Grey’s Anatomy – Season One
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: B- Episodes: B
For more than a few people, the cry of “not another
medical show” is a commonplace complaint, but Scrubs (reviewed elsewhere
on this site) has been such a hit that it is no surprise Disney/ABC
greenlighted Grey’s Anatomy. The
show stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, starting her first year at a
prominent Seattle hospital, but not finding it so easy and not sure of what to
expect next with her crew and competition.
The show takes the “being a bit of a burnout is normal”
approach that makes the film a serio-comic show leaning towards drama. The teleplays are pretty good, but they
start out with this stance that undermines the show from being even more
effective. Fortunately, they have a
very effective cast including Katherine (Side Effects, reviewed
elsewhere on this site) Heigl, Sandra Oh, Patrick Dempsey, Justin Chambers,
T.R. Knight, Chandra Wilson, Isaiah Washington and James Pickers Jr. Heigl’s comic timing is amazing, Oh (from Sideways,
also on the site) gives a more complex performance than it would first seem and
Dempsey was always underrated, so it is finally good to see him hitting long
overdue paydirt.
Season One offers nine hour-long episodes
that make up its short debut run.
Needless to say it was renewed.
With Scrubs loosing ground and E.R. so far past its prime
that it is amazing anyone watched; this series finally finds itself the top
series of its kind. That does not make
it St. Elsewhere, but it does make it interesting and intelligent-enough
viewing that it more than deserves its hit status. As a shorter set, this is a good DVD set to start with to see if
the show is for you.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image has some color
and detail limits, but is just good enough to be considered among the better
HD-produced-downscaled-to-DVD transfers.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is decent throughout the series, but the
overuse of hit records adds to the “slacker” factor that is not in the shows
favor in the first place. Extras
include two audio commentary tracks on the pilot and TV on DVD previews on DVD
1, plus alternate main title, “avant-garde” trailer, 19 unaired scenes and two
featurettes.
- Nicholas Sheffo
