Meet Meredith Grey, a brilliant first-year surgical intern at Seattle Grace Hospital. Together with her fellow residents in training, Meredith navigates her way through the daily traumas and social landmines of life inside the hospital and out in the real world. Grey's Anatomy is a smart and witty look at young people struggling to be doctors and doctors struggling to stay human.
That's right, it's another medical drama! I'm amazed that Hollywood is still managing to tell new stories inside hospitals, but here we are with another group of doctors working in a different hospital. This series is about a group of interns, five of them, in Seattle's Grace Hospital. We join them on their first shift as they meet each other, and the people they report to. There's Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), a highly competitive doctor that wants to get into the OR as quickly as possible; "Izzie" Stevens (Katherine Heigl), the model turned doctor that wants to be known for her mind, not her body; Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), the swollen head of the bunch - he thinks he's a gift to all women, and thinks he knows more than he really does; George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) is shy and awkward, but he'll make a great doctor; and Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), the star of the show, has big boots to fill - her mother is considered a "star" in the surgical world. Welcome to the game interns, some of you will make it, and some of you will be heading home.
I had heard of Grey's Anatomy, but I hadn't seen a single episode of the show before the set arrived for review. I wasn't sure what to expect; the gamut of medical shows runs from the serious (E.R.) to the silly (Scrubs), and I seem to like most of them. I'd put Grey's Anatomy somewhere in the middle, though closer to E.R. than Scrubs, but that's not to say the show isn't without laughs. There were some great comedic moments in the pilot, things that had me laughing out loud, but there were very serious moments as well. It amazes me to find some fresh ideas in the medical dramas, but here they are.
The first season of the show was very short; just 9 episodes. I blew through the thing in an afternoon, except for the final episode which was saved for the next day. Buena Vista has placed the 9 episodes on 2 discs:
Disc 1 (3:35:18)
A Hard Day's Night (43:16)
The First Cut is the Deepest (42:40)
Winning a Battle, Losing the War (43:11)
No Man's Land (43:08)
Shake Your Groove Thing (43:03)
Disc 2 (2:51:06)
If Tomorrow Never Comes (42:55)
The Self-Destruct Button (42:38)
Save Me (42:45)
Who's Zoomin' Who? (42:48)
Video
It's hard to find a fault in the transfer of this set. To start with we have an Anamorphic Widescreen picture that looks so good I had to check to see whether it was shot with HD cameras (it's filmed). There aren't any specs of dust or other debris in the image, and there are very, very few scenes with any sort of grain. The colors look great, and the blacks are deep. This is a very nice transfer.
The discs both contain a "play all" feature, and chapters are placed at appropriate places; after the "previously on" opens (if present), after the opening credits, and during commercial breaks.
Audio
Another outstanding job here; this show sounds great. Disney has long-supported Dolby Digital 5.1 on their dramas, so I wasn't surprised to find a 5.1 track on the set. You won't be blown away by the 5.1 mix, but it doesn't under-deliver either. The rear speakers are used for some nice ambient sounds; they're almost unnoticeable unless you pay attention to them. The music, and there's a lot of it, sounds great in 5.1. And yes, it appears all the songs are included on the set. Subtitles are available in English.
I had a strange glitch while watching the set on my Sony player; it would take a few seconds for the audio to kick in at the start of an episode. I could fix the problem by starting the episode, pressing pause, then play.
Commentaries
There are two commentaries for the pilot episode, "A Hard Day's Night." The first features Shonda Rhimes (creator/executive producer) and Peter Horton (director), while the second features actors Sandra Oh, Katie Heigl and T.R. Knight. The first commentary is full of info, while the actors are a bit silly. Sandra Oh joins the commentary part way through (she was shooting an OR scene), and Katie exits before it's done.
Under the Knife: Behind the Scenes of Grey's Anatomy (11:20)
A nice behind-the-scenes look at the series, featuring interviews with the cast and crew.
Anatomy of a Pilot (11:44)
Some of the best deleted scenes from the pilot. You can view this piece with optional commentary by Shonda Rhimes and Peter Horton.
Dissecting Grey's Anatomy: Unaired Scenes (5:03)
Five deleted scenes from "The First Cut is the Deepest," "Winning a Battle, Losing the War" and "No Man's Land".
Alternate Main Title (0:32)
A variation on the opening title sequence. I like the one they went with a lot more!
Avant-Garde Trailer (2:08)
This is a fun piece that's worth a watch. Bonus points to anyone who can name the song used (I certainly have no idea, but I like it!).
TV on DVD Sneak Peeks (1:57)
A look at some of the other Disney TV titles.
Summary
I really enjoyed this show; the 9 episodes weren't enough for me! It's a funny, touching, quirky and sad show, and that's in every episode. I like television that involves me emotionally, whether that be laughing, crying, or something else. Grey's Anatomy did that, and in almost every episode. These medical dramas can be hard to watch without a box of tissues nearby; they do such a great job of sucking us in emotionally. Did I cry? Of course I did! The writers do such a great job of making us care about a character, and then they kill them off. It's terrible, but it also makes for great television.
I'm becoming a big fan of Disney's TV releases. They're doing a great job of providing good transfers, great audio, and nice bonus features. They could be criticized for not putting out as many releases as the other studios, but I'd rather have fewer, quality releases than lots of rushed ones.
