GREY'S ANATOMY (TV SERIES): SEASON 1 - DVD review

Sometimes clichés aren't so bad after all.

Making a mid-season debut (March 27th, 2005) on the network that had two of television's biggest breakout hits last year, "Grey's Anatomy" is the perfect cap to a triumphant return for ABC after several trying years in the TV ratings doldrums. Helped along by the phenomenally popular, "Desperate Housewives" as its lead-in show, "Grey's Anatomy" achieved critical success in its brief 9-episode debut run that prompted ABC to renew it for a full sophomore season. Initially, this might seem a tad surprising because "Grey's Anatomy" does not boast of an original concept nor does it try to do away with the usual melodramatic clichés that seem to plague many TV shows nowadays. It does, however, soar above the rest with its intelligent writing, highly accessible characters and lighthearted humor that more than make up for the show's perceived shortcomings.

"Grey's Anatomy" is a one-hour dramedy (a mix of drama and comedy) that follows the lives of five fresh-out-of-medical-school surgical interns at the Seattle Grace Hospital. If you think this premise sounds awfully familiar, you are certainly not alone. The NBC half-hour sitcom "Scrubs" also features medical interns but is set in a more surreal environment that promises more laughs than dramatic content. Although on the surface, the similarities between these two shows can be quite obvious, "Grey's Anatomy" rightfully distinguishes itself from "Scrubs" in other aspects. As it is, the show is more like the resulting love child of "ER" and "Scrubs", featuring predominantly serious medical drama that is often punctuated by moments of welcomed humor and poignant reflections that help break the perceived monotony of listening to the characters throw medical jargons left and right, as is the case with most medical-based shows.

The five young would-be doctors who are the focus of "Grey's Anatomy" are Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Isobel "Izzie" Stevens (Katherine Heigl) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers). First up, meet Dr. Meredith Grey, a talented surgical intern with practically the weight of the world balanced on her slender shoulders. Being the daughter of world-renowned surgeon Dr. Ellis Grey (Kate Burton) may sound exciting but for Meredith, her pedigree is more of a curse, as expectations become higher and the comparisons between mother and daughter become imminent. Expectations aside, Meredith always seem sad and somewhat distracted, having to keep the fact that her mother is suffering from Alzheimer's a secret from everyone at the hospital, including the hospital's Chief of Surgery, Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), a close friend and former colleague of her mother's.

Just starting out as a fresh-faced intern who is viciously thrown into grueling 48-hour shifts, you can see why Meredith can get a little distracted while trying save lives and having to sort her personal issues out a the same time. However, things quickly become even more complicated when a one-night stand with a handsome hunk by the name of Derek turns into Meredith's biggest nightmare. You see, unbeknownst to Meredith, that Derek from the night before is actually Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), the new neurosurgeon on staff at Seattle Grace, who is by default of his position, her boss. And the worst part is, even though Meredith does not care to acknowledge it, she is increasingly falling for Derek, which just seems to go against every hospital rule regarding intern-surgeon relationships.

In "Grey's Anatomy", these interns may be good friends outside the hospital environment but that does not mean that they are all chummy during the stressful work hours as well. The strong sense of competition among these interns is palpable from the very start. Getting themselves assigned to the most complicated and serious cases marks not only a chance to learn but also to get ahead of your peers. No one exhibits this take-no-prisoners mentality better than the smart and very aggressive Dr. Cristina Yang. The direct opposite of Meredith, Cristina may be a book-smart surgical intern but her bedside manners are definitely in need of some polishing up. What Cristina lacks in empathy and making an emotional connection with her patients, she makes up for it with her medical knowledge. However, as it eventually becomes apparent, sometimes just curing a physical ailment may not always be enough.

Rounding up our group of interns are the lovable but unfortunately square George O'Malley, former fashion model Izzie Stevens, who is trying her best to overcome the stereotype that gets attached to her former profession and the ever-obnoxious and arrogant Alex Karev, whose own insecurities leads him to offend anyone he comes into contact with.

Keeping these young interns in line is the ever-entertaining surgical resident, Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), also affectionately known as "The Nazi", a no-nonsense surgeon who revels in pointing out all the flaws and mistakes that these inexperienced interns commit while on-call at the hospital. Completing the line-up is the brilliant but increasingly overconfident thoracic surgeon, Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), who thought his ascend to the Chief of Surgery post was all but assured until the appearance of Dr. Shephard. You see, the current Chief of Surgery, Dr. Webber, had encouraged Shephard to move to Seattle Grace in order to provide some competition to Burke.

The one significant thing that "Grey's Anatomy" has going for it is the easy accessibility of its diverse cast of characters. While the show's basic premise may be clichéd (even down to the voiceover narration by the main character, Meredith), all the characters--some of them I admit are still identifiable television archetypes--are written with multi-dimensional personalities that learn to evolve and get more interesting over time. In fact, these characters could easily be someone we know or may have come across in the past, which makes this show very much believable. Some of the situations that these interns get embroiled in may seem contrived but how the characters react to them proves to be most entertaining.

Of course, one must also not forget about the enjoyable humor. Without a doubt, the comedic element on this show is the one thing that makes it so much fun to watch. The potent mixture of drama and humor here is so well balanced that neither of these elements risk overpowering one another. The comedy is intelligent, it is sexy and it thankfully never crosses the line into absurdity.

Unlike the usual TV shows that produce 20 to 24 episodes per season, the condensed first season of "Grey's Anatomy" is a brief one and it offers only nine episodes that are distributed on two DVDs in the following manner:

Disc 1: "A Hard Day's Night", "The First Cut is the Deepest", "Winning a Battle, Losing the War", "No Man's Land", "Shake Your Groove Thing"
Disc 2: "If Tomorrow Never Comes", "The Self-Destruct Button", "Save Me", "Who's Zooming Who?"

Video:
"Grey's Anatomy" is broadcast in high-definition and I've not seen the show in any other resolution until this DVD (yes, I am spoilt!). Although the DVD's video quality is quite good, my eyes found it hard to adjust to its lower 480p resolution. Originally broadcast in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, this DVD version offers the same ratio in anamorphic widescreen. As expected of a recently produced show, the transfer here is clean, without any artifacts or errors and the colors are vibrantly reproduced. You also have the option of turning on English subtitles for the hearing impaired.

Audio:
Like most of Buena Vista's other DVD reincarnations of its most popular TV shows, "Grey's Anatomy" only offers a single audio option--English in Dolby Digital 5.1. As this is not an action-oriented show, do not expect any dynamic use of all 5 speaker channels when you watch this show. It does, however, offer clear dialogue and a nice reproduction of the show's catchy and contemporary soundtrack that comes across nicely through the 3 front speakers.

Extras:
The bonus extras on this DVD set can be found on both discs. On Disc 1, you will find two audio commentaries on the pilot episode, "A Hard Day's Night". The first is with creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes and director Peter Horton while the other features actors Sandra Oh, Katie Heigl and T.R. Knight. While the former focuses more on the technical side of how the pilot episode was put together, the latter one is more laid back, with the three actors dispensing jokes and anecdotes about their experiences on the set.

The second disc holds the bulk of the bonus material. They are:

"Under the Knife: Behind the Scenes of Grey's Anatomy"
This is a 12-minute look at the making of the show. It features interviews with series creator Shonda Rhimes, director Peter Horton and some of the cast and crew from the show. This is more of a fluff piece as it only scrapes the surface of the show and you only hear about the good things that went on during filming.

"Anatomy of a Pilot" (with optional commentary by creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes and director Peter Horton)
This feature shows the scenes that were shot but never made it into the final cut of the pilot episode. It explores in greater detail, some of the back-story and relationships between the doctors as they are first introduced on the show. Listen to the accompanying commentary for more information on why these scenes were cut.

"Dissecting Grey's Anatomy: Unaired Scenes"
This is where you will find the deleted scenes. The five scenes featured here are culled from the following three episodes:
- "The First Cut is the Deepest" (3 deleted scenes)
- "Winning a Battle, Losing the War" (1 deleted scene)
- "No Man's Land" (1 deleted scene)

"Alternate Main Title"
An alternate version of the main opening title. I'm just glad that the producers did not go with this one.

"Avant Garde Trailer"
This is an amusing black and white trailer for the show that comes with funny French captions.

Packaging:
This 2-DVD set comes packaged in a regular keepcase that contains 2 disc trays, on top of the other. A nice cardboard slipcase that goes over the keepcase tops off the attractive package.

Film Value:
Season One of "Grey's Anatomy" is undoubtedly short but in just that 9-episode span, it has managed to create a strong connection with me, the viewer, something that many other TV shows sporadically fail to achieve in an entire full season. With each passing episode, the show is able to reveal previously unseen sides of its highly likeable characters while offering poignant medical stories that are skillfully combined with moments of witty humor. It is this successful fusion of drama and comedy that makes each visit to the Seattle Grace Hospital an enjoyable endeavor rather than a dreadfully painful one.