Grey's Anatomy: Why Are We All so Hooked?

Grey's Anatomy! I'm sure you've heard of the show but are you hooked like I am?

When the show started in 2005 it had phenomenal numbers and ABC execs were stunned. The season was supposed to belong to Desperate Housewives and Lost. Grey's Anatomy came on Sunday's after Desperate Housewives. The slot was the one producer just fills and prays that someone forgets to turn off the TV. To everyone's surprise the show was an instant hit with over 19 million viewers.

"The game, they say a person either has what it takes to play, or they don't. My mother was one of the greats. Me on the other hand, I'm kinda screwed." Those lines would be the beginning of a phenomenon. When viewers tuned in to see the show, they found this woman kicking this man out and she didn't even know his name! Meredith and Derek begin and the roller coaster ride of emotions gets under way and for the Friend's crowd, a new Ross and Rachel were born. I've cried with them, I've laughed with them and I've even jumped off the couch yelling. Why is it that this show has so many people hooked?

Look up Grey's Anatomy on Myspace.com and you will find 95,000 references and on Google.com you will find 3,080,000. What has made this show a hit? With all the excitement, why is this show any better than its predecessors?

With awesome writing, excellent acting and one surprise after another, this show continues to stun, amaze, and bring tears to the eyes of female (and maybe a few male) viewers each week. The season finales would have to be the most amazing two episodes the show has yet to produce (in this humble writer's opinion). The curtain was drawn on season 1 with Addison Montgomery Shepherd showing up shaking Meredith's hand and saying "You must be the woman who's screwing my husband." After a revelation of this magnitude the producers expected viewers to wait until fall to find out what happened. "Pick me, choose me, love me." The six words that broke more than one viewers heart and the man had the nerve to say no. Season 2's finale was just as exciting, with Meredith and Derek back together after a season apart, Burke shot, Denny dead and Izzie quitting!

The show keeps viewers coming back with characters you can relate to and although the story lines aren't quite realistic, at least they're dramatic. With love, sex, friendship, enemies and betrayal, viewers tune in week after week to see what will happen next. And oh the men! Can they fit one more, sexy hunk into the cast? If they do my heart might just stop. McDreamy, McSteamy, McVet! From hunky, sweet and sensitive Derek, to goofy George, arrogant Preston and the jerks Alex and Mark, there is some eye-candy for every woman. And the girls tend to undress enough to keep the male viewers happy.

For many women their week is simply a countdown to Thursday night and depression sets in whenever a re-run is set to air. Grey's Anatomy is currently on it's fall hiatus and many viewers (myself included) are just impatiently waiting for the next new episode, biding our time watching seasons 1 and 2 on DVD or re-run. Message boards everywhere squawk of impatient women begging for another morsel.

Why are we so hooked? I'm not quite sure but there are many women (and a few men) that hope the shows drama, love and pain can sustain it self for the long run.