with all their baggage. It makes my life seem just that much better.

Grey's Anatomy, Season Five

There were parts of this season that drove me a little nuts, like Izzie having "mind-boggling sex" with dead Denny. That whole storyline made me want to jump off a roof, but there were plenty of highlights to the season, as well...

(S06E03) The paranoia kicked in on Grey's Anatomy with the fears of merging with Mercy West. Everyone was on pins and needles wondering whether or not they would get cut. Tonight's episode focused mostly on Lexie and Christina's reactions on how to guarantee themselves positions in Seattle Grace. I still don't see why they were worried because they are good at what they do and even if they got cut, they could easily find jobs.

We also see how much of a loving husband Alex is, being concerned for his wife's health and making sure that she takes her medications.

When Mary Richards burst out laughing at Chuckles the Clown's funeral, I could totally understand that. She's mortified, of course, and when the minister says it's ok, that laughter is what Chuckles would have wanted, Mary starts sobbing. It seemed both funny and realistic.

I was trying to decide if the laughing scene at George's funeral in this week's Grey's Anatomy was realistic, and I guess it is. No one really knows how grief will affect someone, and laughter is as good as any method of handling grief.

I mean, the whole thing was sort of crazy -- that George would be hit by a bus while saving someone. And then that "someone" would be crying more than anyone else at the funeral. No doubt, she was filled with guilt and grief over the whole thing.

(S06E01,S06E02) Every end of a television season, I ask myself, "Why do I keep watching Grey's Anatomy?" Then I realized why; I love Callie. Sure, she came into the show in the second season and isn't an "original" character, but she's become what I consider the most genuine character.

Then they start the show with "Wade in the Water?" I'm automatically an emotional wreck for two hours. Instead of a regular episodic format, the premiere episodes shifted to a timeline (Day One, Seven, Ten, Thirteen, and so on). I guess they got the memo that FlashForward was on before them.

Remember back in the olden days (say, 1994) when you didn't know much about what was going to happen on a TV show before the new season started? Now there aren't just spoilers and behind the scenes footage, but we also have video sneak peeks of entire scenes from an episode.

This is the first five minutes of the September 24 Grey's Anatomy season opener.

If only it were permanent. (Commence booing and hissing at your leisure.)

Turns out that Meredith Grey's temporary departure from Grey's Anatomy this coming sixth season (Ellen Pompeo is going out on maternity leave) won't be the only character taking leave from the halls of Seattle Grace. Katherine Heigl's chock-full-o'-cancer Izzie Stevens will be going MIA for a few episodes as well.

If you're like me, the how and why doesn't really matter because this is just delightful news (my dislike for Heigl and her outbursts is no secret), but the details and spoilers are after the jump if you really want to know.

With a month to go, the news about T.R. Knight leaving Grey's Anatomy finally comes to the forefront with one of the first previews for the sixth season. The preview spends the first 15 seconds at the end of season five, so fans only get 15 juicy seconds of new clips.

The clip is nothing out of the ordinary for Grey's viewers: flashes of white, screaming people's names, faces of panic and running around. The big fans can dissect each scene and realize that there isn't much to analyze.

Here's hoping that the preview actually takes place in the first ten minutes of the show. If I get a lot of unnecessary George flashback for the first hour, I will have to find something to gag myself with.

I realize that celebrities don't always have an easy time of it. They're hounded by photographers, work crazy hours, spend time away from their families while on location, and never know when their current gig might end through no fault of their own.

But, you know what? The rest of us don't have an easy time of it either. Sure, most of us don't have photographers hounding us at every turn, but we work crazy hours, spend time away from our families working, and never know when OUR current gigs might end through no fault of our own.

So it always drives me a little batty when celebrities whine about having to work long hours and such, like Katherine Heigl did on the Late Show with David Letterman and other talk shows -- especially since the aforementioned long day was the direct result of accommodating her schedule while promoting her new film The Ugly Truth.