Will the Writer's Strike Cause Grey's Anatomy Ratings to Plummet?

Unfortunately, many of our favorite television shows were directly affected by the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The strike began on November 5, 2007, and lasted over three months, before finally concluding (thank God!) on February 12, 2008.

In Hollywood, those three months seem like years. For the average TV viewer, with a short attention span, these three months screwed up our viewing pleasure.

The show I am most concerned with is ABC's medical drama, Grey's Anatomy. Will the absence of new Grey's episodes due to the Writer's strike cause ratings to plummet? Or even worse... jump the shark?

Now I am a big Grey's fan; I own all three seasons on boxed set as well as the soundtracks. I keep in the know about the actors and actresses and enjoy reading spoilers and gossip online. But even I, with all of my love for the show, find myself forgetful about where Grey's Anatomy left off before the strike. Which makes me think that the average viewer can't care less about Grey's Anatomy anymore.

For the record, the writer's strike stopped Grey's Anatomy amid its fourth season. The last new episode, only the 11^th of the season, aired on January 10^th, 2008. Entitled Lay Your Hands on Me, this episode involved George finally telling his mother that his marriage to Callie has ended, McDreamy questioning what his kiss with nurse Rose meant, and Bailey's marriage and family life hitting a rough patch as her toddler son was rushed into surgery following an accident at home.

According to TV.com, the next new episode of Grey's will not air until April 24, 2008! It is tentatively titled Where the Wild Things Are. The episode summary at TV.com states:

Time has passed but not much has changed. Sexual angst still runs rampant in the halls of Seattle Grace. Derek and Rose have been dating and Meredith has noticed the activities of her current off-again ex-boyfriend. The doctors are in the mist of a competition.

Wikipedia states that Grey's will return for five final new episodes of the season which will air in consecutive weeks. If my math serves me correctly, this will bring the total episodes of Season 4 to only 16. Season 2 had 23; Season 3 had 25. So as viewers we are already getting jibbed of a third of a typical season length!

Additionally, upon reading gossip online, I learned that actor Joshua Jackson, who I had a huge crush on from the Mighty Ducks and Dawson's Creek, was supposed to guest star as a Grey's doctor in several episodes. My excitement was crushed when the Writer's Strike cancelled his appearance. Bummer.

So as I wait for the final 5 episodes of the season, I'm honestly not expecting much. No Pacey, for one thing. But the biggest thing for me is the super-long waiting period! It takes 21 days to break a habit, right? So we've had PLENTY of time to break our Grey's Anatomy fixes.

This three month absence is a double-edged sword. It did give the writers ample time to think of great ideas for the script. So maybe Grey's will return with superior acting and excellent plot twists and turns! I'm really hoping for that. I hope the cast and crew have had time to review the past episodes and fill in any gaps; wrap up any dangling storylines.

Will Grey's Anatomy sink or swim? We'll find out in a few weeks. Be sure to tune in On April 24, 2008, Thursday, at 9 PM on ABC!!