I have been a Grey’s Anatomy fan since the beginning; since Meredith and Derek stumbled into their messy relationship; since the first promos of a new show about doctors featuring an ensemble cast. (What can I say, I was a huge ER fan…) It has been my favorite show for years and I have not missed an episode.

It was Grey’s that provided an aha for a friend into my psyche, during a board meeting.

“I get it…you’re dark and twisty like Meredith! You need bright and shiny…”

There has been disappointment: I am still heartbroken over George, can’t believe Lexi is gone and smdh at Preston (yes, I use their character names). And I believe that I suffered PTSD after the shooting a few seasons ago and I don’t say that lightly. With that said, the plane crash was waaaay too much; I’m glad they did not begin the season with the immediate aftermath.

I think I was two years in before buzz began about the show’s creator. Already hooked, I flipped when I learned that the brains behind Grey’s was a black, female writer: Shonda Rhimes. I was catapulted to full-on adulation. She was after my heart! And I think it was brilliant to wait to let us “see behind the curtain.”

The writing on Grey’s is phenomenal, that’s what got me and has kept me. It is clever, hilarious, heart-wrenching, complex and insightful. I love characters who are imperfect and real. It examines the gray (no pun intended), no black and white here. Bubbly Arizona having to overcome her darkness is awesome.

My favorite character? Yang, hands down. Always has been.

Later, when the spin-off began, Private Practice, I watched the first few episodes to support but was never a big Addison fan. It was not until I learned that Amy Brenneman was part of the cast that I began to tune in. I love her! I was a fan of Judging Amy.

Again, great writing. It is layered and rich. Mirroring Grey’s Private Practice focuses on patient stories but the doctors’ lives are a constant backdrop and are deftly intertwined into patient situations and treatment. I just learned that the series will be ending and was upset. However, if you’re gonna go out, be on top! Two memorable episodes, no three.
1. Sam’s ex-wife, Nay, going off on their teenage daughter.
2. Charlotte being raped in her office at the hospital. [It was hard to watch but the accurate depiction conveyed the horror.]
3. Amelia going into labor with a child without a frontal lobe.

If PP is ending, it must be so Rhimes can create new projects and concentrate on her latest and perhaps greatest, Scandal. First of all, Kerry Washington!?! Second, politics. How can you not love it?!? If you have not tuned in, you’re crazy.

Set in Wasington, DC, Scandal chronicles the life of a “fixer” with ties to the White House named Olivia Pope. The character is modeled after real-life Washington insider, Judy Smith, one of the show’s co-executive producers. The show made history as the first network show in 37 years to feature a black, female lead.

Another formidable ensemble cast, everyone on the staff of crisis management firm, Pope and Associates, has a backstory that we learn bit by tasty bit. Most are lawyers by trade, but a few a far more colorful.

The characters… Melee is phenomenal. And as much as I love Olivia, I L-O-V-E out-of-control Cyrus. The intensity and vulnerability of all three is fantastic. Again, the shades of gray…(not EL)

And yes, there is a love story. Rhimes does a love scene like nobody else…