The commercial for the third episode of the “Grey’s Anatomy” cliffhanger teased “Meredith Grey’s time may have run out.” As if anyone would believe that one of the most popular series on TV was going to kill off its main character.
This wasn’t like Henry Blake’s shocking death on “M*A*S*H,” or Mark Harmon’s character contracting AIDS on “St. Elsewhere.” Shonda Rimes should give the audience a little more credit, to know that we know that the lead character — the one the show is named after! — was going to recover from her drowning.
As Charles Pavlack points out,
There have been at least two cases where a character whose name was in the title have died: “Chico and the Man,” in which Freddie Prinze’s unfortunate death caused them to scramble to bring in a new “Chico”, and “Valerie’s Family,” in which Valerie Harper banked on just the point you were making and held out for more money or creative control or whatever, and found her character dead and the show renamed.That said, I certainly understand and agree with your point: The number one show on TV is not going to kill off their title character unless she pulls a Britney Spears or something. In fact, I’d find the whole cliffhanger much more compelling if it involved Dr. Burke, a character whose actor has caused the producers much embarrassing publicity recently. You could see them killing off Burke, but not Meredith.
Has “Grey’s” jumped the shark, or has Ms. Rimes been spending too much time working up her Addison spinoff?
The mantle of Best Drama on TV has passed this season to “Friday Night Lights,” which has grown to become much more than a show about a Texas high school football team. “FNL” continues to chart new courses through topics like racism in a small town, disability, sexual harassment, and the trials and tribulations of high school.
This week’s episode, with Coach Taylor and his wife dealing with their teenage daughter possibly having sex for the first time, was remarkably well written and acted. Kyle Chandler has been receiving a lot of praise for his work as Coach Tayler, but Connie Britton deserves an Emmy for the work she’s done this season as Tami Taylor, the coach’s wife slash high school guidance counselor. Her scene with Aimee Teegarden (Julie) in which mother confronted daughter after seeing the boyfriend buying condoms sparkled with intensity and relatability. And Teegarden and Zach Gilford (Matt, the shy QB) are wonderful in their scenes together, too.
Although I could do with fewer stories about Jason the wheelchair-bound former QB and a little less shaky camera movement, “FNL” is the best must-see TV of the season.