I was all excited about the new Sunday night lineup on abc. So tonight I watched the season premier of Grey’s Anatomy. But watching the show only reminded me of what’s wrong with it. It’s not the clichéd story lines (doctor sleeps with intern; intern finds out doctor is married and dumps doctor; married man’s wife is suddenly employed at the same hospital where doctor works – reminiscent of a recent episode of "House" on Fox - intern finds out that Doctor McDreamy’s ex-wife cheated on him, not vice-versa; we discover that the man the wife slept with was the doc’s best friend; intern dumps Dr. McDreamy for second time in one
episode. . .which makes sense because we need a plot for next week).
And it's not the fact that the big surgery on this week's show was a carbon copy of last week's surgery event on House - where a patient is cooled down, essentially "killed" by the doctors in order to remove a blood clot in the brain, undergoes the risky surgery, and then is brought back to life in front of our very eyes. There's nothing like one network stealing plots from another and airing the plagiarized story line five days later, now is there?
No, that's not what bothers me at all. What is annoying is the amazing series of Seattle faux pas presented in the show. There is no way that the show's producer or director ever spent time in Seattle before, during, or after filming. Because if that was the case, they’d know these Seattle truths:
· It doesn’t rain in Seattle all day every day. In Grey's Anatomy, it's raining in practically every scene in that includes a window, a door, or the outdoors itself. The truth is, Seattle gets less rain than Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It’s gray a lot in Seattle, people. That's all.
· When it does rain in Seattle, it rarely pours like it does in every single rainy scene on the TV program. It drizzles a lot. Picture a typical day in London. It's drizzling, is it not? Well, I'm telling you, I don't recall it pouring every time it rained in Seattle.
· More importantly, there is almost never any thunder or lightening in Seattle. The weather is not warm enough in Puget Sound for regular thunderstorms. This isn't Florida, Mr. Director or Producer (or whoever you are). In fact, in the seven years I lived in Seattle, I counted maybe seven thunderstorms. And yet, on the TV show, when it rains it thunders. Aaaaagh!
· There is no hospital across the street from Pike Place market. (Ok I forgive the producer/director person or whoever is responsible for screwing up the whole rain thing. In my book, the transposition of buildings falls under literary license since the hospital itself doesn't exist in the real Seattle.)
Did you also notice that while Meredith Grey was standing out in the pouring Seattle rain, propped up against her Jeep, not one drop of water hit her hair or her clothing? And then when she got in the Jeep to drive away (after dumping Dr. McDreamy for the second time in one episode), huge raindrops pelted her vehicle.
Is it just me, or should the definition of a good producer/director include properly emulating the world-class city where the show is supposed to be taking place? You can't base an entire weather pattern on a stereotype, for Pete's sake. Well, maybe in Hollywood you can. But it just makes you look like an idiot.
Other than that, I love the show. (I'm such a hypocrite.) I admit, I'm a hospital-show and cop-show and legal-show junkie. And in Grey's Anatomy George the intern, clearly the last kid to be chosen for the team in P.E. class, is my favorite character. I think he’s hysterical. . . and cute, to boot. I have such a crush on him -- even when he contracted Syphillis last season.
And when you’ve got cute – who cares about the thundering, pelting, constant rainfall error? (Errrgh....I shall try not to!)
Speaking of cute, here's Martin in his new penthouse suite, which measures 11" in diameter. I put the whole kitty condo thing together this week and was curious as to whether Martin would be able to curl his sixteen pounds up into the penthouse. . . .
1 comment:
Ha, I watched that show a couple times and got a kick out of the Seattle "errors." A couple of my favorites- some of the flyby shots of the city during credits are old- you can see the late-not-so-lamented Kingdome. Also- some scenes were shot in a glass skybridge in the hospital, if you looked outside past the characters you could see palm trees in the background! I think the exterior shots are done at some abandoned office building in SoCal. The rain thing cracks me up too.
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