Grey Did Die, Kinda

Metaphorically speaking, "Grey's Anatomy" has gone to the great beyond. What can I say? The dramatic plots have reached new heights of ridiculousness and the characters seem to have lost their senses of humor, particularly the funereal George, who now looks like a professional mourner. Back in November, I pleaded with the writers to give us back the McSweetie we once knew and loved, but George has fallen into an impossible funk and doesn't seem to want to climb out.

But I write because I think the cast dramas surrounding the show in recent months have become another kind of death knell. Or at least they make it harder to wish for the show's resuscitation. Homophobia toward T.R. Knight, Isaiah Washington's visit to slur rehab (slurhab?), Katherine Heigl's contract negotiations, cast envy toward Kate Walsh because she's getting a spinoff series... This kind of tabloid baloney only adds to my desire to turn away from "Grey's." It feels like we viewers gave the cast too much love too quickly, and now we have somehow spoiled them.

Of course backstage issues shouldn't have anything to do with how we judge the show itself. But these days the networks and TV producers push their casts into the publicity machine so constantly that it all starts to blur together. When a show is losing its magic, cast woes are harder to overlook.