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GREY’S ANATOMY 9 p.m. Thursday ABC
“Grey’s Anatomy” finally returns Thursday night, and creator Shonda Rhimes, who usually guards every plot twist as if it were her junior high diary, is blabbing away about how Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) are getting back together “for good.”
She’s not saying how or when it will happen, just that it will happen and that fans will cheer and toss confetti and do the wave in their living rooms. (OK, we made up that part).
But what about that other famous “Grey’s” couple?
What couple? you ask.
George (T.R. Knight) and Izzie (Katherine Heigl), of course. “Gizzie.”
Oh, them.
Well, it looks like they’re probably done as lovers - a development that will cause fans to cheer and toss confetti and do the wave in their living rooms.
See what we’re getting at here? Why do viewers love one TV couple and loathe the other? What is it about Gizzie that had many of us doing the dry heaves?
We realize this isn’t a deep philosopical question along the lines of “What is the meaning of life?” or “Why is Larry King still on the air?” But it’s a fun query that we can ponder without leaving a bruise on the brain.
Some background: Izzie and George were tight pals. They were always there for each other. Then, one night they got drunk and hooked up and Izzie confessed her love for George. Eventually, George admitted he loved Izzie - even though he was married to Callie (Sara Ramirez).
For many outraged viewers, it wasn’t exactly a sweet Jim-and-Pam moment.
The easy way to justify the wrath is to point out that George was married and that marriage is sacred. But wasn’t Derek married when he had his first steamy romp with Meredith? How come he gets a pass? Is it that he has better hair?
Perhaps it was more about Callie. We like Callie, and we felt sorry for her. She deserved better. Conversely, it was ages before we even met Derek’s wife, Addison (Kate Walsh). Out of sight, out of mind.
But perhaps other things were at play. Could it be that we just liked George and Izzie better as friends? That we didn’t want to see them mess that up? Or was it that we just never felt the chemistry? (When we last saw them, they were having trouble re-creating the hot sex they initially enjoyed.)
Or maybe some fans were turned off by the fact that George rejected the normal-looking plus-sized woman for the smokin’ hot blonde. Such a cliche. Boo to the writers.
Or maybe some took one look at the hot blonde and the little teddy-bear-like geek and, based simply on appearances, concluded that they didn’t belong together. The visual match did not compute. For the record, we hate this take, because love comes in all shapes and forms. Someone told us that once.
Finally, a co-worker suggested the George-and-Izzie pairing revolted her because it was like watching a brother and sister. Two words for that one: Ew and ick.
We’re not exactly sure which theory holds the most weight, but the fact that this silly debate has stirred up so much passion tells you something about the hold this show has on us.
Now on to the next TV-romance debate: On “Lost,” should Kate be with Jack or Sawyer?
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Speaking of “Lost,” which returns in a new time slot Thursday (10 p.m., ABC), Damon Lindelof, the show’s co-creator, has a some advice for students who believe they won’t be able to apply much of what they’re learning to their own lives.
“When I was in college I took Philosophy 101 and the big joke there was that it was an easy A,” he said last week. “And everybody who had a philosophy major would never have any cause to use it in the real world because who is going to pay a philosopher to sit around and think? But that class proved to be enormously bountiful creatively for the show.
“I learned all about Locke and Rousseau and the basic thinking that came out of Europe in the Age of Enlightenment. So, you know, it’s proven to be pretty sweet.”
