Last week's Grey's — "The Becoming" — started off with an unexpected appearance by Preston Burke, Seattle Grace's former heart surgeon. And what was the occasion? He won a very prestigious medical award: the Harper Avery. Forgive me if I am not jumping for joy. Not only do I have obvious beef with real celebrity, but I never could get behind his character, either.

Dr. Torres and Dr. Sloan are still sleeping together (yuck) and Alex wants his (not really) pregnant girlfriend — Ava/Rebecca — to move in with him. Izzie, being armed with the knowledge that he didn't really knock her up, has obvious problems with that idea. Meredith and Derek have a new patient for their trial — a soldier in the U.S. Army.

George, Izzie, Lexie and Meredith are crowded around the article about Dr. Burke and discussing what Christina might think about it when — guess who — walks up. Izzie unsuccessfully tries to hide the clipping, but Yang sees it anyway and immediately walks away, becoming unwaveringly stoic for the majority of the episode.

The nurses have boycotted all of Dr. Sloan's surgeries because of his sleazy tendencies, and the nurses' union rep — who happens to be the chief's ex-wife, Adele — forces the hospital to institute a new "Date and Tell" policy, requiring all employees to report, in writing, which other employees they have slept with.

Next we found Dr. Yang in the morgue, where she was banished by Dr. Hahn to harvest hearts for research. When Lexie unsuccessfully tried to check on her, Yang started singing "Like a Virgin," which was possibly one of the funniest things she has ever done in any episode. I thoroughly enjoyed that scene, even though I found it a little creepy as well. … continue reading

Oh boy, was last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy a doozy, or what? Between staring at the returning gorgeousness of Kate Walsh and shushing my roommates (they're chatter-boxes!), I almost missed all the (not-so-sub) subtext in the episode.

The day starts off with a bang. Addison is back, Ava (Elizabeth Reaser) is pregnant, and MerDer's new clinical trial is in full swing. Except Addison mistakenly thinks nothing has changed, Karev blows Ava off, and the trial patient (tumor guy from last week) is getting worse. Uh oh.

The case Addison has returned to work on is the medically improbable patient of the day: A pregnant woman whose in-utero baby will be born with its heart on the outside of its body, and it seems as though half the doctors in Seattle Grace on working on the case. … continue reading

The effects of the writers' strike are finally dwindling down this week, as many of our favorite shows are back on the air with new episodes. Such is the case for Grey's Anatomy, as last night it aired its first new episode, "Where the Wild Things Are," in four months.

When we last left the docs, it seemed as though every relationship was falling apart. Meredith and Derek were on the outs, and it appeared as though Derek was going to start seeing Rose, a nurse. Izzie and George had finally halted their ill-fated attempt at a relationship after George's cheating broke up his marriage to Callie. Dr. Bailey's husband, fed up with always coming second in her life, left her after she canceled yet another date. Mark "McSteamy" Sloan had failed multiple attempts at getting with Seattle Grace's newest heart surgeon, Erica Hahn, and Lexie (Meredith's sister turned intern) was just trying to figure out where she fit into the whole equation.

All photos courtesy of ABC

The episode opens to images of sleeping residents — well, all but Meredith, who is sitting silently in a therapy session. Cut to new roommates Lexie and George (doesn't that guy get to stay anywhere for more than a few months?), and the living conditions aren't exactly pretty.

After a mass page, Meredith, Izzie and Christina race to the hospital, mumbling about a contest, about which Bailey denies all knowledge to Chief Webber. What is said contest? Don't worry, we don't know either. … continue reading

God bless women! Can I get an amen? While it may seem redundant to sing the praises of women on a site for gay/bi women, I say we can never lift our voices high enough when it comes to the truly inspirational women of this world. I’ve always looked to other women, real and fictional, as my role models. Whenever I’m feeling a little down, I use their wit and wisdom to lift me up. Whether on the big or small screen, something about the righteous (or riotous) indignation of a woman is just so satisfying. It practically sizzles.

So in honor of Scribegrrrl’s impending departure (sob, sniffle, bawl!), let’s burn bright with sisterfire today. The Linster and I have assembled some of the best speechifying by fabulous female characters to celebrate the fabulous female that is Scribe.

Bette Porter (The L Word): No additional explanation required.

Julia Sugarbaker (Designing Women): Sugarbaker sisterhood is powerful.

Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer): Are you ready to be strong? … continue reading

According to an L.A. Times article, Katherine Heigl, whose movie 27 Dresses is scheduled to open January 18, is lazy, she smokes, she might be a caffeine addict and she's outspoken — which rarely translates to a good thing for a woman in a man's world. So why, exactly, do we like her? Oh, right: because she sounds sort of normal.

Even while riding her rising-star status as the new romantic-comedy darling, she hasn't forgotten that she is actually a person first and a moneymaking commodity second. Imagine that. Of course, the entertainment industry has a way of requesting that its stars reverse the order of those priorities, but as of yet, Heigl seems to be in no hurry to change.

And why should she? The opening of 27 Dresses was actually pushed back one week by the studio in hopes of taking advantage of the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. That seems to indicate that the studio thinks it has a real moneymaker on its hands. … continue reading

As roc reminded us earlier this week, our favorite shows are running out of new episodes. That includes Grey's Anatomy, which is my personal choice for 2007's Best Comeback From a Lukewarm Season.

To make us feel better, ABC has released some midseason (which could be end-of-season) promotional stills of the cast. And not sharing the best ones with you would just be wrong. So here's a little eye candy for your weekend viewing pleasure.

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We knew this year was going to be tough for the lovely Dr. Cristina Yang.

Her fiancé, Dr. Burke, skipped town at the end of last season's Grey's Anatomy, and we learned this season that he's gone for good. Recently, a new complication in Cristina's career has appeared in the form of Dr. Burke's replacement, Dr. Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith). Not that we object. … continue reading

Now that her Knocked Up paycheck has cleared, Katherine Heigl has a confession to make. She thinks the movie is “a little sexist.” Oh, really? A film where an underachieving, slovenly slacker hooks up with an overachieving, polished professional is “a little sexist”? A film where the men get almost all the laugh lines and the women get almost all the nag lines is “a little sexist”? Who’d a thunk it?

As Katherine told Vanity Fair for the January 2008 cover story:

“[The film is] a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you’re portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie.” … continue reading

In this week's episode of She Made Me Watch This!, Lori and I attempt to answer some of the great questions of our era, including:

• which TV couple is gayer: Jamie Sommers and Sarah Corvus on Bionic Woman (NBC) or Cristina and Meredith on Grey's Anatomy (ABC)?
• which TV show is more depressing: Mad Men (AMC) or Private Practice (ABC)?
• who's hotter: Angie Harmon or Mariska Hargitay?
• why Sarah sees Buffy everywhere she looks, and Lori has a thing for vampire shows.

… continue reading

Plus, Lori rants this time — twice! — complete with flailing of arms and strongly-worded declarative sentences. See what I live with, people? It's hard to get a word in edge-wise!

The new doc at Seattle Grace has already turned McDreamy's head.

We met Lexie at the end of Grey's Anatomy last season, although we didn't know much more than the fact that she and Derek flirted at the bar. Then, in a callback to Grey's first episode, she showed up as one of the new interns. This season, we learned that she's Lexie Grey, Meredith's half-sister. And the actress who plays her, Chyler Leigh, is quite the hottie. … continue reading

Choosing a favorite television character seems a little like choosing a favorite child. I don’t have kids, but I have cats — same thing, right? My favorite varies according to which one wakes me up at 4 a.m. or which one insists on sitting on my keyboard when I have a lot to do or which one throws up in my shoe.

Yet, the brave writers at Slate inspired me with a list of the characters they were most happy to see again in the new television season. Some of their choices make sense.

Others make me scratch my head. … continue reading

Sometimes when TV series kill off characters, I’m sad not because I’ll miss the character, but because I’ll miss seeing the actor. That’s how I felt when Susan Grey died on Grey’s Anatomy. Susan was alternately endearing and annoying, but killing Mare Winningham? I don’t blame Thatcher — I wanted to slap somebody, too.

The news that Winningham will guest star on Boston Legal this season cheered me up a little. The two-time Emmy winner is slated to play Patrice Kelly, a grieving mother who kills her daughter’s murderer and asks Alan Shore (James Spader) to defend her. Maybe that will keep her around for at least few episodes. Winningham’s role, by the way, is the latest of several notable casting announcements from Boston Legal, including the addition of Gail O’ Grady, John Larroquette and (trumpet fanfare) Saffron Burrows in recurring roles.

I probably shouldn’t worry about seeing Winningham. She’s been on screen consistently since her debut in 1976 on The Gong Show — she didn’t get gonged — and IMDb lists 74 TV and movie roles. At least one is a classic.

… continue reading

I didn’t realize, though, that Winningham is also a talented musician.

So, the AfterEllen.com legal department told me I had to put a disclaimer on this post. They kept talking about possible liabilities and class action suits resulting from injuries related to mass fainting spells and/or hearing loss due to uncontrollable squeals of delight. So I’ve decided the only prudent way to proceed is to ease you slowly into the facts. So here goes. Prepare yourself. First of all, it’s about Kate Walsh.

All right, that seemed to go well. Do you need a sip of water? No? Fine, let’s move on. So, Kate Walsh is dancing. OK, now I’m pretty sure you need that glass of water. Hold on, I’ll get it. All better? Good, now I want you to sit down for this last part. I mean it. Are you sitting? It’s Kate Walsh dancing in (deep breath) nothing but a towel. … continue reading