Goodbye Grey's Anatomy, Goodbye ABC!

[cabenson]

I cannot tell you how upset I am about the following. I actually wrote a complaint letter to ABC:



Ausiello:

Brace yourselves, Grey's Anatomy fans: The show has parted ways with a female doc who is blonde, beautiful, outspoken – and not Katherine Heigl. It's Brooke Smith. As in Dr. Erica Hahn. As in one half of Callica, Grey's first-ever significant gay couple. And that's only half the story. I'm told this was not Shonda Rhimes' decision but rather an order that came down from the network. (ABC declined to comment.) According to one Grey's source, the suits "had issues" with both the explicit direction Callica was taking (think: undiscovered country, south of the border, etc.) and, more importantly, with the Hahn character in general. Basically, they didn't like her and wanted her gone ASAP. But how soon? And what does this mean for Callica? Keep yourselves braced, because the shocks don't stop in the following Q&A with the sublime Ms. Smith. She deserves better treatment than this, and next go-'round, here's hoping she gets it.

Comments

[meryl-edan.livejournal.com]

You're not alone. I'm nearly sick over it. Disgusting, totally effing disgusting all around.

[stargazer1960.livejournal.com]

Forget about the love/ sex story, which is delicious, Brooke's character is really magnificent and her portrayal adds a lot to the show. They need a strong, female surgeon who is acted so well. We were only just beginning to find out who she really was beneath the galvanized exterior.

[racethewind10.livejournal.com]

Well. I'm done then. Fuck that shit.

[xx-selene-xx.livejournal.com]

Fuck that shit.

word.

[softeranswer.livejournal.com]

the shocks don't stop in the following Q&A with the sublime Ms. Smith
i would totally love it if she spilled the beans. was there a q/a below? can you link if so?

meh, you know i never thought she was a good fit for ABC. people on ABC...have a look. it's a bit plastic-y. anyway, i can only hope that a Milch or a Fontana scoops her up for something divine. but, i do feel bad for her that she's got kids, etc.

lastly, wow. talk about being put in a tough spot. she could only play what was on the page...and...well. yeah. you know.

[cabenson.livejournal.com]

here (http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/)

She is too good for that show, but she was also the only reason I tuned in.

Hopefully she will get something new and I can follow her around the tube.

[softeranswer.livejournal.com]

okay, now that i'm reading her interview...holy shit that's fucked up. ugh, they made her pimp this storyline (even when she had no idea where it was going) and then it fucked her in the end.

pilot season is coming up so i'm sure she'll get called in for various things. i mean...she's Brooke Smith. bitch will work forever. she's probably booked on something already.

i just hope her agent has abc paying out for the rest of the season.

[commasplice103.livejournal.com]

wtf! That's absurd. Her character is one of THE reasons the show was starting to work again (I know that and I'm not even that fond of Callica). Suck.

[starberry-slash.livejournal.com]

My god, when I heard the news I flipped out. Of course she gets the boot the minute she showed her more compassionate side. Disgusting ABC, disgusting.

[amazonqueenkate.livejournal.com]

What. the. Fuck.

Callie and Erica were about the only part of the show I still liked. Hahn's a great character and Brooke's fantastic, never mind the fact that it felt like such an organic, natural direction for the characters. I'm -- ugh, I'm so pissed at this point.

ABC once again proves that mainstream media is only comfortable with homosexuality if those scary gay people are celibate or psychopaths.

[macayagirl.livejournal.com]

I call total bullshit!
The scene where she calls Callie glasses--that was on point & amazing! What the hell is so threatening? The self discovery? The love? The hot sex?WTF?!?!!?

[darandkerry.livejournal.com]

What??? Son of a bitch! And Shonda's additional comment at the end of the article had me moving to WTF??? Seems to me that if the network isn't happy with the way the storyline is being handled they should go directly to the source. This is so typical - fire the messenger: the strong-willed, multi-faceted, brilliant Hahn. And then saying the show still has a lesbian - Callie Torres? Well, that's just lame. Haven't they been watching their own show? Even Callie isn't even sure she's a lesbian. *sigh*

btw...I'd actually written a little ditty for the P&P 72-hour challenge that I was going to send your way to look over, but I thinking perhaps it shouldn't see the light of day after all.

[cabenson.livejournal.com]

Send it anyway.

I still can't blieve this isn't just a bad dream.

And I want to know the REAL reason she was canned-only the Season Premiere had aired by the time they fired her, so how could it be the storyline?

Who's Honestly Surprised Over This?

[(Anonymous)]

Personally, I never thought they portrayed the Hahn/Torres relationship as anything anywhere *near* real - no matter what Shonda ever said about doing "research" - so it's no wonder the relationship ended before it began.

To me, seeing Callie and Erica on the small screen came across as strained and hard to watch because IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW IT REALLY IS BETWEEN TWO WOMEN, whether they start out gay or not. Geez, the dead could see that.

Still, I feel this had more to do with the sponors, who were probably threatening to pull their ads because of the subject matter, than with any nonsense about "story lines" or "chemistry between characters," and is something viewers will never get the real story on. But that could just be me.

In the end, I feel the worst for Brooke Smith, who got canned right out of the blue. Nevermind the bullshit about creativity and different directions - HAVING YOUR JOB TAKEN OUT FROM UNDER YOU is the part that truly sucks. I hope to God she vows never to do anything for ABC again.

Thank God we have some really good fanfic out there. Praise to those writers who have had the good sense to write Callie and Erica as they *should* have been written on the show. Don't stop writing!

DianeB