After 19 seasons is Gray's Anatomy trying a Soft Reboot?
March 1, 2023 6:20 AM Subscribe
After 19 seasons is Gray's Anatomy trying a Soft Reboot, or have the writers just run out of ideas?
Grey's Anatomy is a Medical drama that has - at time of writing - run for 20 years and is currently on it's 19th Season.
It has spawned three spinoffs, and multiple Network crossover episodes. But the Current series eerily echoes the very first one. Is this a soft reboot or are the writers finally running out of ideas?
None of the spinoffs have come anywhere near the main shows success :
.
Over the past 20 years the show has been no stranger to on screen and off screen controversy
If you're in the UK you can watch most seasons via the Disney Plus streaming service.
All seasons excluding 19 are also available to purchase on DVD.
U.S. residents can watch via the ABC network
Shonda Rimes - the series creator - states that she has no definitive end in mind for the show, so as long as the ratings hold strong, it could feasibly go on indefinitely.
Previously on Metafilter:
"Since Grey’s Anatomy first premiered in 2005, it has aired 19 seasons, 406 episodes, and birthed 3 spinoffs. Naturally the show has had to adapt as cast members come and go throughout the years. This sometimes makes it hard to recall what exactly went on in season 1. Although who can forget Addison Montgomery (then Shepherd) saying the iconic line, “I’m Addison Shepherd … and you must be the woman who’s been screwing my husband.” - Den of Geek
Grey's Anatomy is a Medical drama that has - at time of writing - run for 20 years and is currently on it's 19th Season.
It has spawned three spinoffs, and multiple Network crossover episodes. But the Current series eerily echoes the very first one. Is this a soft reboot or are the writers finally running out of ideas?
None of the spinoffs have come anywhere near the main shows success :
- Private Practice - 6 seasons, 111 episodes. Aired 2007 - 2013
- Grey's Anatomy : B-Team - A six episode, web only, mini series. Aired in 2018.
- Station 19 - 6 season, 84 episodes,. Aired 2018 - still running in 2022
.
Over the past 20 years the show has been no stranger to on screen and off screen controversy
If you're in the UK you can watch most seasons via the Disney Plus streaming service.
All seasons excluding 19 are also available to purchase on DVD.
U.S. residents can watch via the ABC network
Shonda Rimes - the series creator - states that she has no definitive end in mind for the show, so as long as the ratings hold strong, it could feasibly go on indefinitely.
Previously on Metafilter:
No need to fear, we've got stories for years!
Meredith becomes a robot!
Mark Sloan gets a cell phone!
Has Addison owned a bear?
How about a crazy wedding?
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 7:12 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Meredith becomes a robot!
Mark Sloan gets a cell phone!
Has Addison owned a bear?
How about a crazy wedding?
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 7:12 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm astounded that Gray's is still running and still profitable!
The latter is the more amazing thing than the former, in all seriousness. Scripted television shows tend to have lifespans that are mostly based on the show's profitability: if a show is successful (and doesn't have a set-in-stone story arc that ends, like The Good Place did for example), eventually its stars will want to be paid commensurate to the show's success, which makes the show less profitable and thus the network decides to pull the plug.
As a counterexample: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is now the longest-running sitcom in history, and that is in part because it runs on cable and therefore the cast can't demand as much money as a network show would offer (and in part because by its nature it's a cheap show to film - few locations, few extras, and so on). And it's still expensive to make, comparatively speaking - Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenny and Charlie Day signed their most recent deal in 2020 and the total production cost is somewhere over $2 million an episode now. But that's still comparatively cheap! The cast of Friends were each getting a million per episode for their last two seasons - six million an episode, just for the principal actors, no further cast or crew or equipment costs - and that was almost twenty years ago.
Gray's, like most long-running dramas, gets around this by recycling cast. Ellen Pompeo is the only major star who's been around for the show's entire run, because as stars have gotten too big for the show they've simply left - Katherine Heigl, Sandra Oh, Patrick Dempsey, and so on. Because you get new characters you get new stories to tell - workplace dramas can do this where comedies really can't - and the cycle continues. I mean, ER lasted fifteen seasons and nobody was saying "oh wow ER is still going strong" because the exact same thing happened - ER only ended because its ratings got too low to make it worthwhile, and Gray's is operating in a different environment where ratings standards for a successful show are much lower. (All but the first six seasons of Gray's have had lower ratings than the lowest-rated season of ER.)
Basically, the only surprising thing here is that Ellen Pompeo is still around, but I guess having your character's name in the title gives you leverage.
posted by mightygodking at 7:27 AM on March 1, 2023 [10 favorites]
The latter is the more amazing thing than the former, in all seriousness. Scripted television shows tend to have lifespans that are mostly based on the show's profitability: if a show is successful (and doesn't have a set-in-stone story arc that ends, like The Good Place did for example), eventually its stars will want to be paid commensurate to the show's success, which makes the show less profitable and thus the network decides to pull the plug.
As a counterexample: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is now the longest-running sitcom in history, and that is in part because it runs on cable and therefore the cast can't demand as much money as a network show would offer (and in part because by its nature it's a cheap show to film - few locations, few extras, and so on). And it's still expensive to make, comparatively speaking - Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenny and Charlie Day signed their most recent deal in 2020 and the total production cost is somewhere over $2 million an episode now. But that's still comparatively cheap! The cast of Friends were each getting a million per episode for their last two seasons - six million an episode, just for the principal actors, no further cast or crew or equipment costs - and that was almost twenty years ago.
Gray's, like most long-running dramas, gets around this by recycling cast. Ellen Pompeo is the only major star who's been around for the show's entire run, because as stars have gotten too big for the show they've simply left - Katherine Heigl, Sandra Oh, Patrick Dempsey, and so on. Because you get new characters you get new stories to tell - workplace dramas can do this where comedies really can't - and the cycle continues. I mean, ER lasted fifteen seasons and nobody was saying "oh wow ER is still going strong" because the exact same thing happened - ER only ended because its ratings got too low to make it worthwhile, and Gray's is operating in a different environment where ratings standards for a successful show are much lower. (All but the first six seasons of Gray's have had lower ratings than the lowest-rated season of ER.)
Basically, the only surprising thing here is that Ellen Pompeo is still around, but I guess having your character's name in the title gives you leverage.
posted by mightygodking at 7:27 AM on March 1, 2023 [10 favorites]
I watched the first 10ish seasons and since then I've just read episode summaries on wiki and/or fast-forwarded through rando episodes to just sort of marvel at the fact that the show continues and how the cast has evolved and changed over time. Not quite a hate-watch but more just like, "Wow, okay so thats happening now." How the universe the show has created does not buckle under the weight of all of the ridiculous story-lines is beyond me.
I hope it never ends.
posted by Fizz at 7:34 AM on March 1, 2023 [7 favorites]
I hope it never ends.
posted by Fizz at 7:34 AM on March 1, 2023 [7 favorites]
I watched the first (I dunno) 4 seasons of the show, before its ongoing DRAMA! became too much for me. Maybe a decade later, my then teenage daughter binged the show for a while. I think that it's crazy that the show's been around for 20 years, but then I've been working the same job for 20 years, too.
So, what's the most insane storyline they've had?
posted by Spike Glee at 7:50 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
So, what's the most insane storyline they've had?
posted by Spike Glee at 7:50 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I honestly thought this show started out in the '90s, but I guess I had it lumped in mentally with ER.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:55 AM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:55 AM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
So, what's the most insane storyline they've had?
Derek is eventually killed b/c of an accident and then a misdiagnosis while at some other hospital and the woman who made that error resulting in his death comes to work at the hospital later and is dating one of the other doctors and there's this whole dinner where meredith knows but no one else knows that this woman who was invited to the big dinner with the other doctor (who doesnt know), like honestly, its just a bunch of drama but its insanely fun, lookup the episode with the dinner, I think its like season 10 or 11-12ish?
posted by Fizz at 8:02 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
spoilers/ridiculous story-lines
Here's a fun one:Derek is eventually killed b/c of an accident and then a misdiagnosis while at some other hospital and the woman who made that error resulting in his death comes to work at the hospital later and is dating one of the other doctors and there's this whole dinner where meredith knows but no one else knows that this woman who was invited to the big dinner with the other doctor (who doesnt know), like honestly, its just a bunch of drama but its insanely fun, lookup the episode with the dinner, I think its like season 10 or 11-12ish?
posted by Fizz at 8:02 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
These doctors, I’ll have you know, are sexy doctors.
posted by BlunderingArtist at 8:22 AM on March 1, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by BlunderingArtist at 8:22 AM on March 1, 2023 [11 favorites]
OMG, I think I watched that one! Presumably with the kid while she was binging the show.
posted by Spike Glee at 8:22 AM on March 1, 2023
posted by Spike Glee at 8:22 AM on March 1, 2023
These doctors, I’ll have you know, are sexy doctors.
And thats what I love about this show. Shonda knows that this show is about the drama between sexy doctors who have a lot of sexual chemistry with each other (and who apparently don't read their HR guidelines). Oh and every once in a while there's an explosion or a fire or a nuclear disaster in the ER.
posted by Fizz at 8:26 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
And thats what I love about this show. Shonda knows that this show is about the drama between sexy doctors who have a lot of sexual chemistry with each other (and who apparently don't read their HR guidelines). Oh and every once in a while there's an explosion or a fire or a nuclear disaster in the ER.
posted by Fizz at 8:26 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Basically, the only surprising thing here is that Ellen Pompeo is still around, but I guess having your character's name in the title gives you leverage.
Yes, but she's left the show now. I don't know if they're soft rebooting or really winding down.
posted by hippybear at 8:35 AM on March 1, 2023
Yes, but she's left the show now. I don't know if they're soft rebooting or really winding down.
posted by hippybear at 8:35 AM on March 1, 2023
Maybe yet another sister will materialize.
posted by mochapickle at 8:58 AM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by mochapickle at 8:58 AM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
My spouse still watches - and I sat with them the other night and watched my first episode for well over a decade. I lasted maybe 20 mins before I declared, Punxsutawney Phil like, that there would be another decade of the same story lines and that I’ll try watching again then.
The one thing I can never get over is how clean the hospital is - where are all the scuff marks on the the walls and doors from being consistently being banged into with stretchers etc. There is something about modern high-definition TV that makes sets way less believable
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:04 AM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
The one thing I can never get over is how clean the hospital is - where are all the scuff marks on the the walls and doors from being consistently being banged into with stretchers etc. There is something about modern high-definition TV that makes sets way less believable
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:04 AM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
I resisted calling it a Soap Opera in the description, but it is isn't it?
I confess I've only watched season one, and it's because I had a vicious flu and spent it on the sofa with a high temperature for three days running and often dropped the remote control - autoplay on Disney+ is a trap!
posted by Faintdreams at 9:05 AM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
I confess I've only watched season one, and it's because I had a vicious flu and spent it on the sofa with a high temperature for three days running and often dropped the remote control - autoplay on Disney+ is a trap!
posted by Faintdreams at 9:05 AM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
There was something about Romano’s death by helicopter that delighted me. Yet I’m sad that trope wasn’t used more in the series.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:15 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:15 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Fizz: Oh and every once in a while there's an explosion or a fire or a nuclear disaster in the ER.
In a case of life imitating art, on my very first day (nearly 4 years after the episode aired) as an M3 in Chicago, this is a real thing that happened. It was the worst windstorm I ever experienced in Chicago, the hospital lost power and was on diversion and running on generators for hours, and the next most dramatic thing that happened on my first day was a man who came in because he missed his morning poop.
posted by honeybee413 at 9:16 AM on March 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
In a case of life imitating art, on my very first day (nearly 4 years after the episode aired) as an M3 in Chicago, this is a real thing that happened. It was the worst windstorm I ever experienced in Chicago, the hospital lost power and was on diversion and running on generators for hours, and the next most dramatic thing that happened on my first day was a man who came in because he missed his morning poop.
posted by honeybee413 at 9:16 AM on March 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Too bad Jensen Ackles is busy, or Season 20 could introduces Doctor Sexy.
Seriously, it's astonishing that Supernatural and Grey's Anatomy both premiered in 2005, the Winchester boys parodied Grey's in 2009, then ran another eleven seasons before ending, and Grey's is still going.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:20 AM on March 1, 2023 [13 favorites]
Seriously, it's astonishing that Supernatural and Grey's Anatomy both premiered in 2005, the Winchester boys parodied Grey's in 2009, then ran another eleven seasons before ending, and Grey's is still going.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:20 AM on March 1, 2023 [13 favorites]
I resisted calling it a Soap Opera in the description, but it is isn't it?
After ER and St. Elsewhere, I was primed for another medical drama. I made it about halfway through the first season before I realized that Grey's Anatomy is not a medical drama.
posted by hippybear at 9:35 AM on March 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
After ER and St. Elsewhere, I was primed for another medical drama. I made it about halfway through the first season before I realized that Grey's Anatomy is not a medical drama.
posted by hippybear at 9:35 AM on March 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Coronation Street is 63 this year, almost old enough for a pension. There's no reason this can't keep going if it can find an audience. It's not even old enough to drink yet.
posted by bonehead at 9:51 AM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by bonehead at 9:51 AM on March 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
So Gray's Anatomy has three spin-off series, which makes it a pretty complex universe. And (previously) Richard Belzer's appearance on so many law enforcement-themed shows also created another complex universe.
What other comparable multi-show universes exist?
posted by wenestvedt at 10:48 AM on March 1, 2023
What other comparable multi-show universes exist?
posted by wenestvedt at 10:48 AM on March 1, 2023
Um... Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Joni Loves Chachi, maybe others I don't know about.
Also: Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda, Phyllis, Lou Grant
posted by hippybear at 10:58 AM on March 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Also: Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda, Phyllis, Lou Grant
posted by hippybear at 10:58 AM on March 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
All in the Family spun off 7 shows including The Jefferson's, Good Times and Maude.
posted by mmascolino at 11:05 AM on March 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by mmascolino at 11:05 AM on March 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Of course All in the Family was a spin off from Till Death Us Do Part - Archie was a pussycat compared to Alf
posted by mbo at 11:21 AM on March 1, 2023
posted by mbo at 11:21 AM on March 1, 2023
There was something about Romano’s death by helicopter that delighted me. Yet I’m sad that trope wasn’t used more in the series.
Wasn't this ER?
posted by roolya_boolya at 11:33 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Wasn't this ER?
posted by roolya_boolya at 11:33 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
My bad, they are different shows!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:40 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:40 AM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
The one thing I can never get over is how clean the hospital is - where are all the scuff marks on the the walls and doors from being consistently being banged into with stretchers etc. There is something about modern high-definition TV that makes sets way less believable.
so, this is an unintentionally hilarious point. the reason it's so clean and scuff free is that the hospital is constantly having wings blown up, flooded, bee swarmed, kaiju-stomped that there's always fresh paint or just-finished renovations/repairs.
posted by ApathyGirl at 11:46 AM on March 1, 2023 [14 favorites]
so, this is an unintentionally hilarious point. the reason it's so clean and scuff free is that the hospital is constantly having wings blown up, flooded, bee swarmed, kaiju-stomped that there's always fresh paint or just-finished renovations/repairs.
posted by ApathyGirl at 11:46 AM on March 1, 2023 [14 favorites]
What other comparable multi-show universes exist?All the NCISes are interrelated (and link back to JAG too)
posted by Xoder at 11:48 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Archie was a pussycat compared to Alf
I didn't know ALF was in the All In The Family Universe!
posted by hippybear at 11:51 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
I didn't know ALF was in the All In The Family Universe!
posted by hippybear at 11:51 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
As long as the ratings hold strong, it could feasibly go on indefinitely.
That's something I really liked about the golden age of prestige tv (or whatever we're calling it these days).
Up to that point, for most of my life, good-to-great tv shows would either become popular, go on too long, and at some point stop being good-to-great, or they wouldn't be sufficiently popular, and they would end too soon.
There was something revelatory about a show like Mad Men, or The Good Place, or Schitt's Creek, that came in, told the story it wanted to tell, and ended on its own terms.
I'm not sure that we're still in that golden age, but it was sure nice while it lasted.
posted by box at 12:31 PM on March 1, 2023 [9 favorites]
That's something I really liked about the golden age of prestige tv (or whatever we're calling it these days).
Up to that point, for most of my life, good-to-great tv shows would either become popular, go on too long, and at some point stop being good-to-great, or they wouldn't be sufficiently popular, and they would end too soon.
There was something revelatory about a show like Mad Men, or The Good Place, or Schitt's Creek, that came in, told the story it wanted to tell, and ended on its own terms.
I'm not sure that we're still in that golden age, but it was sure nice while it lasted.
posted by box at 12:31 PM on March 1, 2023 [9 favorites]
I worry for anyone who goes into that hospital with the sniffles or a slight cough, which ends up becoming a three-episode arc on some obscure disease that can only be cured by doctors doin' it and then fighting and then resolving their differences.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:32 PM on March 1, 2023
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:32 PM on March 1, 2023
The counter point to that has to be Game of Thrones. Sort of an anti-Mad Men.
Rome and Deadwood ended too soon.
“If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.”
posted by bonehead at 12:39 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Rome and Deadwood ended too soon.
“If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.”
posted by bonehead at 12:39 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
The counter point to that has to be Game of Thrones. Sort of an anti-Mad Men.
Nah, Game of Thrones had a definite endpoint baked into place from the very beginning, it just hadn't been worked out in the source material yet, and the creators of the show ended up being pretty inept at resolving everything without the benefit of having the source material to work from.
posted by LionIndex at 12:58 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Nah, Game of Thrones had a definite endpoint baked into place from the very beginning, it just hadn't been worked out in the source material yet, and the creators of the show ended up being pretty inept at resolving everything without the benefit of having the source material to work from.
posted by LionIndex at 12:58 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I didn't know ALF was in the All In The Family Universe!
Notice there were no cats in any of those shows?
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:58 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Notice there were no cats in any of those shows?
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:58 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Game of Thrones had a definite endpoint baked into place from the very beginning
Hmm, do you mean the thing where there's an army of ice zombies? Yeah, we should definitely throw in one episode wrapping that up.
posted by The Tensor at 1:07 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Hmm, do you mean the thing where there's an army of ice zombies? Yeah, we should definitely throw in one episode wrapping that up.
posted by The Tensor at 1:07 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I dunno, after what they did with Alex, I don't think I can resume it to see how it all ends.
posted by jgirl at 1:44 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by jgirl at 1:44 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I stopped watching seasons ago, but I do check in every so often and there's something soothing about it, in the same way I imagine long-running daytime soap operas are. I really did love those first few seasons though, and it was appointment viewing for a while in college, where we'd all pile into the rec room to watch it together.
For years though I've thought that what Grey's really needs to give it some new life is to have a season or two where the show's genre just, like, changes. Hospital soap opera? Tired! Let's switch it up into a whole new genre. Either slowly or quickly would work, but my preference is slow.
Start with some offhand references to what's going on outside the hospital: did you hear about that weird light in the sky? Did you see the surprise meteor shower? Maybe show some background news stories about weird stuff going on with the sky, an uptick in social media posts about UFOs, and such. And over the course of multiple episodes, with ever weirder medical cases, reveal that aliens are here to make first contact and/or invade. And ta da! Grey's Anatomy is now a science fiction hospital soap opera. Depending on what kind of aliens you go with, this could become gritty sci-fi action, apocalyptic fiction, a pod people style thriller/horror angle, or something more Arrival-esque where idk the Grey's doctors have to figure out how to treat aliens. You could also do this genre shift with a zombie outbreak, but tbh, that's tired at this point.
The point is, change genres. Any long-running procedural or soap should do this, tbh. And not just as one-off episode or some "I had such a weird dream" nonsense! No! Commit!! It's Grey's Anatomy with Aliens now!!
posted by yasaman at 2:05 PM on March 1, 2023 [6 favorites]
For years though I've thought that what Grey's really needs to give it some new life is to have a season or two where the show's genre just, like, changes. Hospital soap opera? Tired! Let's switch it up into a whole new genre. Either slowly or quickly would work, but my preference is slow.
Start with some offhand references to what's going on outside the hospital: did you hear about that weird light in the sky? Did you see the surprise meteor shower? Maybe show some background news stories about weird stuff going on with the sky, an uptick in social media posts about UFOs, and such. And over the course of multiple episodes, with ever weirder medical cases, reveal that aliens are here to make first contact and/or invade. And ta da! Grey's Anatomy is now a science fiction hospital soap opera. Depending on what kind of aliens you go with, this could become gritty sci-fi action, apocalyptic fiction, a pod people style thriller/horror angle, or something more Arrival-esque where idk the Grey's doctors have to figure out how to treat aliens. You could also do this genre shift with a zombie outbreak, but tbh, that's tired at this point.
The point is, change genres. Any long-running procedural or soap should do this, tbh. And not just as one-off episode or some "I had such a weird dream" nonsense! No! Commit!! It's Grey's Anatomy with Aliens now!!
posted by yasaman at 2:05 PM on March 1, 2023 [6 favorites]
Yeah, bring in some of the writers of Riverdale. That'll liven things up!
posted by hippybear at 2:21 PM on March 1, 2023
posted by hippybear at 2:21 PM on March 1, 2023
yasaman, yes! I stopped watching in whatever season the George/Izzie thing happened due to its annoying improbability (they would NEVER) and weirdly since then I have absorbed entire storylines through cultural osmosis and yet I would totally come back for an improbable alien storyline and happily sit through twice the commercials. That would be amazing.
Also an idea: Shondaland Bridgerton crossover. I want to watch hotshot doctors operating on some viscount's dining room table by candlelight and stealing cadavers. Maybe also with aliens. I just really like the aliens thing.
posted by mochapickle at 2:40 PM on March 1, 2023
Also an idea: Shondaland Bridgerton crossover. I want to watch hotshot doctors operating on some viscount's dining room table by candlelight and stealing cadavers. Maybe also with aliens. I just really like the aliens thing.
posted by mochapickle at 2:40 PM on March 1, 2023
I didn't know ALF was in the All In The Family Universe!
Different Alf, could be a Republican today
posted by mbo at 2:53 PM on March 1, 2023
I'm pretty sure ALF had distinctly Republican leanings. And I don't mean the UK meaning of "Republican".
posted by hippybear at 3:03 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 3:03 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
What other comparable multi-show universes exist?
NBC has the One Chicago Universe - Chicago Fire, Med, PD, and Justice. The cast of each show routinely guest-star in the others.
posted by meowzilla at 3:17 PM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
NBC has the One Chicago Universe - Chicago Fire, Med, PD, and Justice. The cast of each show routinely guest-star in the others.
posted by meowzilla at 3:17 PM on March 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
That is an extremely well thought out graphic! The response when I clicked a leaf along the bottom was neat.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:47 PM on March 1, 2023
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:47 PM on March 1, 2023
What other comparable multi-show universes exist?
I'd mention Criminal Minds, but I don't think its spinoffs lasted more than a season or two.
In theory X-Files (and thus, by extension, the Lone Gunmen and Millennium) exists in the same universe as Law & Order (or is that vice versa) due to Munch popping up on said show.
And of course Flintstones/Jetsons. (Different timelines, but same universe).
posted by gtrwolf at 3:54 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'd mention Criminal Minds, but I don't think its spinoffs lasted more than a season or two.
In theory X-Files (and thus, by extension, the Lone Gunmen and Millennium) exists in the same universe as Law & Order (or is that vice versa) due to Munch popping up on said show.
And of course Flintstones/Jetsons. (Different timelines, but same universe).
posted by gtrwolf at 3:54 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
I honestly thought this show started out in the '90s, but I guess I had it lumped in mentally with ER.
So did I
Think I was confusing it with Chicago Hope
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:01 PM on March 1, 2023
So did I
Think I was confusing it with Chicago Hope
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:01 PM on March 1, 2023
We previously mentioned Munch and the worlds he inhabited .... (SVU, Homicide, X-files, the Wire ....)
posted by mbo at 4:05 PM on March 1, 2023
posted by mbo at 4:05 PM on March 1, 2023
Of course there's a Wikipedia page. For me, here's the most surprising one so far:
Cheers, Wings, Frasier, The Tortellis, The John Larroquette Show, Seinfeld, Mad About You, Friends, Joey, Style & Substance, Caroline in the City, The Single Guy, and Madman of the People.posted by mochapickle at 4:09 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Series of interconnected sitcoms all airing on US network NBC. Caroline in the City crossed over with both Frasier and Friends, tying the universes together. Frasier also made an appearance as himself in Girlfriends which connects that universe to this one. Cheers also crossed over with St. Elsewhere, tying it to the Tommy Westphall universe.
I am an unabashed long time fan. I started watching it in I think 2007 when I was a Biology TA at Duke, and the pre-meds mostly just talked about this show nonstop in lab every week.
For those of you dismissing it as a has been that nobody still cares about, it is currently the only show that Hulu runs ads on even under the premium plans because, despite all the dismissals here, it still has a huge fanbase and among the most expensive commercial time on television (only behind NFL and The Voice in advertising cost).
posted by hydropsyche at 4:38 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
For those of you dismissing it as a has been that nobody still cares about, it is currently the only show that Hulu runs ads on even under the premium plans because, despite all the dismissals here, it still has a huge fanbase and among the most expensive commercial time on television (only behind NFL and The Voice in advertising cost).
posted by hydropsyche at 4:38 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Is it maintaining the same audience along the way? It has to be scooping up younger people as they come along or else it wouldn't have such great commercial demographics.
posted by hippybear at 5:00 PM on March 1, 2023
posted by hippybear at 5:00 PM on March 1, 2023
What other comparable multi-show universes exist?
There’s the CSI universe also .
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YYYYYYYEEEEEAAAA A А АНННННННННННН
posted by WaterAndPixels at 5:09 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
There’s the CSI universe also .
(•_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
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YYYYYYYEEEEEAAAA A А АНННННННННННН
posted by WaterAndPixels at 5:09 PM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]
Hmm, do you mean the thing where there's an army of ice zombies? Yeah, we should definitely throw in one episode wrapping that up.
Exactly! The show completely blew it by resolving the whole existential threat of the ice zombie army from the books with one episode where Arya does a knife trick.
posted by LionIndex at 5:23 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Exactly! The show completely blew it by resolving the whole existential threat of the ice zombie army from the books with one episode where Arya does a knife trick.
posted by LionIndex at 5:23 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
My only disappointment was that they did not have an annual episode that synchronized with the real life bike race accident in the first episode. That would've been so cool, and while I've seen the RL trophy at a bike store in west seattle and wanted to ride the event, never could arrange. Oh and I often drive through the hometown of the lead (Everett Ma) which just seems odd that it's something I know.
posted by sammyo at 7:11 PM on March 1, 2023
posted by sammyo at 7:11 PM on March 1, 2023
Of course there's a Wikipedia page.
Oh thank goodness, I was sure the mid-90s TGIF lineup did a bunch of crossovers, I'm so glad I won't be compelled to look them up now.
posted by solotoro at 7:29 PM on March 1, 2023
Oh thank goodness, I was sure the mid-90s TGIF lineup did a bunch of crossovers, I'm so glad I won't be compelled to look them up now.
posted by solotoro at 7:29 PM on March 1, 2023
I think TGIF was an ABC promotion? All these were Must See TV shows on NBC.
posted by hippybear at 7:33 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 7:33 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
The linked Wikipedia page lists a lot more than just the pull quote. The entry I'm referring to is under Full House.
posted by solotoro at 7:37 PM on March 1, 2023
posted by solotoro at 7:37 PM on March 1, 2023
So there were TWO sets of prime time shows doing cross-overs on separate networks.
Life in the 90s was weird.
posted by hippybear at 7:41 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Life in the 90s was weird.
posted by hippybear at 7:41 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
The various attempts at doing FanFare are pretty funny themselves.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:54 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:54 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think Lyanna Mormont and Oberyn Martell are still fighting the army of the dead, so there may be a crossover there.
posted by maxwelton at 11:31 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by maxwelton at 11:31 PM on March 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I am also still watching it, and this biggest complaint among fans is how many storylines are shared with Station 19, which has had less consistent quality than Greys. Krista Vernoff was the showrunner for both and left in January so we will see how that changes things!
posted by ellieBOA at 1:37 AM on March 2, 2023
posted by ellieBOA at 1:37 AM on March 2, 2023
For years though I've thought that what Grey's really needs to give it some new life is to have a season or two where the show's genre just, like, changes.
I've wanted to do this for a long time but for me more just to piss off people who were getting sucked into a very traditional, tropey doc show or cop show or whatever. You could do --
-- alien invasion would have been my thing like you suggested
-- zombies, but not more modern sciencey virus/fungus/etc zombies. Clearly supernatural zombies where one of the things in the show is that now it's clear that there is one religion that's literally correct and everyone is scrambling to figure out what to worship in the hopes of not having grandma eat them
-- plague, if we hadn't done the covid thing
-- fuck it we're doing the rapture and now it's Sexy Doctors Left Behind (and also their Right Behind har har)
-- everyday Doctor McGreatAss wakes up in a different timeline and goes to work in a that universe's hospital. Nothing to correct like in Quantum Leap, (s)he just has to make it through the day in the hopes of waking up in a better timeline tomorrow. The best episodes will be the ones where (s)he wakes up in one or another tingleverse. The second best are the Nothing Wrong Here ones where (s)he's in an honestly really great normal human timeline and (s)he knows (s)he only has this one day to experience it. The third best episodes will be the ones where everyone but him/her is a klingon or sleestak or rock with googly eyes and nobody notices
-- harry potter style wizards emerge from the darkness when they try to take over the world like OF COURSE THEY WOULD. MedicalTown remains free and is part of the fight to exterminate the nonhuman threat. Half the hospital is still a hospital, the other half is a research facility where they take apart captured wizards to figure out how they work (see Stross's family trade universe). Grimdark. Don't feel bad for the wizards; they're assholes.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:28 AM on March 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
I've wanted to do this for a long time but for me more just to piss off people who were getting sucked into a very traditional, tropey doc show or cop show or whatever. You could do --
-- alien invasion would have been my thing like you suggested
-- zombies, but not more modern sciencey virus/fungus/etc zombies. Clearly supernatural zombies where one of the things in the show is that now it's clear that there is one religion that's literally correct and everyone is scrambling to figure out what to worship in the hopes of not having grandma eat them
-- plague, if we hadn't done the covid thing
-- fuck it we're doing the rapture and now it's Sexy Doctors Left Behind (and also their Right Behind har har)
-- everyday Doctor McGreatAss wakes up in a different timeline and goes to work in a that universe's hospital. Nothing to correct like in Quantum Leap, (s)he just has to make it through the day in the hopes of waking up in a better timeline tomorrow. The best episodes will be the ones where (s)he wakes up in one or another tingleverse. The second best are the Nothing Wrong Here ones where (s)he's in an honestly really great normal human timeline and (s)he knows (s)he only has this one day to experience it. The third best episodes will be the ones where everyone but him/her is a klingon or sleestak or rock with googly eyes and nobody notices
-- harry potter style wizards emerge from the darkness when they try to take over the world like OF COURSE THEY WOULD. MedicalTown remains free and is part of the fight to exterminate the nonhuman threat. Half the hospital is still a hospital, the other half is a research facility where they take apart captured wizards to figure out how they work (see Stross's family trade universe). Grimdark. Don't feel bad for the wizards; they're assholes.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:28 AM on March 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
In HPU, it becomes illegal to practice medicine, because magic is just so much better, you know, so the doctors have to attend hidden wards inexplicably setup in abandoned subway stations, secret yet somehow full of ailing cancer patients and people needing open heart surgeries. There are missions to rescue badly needed pharmacists from the medical practitioners prisons and homeopathic traitors who are tempted by the use of magic over true medicine.
In the end modern vaccination technology is what saves everyone (and resets the season) when the zombie viruses start.
posted by bonehead at 5:38 AM on March 2, 2023
In the end modern vaccination technology is what saves everyone (and resets the season) when the zombie viruses start.
posted by bonehead at 5:38 AM on March 2, 2023
Vyvyan in the Young Ones was once noted as being a pre-med student.
Do the needful.
posted by delfin at 7:38 AM on March 2, 2023
Do the needful.
posted by delfin at 7:38 AM on March 2, 2023
This has strong Nickleback-plagiarizing-themselves energy.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:00 AM on March 2, 2023
posted by RonButNotStupid at 9:00 AM on March 2, 2023
Why are people surprised about it's longetivity?
General Hospital has been airing for 60 seasons, over 15,000 episodes - Grey's Anatomy is a medical drama with soap-opera elements, so - as long as the on-screen staff are good looking and the writing compelling, it could go on forever...
posted by rozcakj at 11:00 AM on March 2, 2023
General Hospital has been airing for 60 seasons, over 15,000 episodes - Grey's Anatomy is a medical drama with soap-opera elements, so - as long as the on-screen staff are good looking and the writing compelling, it could go on forever...
posted by rozcakj at 11:00 AM on March 2, 2023
Start with new surgical assistant Barnabas Collins and work from there.
posted by delfin at 11:37 AM on March 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by delfin at 11:37 AM on March 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
surgical assistant Barnabas Collin
Grey's Anatomy: What we do in the shadows.
posted by bonehead at 10:57 AM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Grey's Anatomy: What we do in the shadows.
posted by bonehead at 10:57 AM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
everyday Doctor McGreatAss wakes up in a different timeline and goes to work in a that universe's hospital. Nothing to correct like in Quantum Leap, (s)he just has to make it through the day in the hopes of waking up in a better timeline tomorrow. The best episodes will be the ones where (s)he wakes up in one or another tingleverse. The second best are the Nothing Wrong Here ones where (s)he's in an honestly really great normal human timeline and (s)he knows (s)he only has this one day to experience it. The third best episodes will be the ones where everyone but him/her is a klingon or sleestak or rock with googly eyes and nobody notices
shut up and take my money. seriously.
posted by ApathyGirl at 1:51 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
shut up and take my money. seriously.
posted by ApathyGirl at 1:51 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Can we have a special where he spends a day in the humours and wandering womb era? Quantum leaps right as he's about to be burned at the stake.
posted by rhizome at 4:00 PM on March 3, 2023
posted by rhizome at 4:00 PM on March 3, 2023
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I'm astounded that Gray's is still running and still profitable!
posted by infinitewindow at 6:59 AM on March 1, 2023 [4 favorites]