Dear PTB at Grey's and B&S -
Get your shit together.
I'm a tvaholic. It's an obvious fact to anyone that's ever mentioned television in my presence. I don't try to hide it; I revel in my TV geekdom and want to share it with everyone. Because of this affliction, though, I watch all kinds of stuff that wouldn't necessarily be considered quality. None of it's explicitly bad, but it's not all on the level of Mad Men (let's be honest, that show is amazing for a million different reasons). The point is, I don't have extremely high standards for things I'll watch. A good enough plot, decent actors, and some funny lines will get me through.
And yet you're losing me, people. I've watched both shows since their beginnings (although my recollection of Grey's season 1 is a little, uhm, grey). I've followed all the spoilers and news about each show, I've really enjoyed certain story arcs, and even things I didn't care about so much I could get through because I really liked some of the characters. But last spring I was really busy, and I started to have less time for TV. Things backed up, and when I could find time, I was a bit more choosy in what I would watch. And unfortunately these shows became an annoying obligation more than a fun diversion.
Let's start with Grey's Anatomy. I'll admit I never liked Meredith very much, but her storyline with White-Bread Derek was watchable. I
loved the scenes with Callie and Montana (Dakota? Let's not name people have states). But where was Bailey? She has always been far and away the best part of that show (now that Addison is gone), and I felt like she was purely a background character. They gave her the Peds storyline, but as a result she didn't get to interact with the other characters as much, and frankly the best thing about her is she points out how fucking RIDICULOUS these other people are. It acknowledges the flaws in the show that we all see, allowing us to move past them. I don't mind watching Izzie be a stupid bitch if Bailey says "You're being a stupid bitch." And where was George? No wonder T. R. Knight wanted off the show. He wasn't my favorite actor, but he did NOTHING the entire time. And why? So we could focus on Izzie? Can we reshoot the premiere and have it be Izzie who bites it? I'm going to have a hard time beleiving anyone is sorry to see George go when no one actually spoke to him the second half of last season. Even Christina, who I also like, is kind of weak and boring with Owen, who needs to start dealing with his PTSD pretty quickly. And I think I've made it clear already, but I hate Izzie Stephens (in part because I hate Katherine Heigl). If I
never see Denny again it will be too soon. All the emotional impact of his death (which I didn't feel to begin with) is completely gone now. The only redeeming feature of Izzie is that she made me hate Alex less. So in season 6 (is it 6 already? Or 5? Who cares) lets up the Bailey/Callie/Christina storylines, and ditch Izzie.
Now B&S is a different issue. From the get-go I didn't like many of the characters. I'm looking specifically at you, Tommy (Sidebar: I find it telling that Balthazar Getty isn't on the main cast list when you first go to IMDB), although Kitty gets on my nerves. But I really loved Sarah and Nora, and to be honest I watch a lot of this for the portrayal of Kevin as a gay man. I wish I had a better reason than that, but I don't. I liked watching Kevin's other relationships, and I LOVE Scotty. I will watch anything with Scotty in it, especially his interactions with other characters. But the problem became the Kevin-Scotty stuff became kinda boring because Kevin is an asshat, and the other stuff outside of that became even more boring. I liked Rebecca a lot, and can tolerate her and Justin, who I've come to like now that his addiction shit is over, but this shit with Ryan infuriates me. These people are being far, far, far too oblivious to the crap he's pulling, and it doesn't make sense. And I'm also through with Holly being the constant villain. Can't we just have one last knock down, drag out fight and then get over it? I feel like this show doesn't GO anywhere. The characters don't grow or change or do anything. The news about the gays having a kid will cause me to tune in, but it may become one of those shows I catch the gay clips on youtube because I don't care about the rest.
The point is, these shows I used to enjoy despite knowing they weren't the greatest. But in this era when there is an increasing amount of Good Shit on tv, it becomes harder and harder to want to spend time on shows that are increasingly lackluster. After devoting 150+ hours of my life to these two shows, I want to keep watching, because I really have invested a lot into these characters. But really at this point, you've got about three episodes to grab me or it's over between us. And I'm a pussy about ending things, to give you an idea of how serious this is.
I'm sure you still have millions of other viewers out there, so losing little old me probably isn't a huge deal for you. But I am TV-saavy enough to know when a show is great, and if you keep up this trend I think others will start to follow. Take a note from Desperate Housewives, which lagged a bit in it's second season, but came back with a vengeance in season 4. It's possible to be a quality show with good ratings, you just need to work at it.
And fire Izzie Stevens.
Kind Regards -
Mattie B
