ABC Conducting Audience Testing on Izzie-Denny Story
Perhaps Katherine Heigl’s recent, pre-Emmy Awards quasi-complaint about not getting enough nomination-worthy material on Grey’s Anatomy wasn’t entirely off base.
Her character, Dr. Izzie Stevens, is sleeping with her dead lover, Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), as we all know. The question is ... how does that even happen?
We'll have to wait and see, but according to Entertainment Weekly, ABC has already begun the process of "audience-testing" a love story between Izzie and Denny.
Last we checked, Shonda Rhimes wasn’t trying to create a Ghost Whisperer: Seattle, but then there isn’t a lot about Grey’s Anatomy that makes sense these days.
Actress Brooke Smith, whose Dr. Erica Hahn represented the only full-time lesbian character on the "Big Four" networks, was abruptly canned last month.
Mary McDonnell is an acclaimed and talented actress, but some have called her depiction of a renowned cardiac surgeon with Asperger’s ridiculous and unrealistic.
Add in Rhimes’ decision to have Izzie cavort with the dead, and Grey’s Anatomy has fast become this season’s most maligned show by fans (if you don’t count Heroes, that is).
It was theorized by many that Izzie's visions of Denny were related to her rumored brain tumor ... until Rhimes said last week that Izzie doesn’t have a brain tumor.
Sadly, that’s all the explanation we're going to get for now (Shonda Rhimes, Katherine Heigl, and ABC all declined to comment on the matter for this article).
However, with Grey's Anatomy iewership down 17 percent from last year, an insider says ABC is conducting audience testing on the Izzie-Denny love story.
Results aren’t in yet, so we’re forced to sift through future plot lines for any signs of relief. One can only wonder how the test audiences are reacting to it.
The good news is that Rhimes hasn’t given up on girl-on-girl action Bisexual Callie is about to start canoodling with new intern Sadie (Melissa George).
Elsewhere, Mark Sloan (a.k.a. Eric Dane, a.k.a. McSteamy) may end up doing the dirty with little Grey, Lexie (Chyler Leigh), and fan favorite Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) will show up for a special set of crossover episodes with her spin-off, Private Practice, in February.
The bad news is that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is slated to appear on Grey's Anatomy at least through February. There’s never an exorcist around when you need one.
Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.
More Grey's Anatomy News
Grey's Anatomy Episode Preview: Brace Yourselves
Grey's Anatomy Caption Contest 360
Grey's Anatomy Review: A Little Love Spell
Grey's Anatomy Exclusive: Jennifer Bassey Dishes on "Moving" Three Episode Arc
January 23rd, 2009 12:49 AM
For cripes sake! END the Izzy/Denny story already!! How long are you going to drag this boring, stupid story out?!
December 8th, 2008 4:26 AM
I can't stand Mary Mc Donalds acting. She needs to go. She acts like Rainman. Please get rid of her. I was about sick when I heard Dr Webber tell Yang to try and impress her so she would stay. I want her to go. I know there has to be and actor out there that needs a job that could do a heck of a better job than her. We lost the best doctor. She walked off into the night. :( Oh and please enough of Izzy having sex with the ghost Denny. That is really stupid. Hurry up and lets find out what is the matter with Izzy and fix it or kill her off. And let them ride off in the elavator and go into the bright light. I was pleased the way Denny left the first time. Enough is Enough!!!!
December 6th, 2008 7:17 PM
I love Izzie, and I loved Denny (when he was alive), and the storyline of their [original] relationship was awesome, but this...this is just a big mess!
Izzie used to be my favorite character, but it has gotten to the point that she is jumping from relationship to relationship, and I get tired of rooting for the next one to work out. I wanted it to work out with her and George, and now with Alex...if she ruins it this time...ugh!
I mean, Rhimes ended a homosexual relationship abruptly (allegedly because of controversy), only to start a relationship with a dead guy?
I have seen every episode to date, and this is by far the worst season, yet.
December 6th, 2008 4:40 PM
Denny is my favorite TV character ever but I agree that this story line is too far out the box! Unless Izzie is found to be certifiably insane or does have a brain tumor, this story line will make no sense at all. Looking forward to seeing Jeffrey Dean Morgan in his own show.
December 4th, 2008 10:56 PM
i totally agree with TARNY. The writers have destroyed denny for me. I was a huge fan of him in the earlier seasons but i find him so irritating this season i wish he would just go away!!!!!!!!!
December 4th, 2008 10:40 PM
Denny has got to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The writers have absolutely ruined him for me. I loved him the first time but this new twist on the story is horrible. He is a complete jerk now and it has made me very upset and just about takes me over the line of not watching any more. PLEASE GET RID OF HIM!!!!!!!!!! And don't kill Iz in the process. She is one of the most important parts of the show and it would not be right without her.
December 3rd, 2008 2:56 PM
Move over McDreamy and McSteamy, McStudly is taking center stage. I love Jeffery Dean Morgan and though I'd rather see him get his own series, built around him with lots more screen time, I will settle for what I can get. The man is then most handsome man on TV and the way he is so kick back/laid back romantic OMG. The story line is a bit lame, but very well played out. I watch GA just to see him. Whatever it takes to get him on screen, I'll be watching. When he leaves, I leave with him. LST
December 3rd, 2008 9:28 AM
maybe what shonda should do is introduce a time-travel plot so izzie can go back to that fateful day and not steal a heart for Denny so he doesn´t die, so now he is alive an well ´cause later on he got a healthy heart so he survived, and they got to live happily ever after... it´s not worse than the ghost story let me tell you...
December 2nd, 2008 4:45 PM
we've jumped the shark. Can it be redeemed? The writing is suffering, the parallels don't work anymore... Go back to the drawing board, take a retreat, get back to basics!
December 2nd, 2008 2:31 PM
First of all.....it's D-E-N-N-Y not "Danny." I can't count how many times I've seen that posted incorrectly. Secondly, I used to LOVE him but now, like Alexa says, I can't stand the site of his FACE!!!! Shonda, only you could take a runaway fan favorite and make us all SICK OF HIM.
The story lines are total CRAP. I wish she would re-watch Seasons 1 and 2 and recapture the magic. Because it seems to be getting more and more desperate---first the spinoff of Private Practice where she stole one of the best doctors and sent Kate Walsh to LA. That sucked. (ANd before she left she had to have Karev treat her like sh*t). Hahn was a HIDEOUS replacement for Burke. Stupid storyline involving Izzie and George. More desperation. The cringe-inducing love story between Callie and Hahn. ENOUGH. Give us something to tide us over until January. It's gotten so that I groan 5 minutes into the show.