Grey's Anatomy: Season One

Hospital shows, for the most part, are up there with crime scene investigations as one of the most oversaturated genres of television. While medicine has always attracted audiences, it's also played it safe, choosing one angle and sticking with it. ER is obviously the serious one, with oft-intriguing but sometimes eye-rolling, weighty melodrama that has recently been hobbled so badly that we can only hope it will soon be put down. House is the strange, radical one that thrives on concocting implausible, freak showcases. And Scrubs, which does feature underlying drama before its doused in laughs, is the silly one that has perfected hilarious medical screwball comedy. But let's face it, there has to be some kind of consistent common ground out there that combines all of these relevant medical traits, and I don't mean Doogie Howser. Created by Shonda Rhimes and produced by Peter Horton (of thirtysomething fame), Grey's Anatomy is just that show and more. There's plenty of sharp, witty humour, some justifiable drama and relationship issues (well, I'm sure interns sleep with their attending superiors all the time), a whole smorgasbord of strange and amusing conditions (a severed penis here, a towel lodged inside a patient's ribs for five years there, and Chlamydia is still funny, right?), and get this: it's not that far-fetched. The story arc over season one focuses on the adjustments of five surgical interns, who learn the ropes, the hardships and the benefits of working in a Seattle hospital, while introducing key moments for each that seem to equally effect everyone. Of course, it helps that Dr. McDreamy (a revived and dazzling Patrick Dempsey) is on hand to save the day when needed, but every show needs a super-hunk. Though there are only half a regular season's worth of episodes (it was picked up mid-season), there are plenty of extras to back up the nine episodes. The "Under the Knife" featurette takes you behind the scenes with the cast and crew to show how they set about making it a different kind of hospital show (nine out of the 13 writers are women, half of the cast are non-white, etc.). Also included are a handful of unaired scenes, an interesting montage of cuts from the pilot and an "avant-garde trailer," which is really just a piss take on French black & white cinema, but is actually quite funny. (Buena Vista)