I recently got to see Season 1 of Grey's Anatomy on DVD after a peculiarly long wait. Normally, one does have a long wait for popular TV shows on DVD when one puts in a request at the Carnegie library. This is to be expected. Last year I put in a hold for Nip/Tuck Season 3 in early January and didn't get it until late October. I was quite a few holds down on the list after all.

Grey's Anatomy Season 1

And so, like I did with many TV on DVD seasons in the same sitting, I put Grey's Anatomy on hold, getting in line behind a ba-zillion other folks. What was weird about Grey's Anatomy is that I got down to the last hold and it got shipped out to me (indicated by the "IN TRANSIT" designation on my library account summary) in early May, but I didn't get it until last week! Why did it take so long? Did it get lost on the way to the Downtown & Business library? It took so long to arrive, in fact, that I had transferred all my holds to the Sharpsburg library once it was already in transit (thus locking it into its downtown destination), visited the Sharpsburg library for months until such time as the Sharpsburg library closed and I had to transfer all my holds back to downtown and then, only then, did it come in downtown. ???

These are questions I would be perhaps justified in asking if I had a Netflix account. But I don't have Netflix. I have to pay for health insurance instead.

But nobody ever worries about health insurance on medical shows like Grey's Anatomy—happily, though, for my viewing pleasure, the characters on Grey's Anatomy do worry about stuff besides their patients. By this stage in the game, we all know that medical shows are a dime a dozen. When Grey's Anatomy first debuted, I—like most other folks—thought: "Do we really need another medical show?" I, however, unlike most other folks, did not start watching when the buzz grew more fervent. Well, to be fair, I haven't followed the original airing of any fictional TV series for a good few years now. Why do I need to structure my schedule around a television network when I can just wait for the DVD?

Watch out! Romance ahead.

To be honest, I didn't expect to like Grey's Anatomy going into it. The show has been on for a couple years now, and I've heard all the hoopla about main character what's-her-face and Dr. McDreamy, aka Patrick Dempsey—who according to Glamour Magazine is now the number one guy women fantasize about when they... er, uh, well... polish the sterling. Anyway, I'd heard that it was somehow better and more interesting than your garden variety medical drama, but otherwise the chattering I'd heard about it led me to believe that it was basically kind of soapy. Well, the cold hard facts are that it is kind of soapy. Having watched the first season—which is only nine episodes long, being that it was a mid-season replacement—I can honestly say that I don't care whether Meredith Grey (turns out that's her name) experiences any modicum of bliss with McDreamy. But I find it interesting to watch her navigate the situation she's put herself in. She slept with a guy... and he turned out to be her boss. And he still wants to see her. And she kinda still wants to see him, despite her better judgment. How does she handle this situation, balancing her gut instincts with her drive toward professionalism? Now that's a conflict. A character-driven conflict to be exact. The thing that Grey's Anatomy does well is striking that rare balance wherein it keeps all of the medical drama trappings that people tune in to see on a random basis while at the same time making every episode about the characters and not some "medical conflict of the week." Every episode functions to advance the character conflicts. Sure, there are some interesting medical cases along the way, but they pitch in and help in the advancement of the character conflict rather than the other way around or rather than character conflict simply co-existing with—and often taking a back seat to—a plot-of-the-week (in the case of shows like recently reviewed Bones).

If you're into romancy stuff, you'll probably find yourself engaged with the hospital liaisons in this show. In fact, I'll go so far as to say, if you're into romancy stuff and haven't seen this show yet, what are you waiting for? On the other hand, if you're turned off by romancy stuff and have been wary of this show, give it a second thought. It's a great example of character conflict done well in a weekly show. And if you're just into human foibles—like me—I can say with confidence that you'll find it an entertaining eight or so hours.