InsidePulse DVD Review – Grey's Anatomy – Season 1

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Credit: Amazon.com

Created by
Shonda Rhimes

Cast
Ellen Pompeo… Dr. Meredith Grey
Sandra Oh… Dr. Cristina Yang
Katherine Heigl… Dr. Isobel “Izzie” Stevens
Justin Chambers… Dr. Alex Karev
T.R. Knight… Dr. George O’Malley
Chandra Wilson… Dr. Miranda Bailey
James Pickens Jr. … Dr. Richard Webber
Isaiah Washington… Dr. Preston Burke
Patrick Dempsey… Dr. Derek Shepherd

The Show

There’s just something about Grey’s Anatomy.

The show focuses in on the careers in and out of the hospital of a bumbling set of new surgical interns at Seattle Grace Hospital. The title character, Meredith Grey is the show’s voice and narrator and opens every episode with a smart statement about society. These range from keeping secrets to sleeping in and somehow each of her morning musings is tied up neatly by the end of the episode.

While the show has several core storylines, it is the likeability and relationship between the main characters that have garned it an amazing loyalty among its viewers. Like the show tends to do, we could spend a lot of time analyzing the ethics of intern Grey dating attending physician Shepherd or Izzie’s self-doubt despite her flawless external beauty, but that would not address the real appeal of the show which is its acting and dialogue. In any event, a synopsis is called for so let’s get to it.

Dr. Meredith Grey is about to start her internship at a new hospital with an increased amount of pressure on her shoulders because it is the medical facility where her mother worked and became one of the most respected surgeons in the industry. That is not in Meredith’s mind however, as the pilot opens with her in bed with someone whose name she doesn’t even know. As she quickly and politely ushers him out the door to avoid being late for work, she does not realize that their relationship will quite literally be the anatomy of the first season of the program.

When she arrives at the hospital, the show’s premise is immediately outlined by the Chief.

“The seven years you spend here will be the best and worst of your life. You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave.”

When Grey looks around to say hello, she is introduced to the people that will become her best friends and her most annoying enemies. The viewer learns about these people along with Meredith.

There’s George O’Malley, the lovable everyman. He is short and self-conscious. Talented but full of requisite self-doubt, but kind to his patients and a whipping boy for…

Alex Karev. The cocky jock. Also known as the antithesis of George O’Malley. Rough and rude with patients and the ability to offend almost anyone in the room, he is the perfect counter to George’s beacon of light. As with every character on the show though, there are many layers to Karev’s undeniable ego.

Christina Yang. Played by the Golden Globe winning Canadian, Sandra Oh, Yang defines what being a surgical intern is all about. She is willing to do whatever it takes in to get “in” on the best surgeries. Yang highlights that while they are all friends in a tumultuous situation, ultimately she is there to win. Like Karev though, she also is not all that she appears to be.

Izzie Stevens. The eye-candy. And that’s precisely the stereotype that she is fighting to break. With trailer-park roots, Stevens worked as a lingerie model to pay off her medical bills and constantly struggles to fight the idea that she is an inferior doctor.

Preston Burk. Embroiled in a friendly battle with Dr. Shepherd to become the new chief of surgery after Webber’s departure, Burk is all business preferring to concentrate on surgeries rather than inter-office politicking. That is until he meets Yang, who causes him to reevaluate things.

Derek Shepherd. Undoubtedly the male lead of the show. He was recruited to the hospital by Webber, as they have long shared a mentor/protégé relationship. A talented surgeon, McDreamy’s relationship with Meredith is at the core of the show. Their obvious chemistry is balanced by the wrongness of what they are doing.

Grey’s Anatomy is a show that, on paper, can be compared to so many others. The obvious comparison is to Scrubs but this show is not defined by its comedy. While it has many comedic undertones, it is also fatally serious at times. It has the resonating humor of Ally McBeal with the procedual aspects of E.R.. It’s Friends meeting The Real World. It really is indescribable.

The DVD:

The Video

The video is presented in its original television format with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in full color. The nine episodes are presented on two discs. I think the quality could have been sharper as this is a show that builds itself on freshness, but that does not translate well on screen. This is, in all honesty, the only area of the DVD that could have used improvement.

Score: 6/10

The Audio

The audio is 5.1 surround sound. Subtitles are available. No problems here.

Score: 10/10

Special Features

On the first disc, there are two commentaries available. The first is for the pilot episode with creator Shonda Rhimes and director Peter Horton. The second is also for the pilot episode, but with stars Heigl, Knight and Oh (who only appears for half of the episode).

The majority of the special features appear on the second disc. There is a featurette entitled “Under The Knife: Behind The Scenes Of Grey’s Anatomy,” that runs 11 minutes and 20 seconds. It is riveting and I enjoyed it because a lot of time is spent on the discussing why the show is so popular. There are other interesting tidbits as well, including the role of Linda Klein (the medical expert who helps the show’s producers with all of the actual ‘medical stuff’ that is included on the show). I also enjoyed hearing about how this is one of the first shows that has a majority of female writers. In addition, it is also one of the first shows to have half of its title cast played by visible minorities. Shonda Rhimes discusses her intent to cast the best actors for the show, regardless of what they looked like.

The next featurette, “Anatomy Of A Pilot” shows scenes that were cut from the debut episode. All of the scenes run together, so they do not have to be selected individually. There is one scene that is particularly good that finishes the sequence. It includes Cristina Yang and Miranda Bailey in the cafeteria, but is quite poignant. For the featurette, there is an optional commentary available with Shonda Rhimes and Peter Horton.

In addition to the deleted scenes from the pilot, there are also five deleted scenes from the season. Unfortunately, the ability to play them all at once is not available as they have to be selected individually from the episode in which they appeared.

Now for the really good stuff. There is an alternate title sequence included. In addition, there is something really cool called the ‘Avant Garde Trailer.’ It is kind of like a trailer for the show to run in France. I am not sure if that was the intent or if it is just a quirky new commercial for Americans, but it basically is all in black and white and shows scenes of the show with French subtitles. The trailer is very “Pulp Fiction” and shows many funny things about the show, but the subtitles are very stereotypical. It’s just fun and weird.

Score: 9.5/10

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.