Over the second half of last season, “Grey’s Anatomy” went from being the TV pal with whom every get-together feels like a giddy first date to the grating houseguest who constantly gets on your nerves.
Off-screen, cast members squabbled over Isaiah Washington’s homophobic slur. On screen, a dark cloud hung over Seattle Grace as death, destruction and personal devastation reigned. And oh, those creative missteps: Fans were aghast at the pairing of George (T.R. Knight) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl).
By the time the season of discontent was over, two key members of the cast were gone — Washington got the heave-ho ,and Kate Walsh got her own spinoff show in “Private Practice.” Gone, too, was much of the goodwill the show had built up with fans and critics.
As “Grey’s” returns for its fourth season Thursday on ABC, its vital signs are flagging. But creator Shonda Rhimes says “Grey’s” will lighten up, sex it up and have a ball this season.
“I came back to this season sort of mandating that we have a lot of fun,” she told TV writers this summer. “I felt like Season 3 is a darker season. It just is. I mean, Meredith’s (Ellen Pompeo) mother dies. George’s father dies. Meredith’s stepmother dies. It was a bloodbath. But I want to get back to us enjoying it and having fun.”
Still, Rhimes by no means cops to creative mismanagement. While she admits the behind-the-scenes rancor of last season was “difficult,” she stands by the direction of the show’s storytelling. She even defends the hotly debated “Gizzie” plotline.
“I understand it,” she said of negative fan reaction to the unexpected coupling. “I think, when Meredith and Cristina (Sandra Oh) and Alex (Justin Chambers) find out, they are going to have some pretty vitriolic reactions as well. I think that’s part of what makes it interesting. The characters are flawed. The characters are really human.”
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Grey’s Anatomy
8 p.m., ABC
This new season opens with Christina (Sandra Oh), who has returned from what would have been her honeymoon, looking for Burke (Isaiah Washington), the man who would have been her hubby. She and the other interns become residents, except for George (T.R. Knight), who must repeat his intern year alongside Meredith’s half-sister.
“Grey’s” stars Justin Chambers and Katherine Heigl get down to business.
