"Grey's Anatomy" A Hard Day's Night (2005)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Peter Horton

Writers:

Shonda Rhimes (creator)
Shonda Rhimes (written by)

TV Series:

"Grey's Anatomy" (2005)

Original Air Date:

27 March 2005 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Meet Meredith Grey. Daughter of famous surgeon Ellis Grey and currently a first year intern at Seattle Grace Hospital...

Plot Keywords:

Bed | Intern | Interracial Romance | Doctor | Medical

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Randall Arney	...	Mr. Bryce
Kate Burton	...	Ellis Grey
Joshua Bywater	...	Intern #1 (as Josh Bywater)
Laura Carson	...	Gloria Savitch
Kathleen M. Darcy	...	Anesthesiologist
Gregory Erff	...	Mr. Jones
Richard Gilbert-Hill	...	Small Town Doc
Daryl Anthony Harper	...	Hospital Administrator
Moe Irvin	...	Nurse Tyler Christian
Noelle McCutchen	...	Nurse #2
Grinnell Morris	...	Intern #4
Sean Palmer	...	Intern #3
Brad Pennington	...	Radiologist
Sendhil Ramamurthy	...	Intern #2
Joel Schmidt	...	Gloria's Brother
Skyler Shaye	...	Katie Bryce
Lynne Marie Stewart	...	Pre-op Nurse (as Lynn Marie Stewart)
Robbie Troy	...	Mrs. Bryce
David Vegh	...	Tony Savitch
Billy Wood	...	Senior Resident

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:TV-14

Company:

Mark Gordon Company, The

Trivia:

Every episode of the show is named after a famous song. "A Hard Day's Night" is a song by The Beatles.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the interns first meet in the locker room, George puts his stethoscope on twice.

Quotes:

Dr. Meredith Grey: If I hadn't taken the Hippocratic Oath, I would Kevorkian her with my bare hands.

Soundtrack:

Dance

Good, but far from great

E.R., House, Nip/Tuck... Seriously, was there any real need of another hospital drama? Probably not. Does that mean Grey's Anatomy is a load of rubbish? Certainly not. It just isn't as good as the aforementioned serials.

The main problem seems to be the fact that when you name a show after the leading character, said person should be a little out of the ordinary. Exhibit A: Buffy (and its spin-off Angel), Huff and, again, House - three programs featuring edgy, scarred protagonists who would like to make a difference but struggle to accept themselves. What does Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) have that makes her so special? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, the Seattle Grace Hospital intern who got in because of her famous mother (Kate Burton) is the least interesting character of the first episode, and that's something that stuck for the rest of the inaugural season.

Not that the concept itself is bad: having Meredith endure a 48-hour shift on her first day at work and then realize her boss, Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), is actually the man she slept with the night before is a fun idea, if used the right way. Unfortunately, the right way is not blasting the viewer's ears with pseudo-philosophical reflections, told in a never-ending voice-over that is more often than not annoying: sure, it worked for Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City or, staying in the medical field, Zach Braff in Scrubs, but those shows are funny and original - Grey's Anatomy, on the other hand, sets out to satirize the clichés of the genre, and succeeds admirably: the gallery of supporting characters is amazing, from the hard-working overachiever (Sandra Oh, the cast's standout) to the anxious momma's boy (T.R. Knight) via the strict supervisors (Isaiah Washington and Chandra Wilson). Shame creator Shonda Rhimes sacrifices their screen-time in favor of Meredith's pointless musings.

And yet I like the show. How come? Well, the writing gets sharper in later seasons, and so does the narrative impact of the surgical procedures (whereas Season One is a soap opera, with less operating tables and more sex); the supporting cast is perfect (Oh and Dempsey especially); and despite the overall uninspired narration the series never gets boring, courtesy of a pace that leaves no room for dead air.

In short: a polished, if rather shallow opening episode. It ain't E.R., but hey, no one ever said it had to be.