Grey’s Anatomy News

Does Grey’s Anatomy Drive You Crazy?

by Ingrid Diaz on November 7th, 2006

Karla Peterson from SignOnSanDiego has a featurette on the different maladies that are known causes of watching Grey’s Anatomy. She opens by admitting that Grey’s is the most watchable show in TV, but that “even as the most ardent fan will admit, it is also the show most likely to drive you crazy while you’re watching it.”

I think I was already crazy before I started watching this show so I think I am immune.

But in case you’re experiencing odd symptoms, here are the known illnesses this article highlights:

MAL DE MERE

The symptoms: With the nausea, the irritability and the Pepto-Bismol chugging, Mal de Mere is frequently mistaken for the flu. In fact, the only thing you’re sick of is Meredith Grey (the wispy Ellen Pompeo), whose adolescent self-absorption and whiny blandness make her the least interesting person in her own show. Not to mention a totally undeserving recipient of Dr. McDreamy’s McFabulous affections. (What does it say about him that he’s so nuts about her?)

The cure: She is a polarizing figure, by which we mean sufferers fantasize about the “Lost” polar bear arriving magically from the island to carry Meredith away. Unfortunately, Mal de Mere will last until Cristina Yang, Addison Shepherd and Dr. Bailey get the “Golden Girls”-style spinoff they deserve. Since that won’t happen until “Grey’s” goes off the air in 2026, you will have to settle for throwing tongue depressors at the screen.

MUSICA OBVIOUSA

The symptoms: What is that thudding in your ears? And that pounding in your skull? Why, it’s that pain you get every time “Grey’s Anatomy” uses an on-the-nose rock song to drive the show’s many bold-faced messages directly into your brain.

If Meredith is learning one of her weekly life lessons, the soundtrack is probably blasting something instructive. Like “Live and Learn” by the Cardigans. Is Meredith interviewing loser roommate candidates? Then you are probably hearing Tegan and Sara’s “You Wouldn’t Like Me.” And when McDreamy gave the cheatin’ Addison the cold shoulder, the infernal “Grey’s” jukebox burst forth with Fionn Regan’s too-prophetically titled, “Be Good or Be Gone.”

If only you could put in a quarter and make it stop.

The cure: Before the show, fire up your CD player for a rousing version of No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak.”: Don’t speak – Everybody now! – I know just what you’re saying/So please stop explaining/Don’t tell me ’cause it hurts.

If that doesn’t work, there is always the Mute button and a course in lip-reading.

HYPER-CARRIEOSIS

The symptoms: After being symptom-free since “Sex and the City” went off the air in 2004, you are once again being haunted by breathy voice-over narration from a woman whose whimsical observations on life, love and shoes aren’t nearly as clever as the writers think they are. Yes, the ghost of “City”-gal narrator Carrie Bradshaw has returned in the form of the chipper, chatty Meredith, and it takes more than a martini and a spa day to shut this one up.

The cure: Cover your ears and wait for George to appear. Suddenly, Meredith doesn’t sound so bad!

FREAKOLEPSY

The symptoms: Exhaustion and cramping from wrapping your mind and stomach around the number of outlandishly diseased and injured patients who stumble into Seattle Grace Hospital on an alarmingly regular basis. The kid impaled on the tree branch. The epileptic psychic. The dude with the ovary. Not to mention the many unfortunate men whose icky medical events allow the “Grey’s” writers to indulge in their favorite prime-time activity: Seeing how many times they can fit the word “penis” into one script.

The cure: A hot shower, a cool compress and an episode of “America’s Next Top Model,” where the damage is emotional and the impalings are done by experts.

There’s a few more of these maladies in the article, but I’ll stop there. What do you think of all this?

And here’s a question I’ve been meaning to ask: Do you like Meredith? Or do you agree with the article’s writer in that she’s whiny and undeserving of McDreamy? Although, I suppose you could still like Meredith and find her whiny and undeserving…

Personally, I must admit, Meredith’s character is not my favorite, but her flaws are relatable, which makes her likeable enough.

Also, the music illness? I love the Grey’s Anatomy music. I look to this show for music purchasing ideas.

Rock on.

(Thanks for the link, Jenn)

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