Creator: Shonda Rhimes
Years: 2005–Current

I was introduced to this shortly after I met my wife. I’ve never sat down on the couch beside her to watch it, but I’ve probably seen a few dozen or more episodes now by being in the same room. The first episode I saw was the two-parter where a shooter starts killing people in the hospital. That was fun.

This is more or less E.R.  Lots of shows about weird medical stuff, with steady drama related to doctor/patient relationships. Lots of wholly inappropriate behavior by professionals that should get them fired. Lots of sex. Above average for a soap, but still a soap. I like the characters in E.R. a bit better.

A lot of characters annoy me, but I guess that’s typical for a soap. Every character has to has some sort of personality disorder. There’s a long-running lesbian relationship that is non-manipulative and treated more or less like any heterosexual relationship with all its ups and down. I’ll give Rhimes credit for feminism. Just not for the characters. I’ve seen a lot of characters die, and I wasn’t moved by any of them. My favorite performance is probably by Sandra Oh as Christina Yang.