According to a less than flattering article in the New York Post, Grey's Anatomy is barely hanging on, struggling to keep viewers from pronouncing the show dead.

Read the article on the state of Grey's Anatomy below - which does not reflect the views of this site - and let us know whether you agree with some or all of it:

Grey's Anatomy started out as a fresh and quirky hospital drama that focused on the personal lives of the doctors rather than bizarre medical anomalies, but in recent seasons has distracted viewers with disturbing cases and depressing plot lines.

This year, love is back on the fever charts.

Desperate for a ratings boost, ABC has paired Grey's Anatomy with its spinoff, Private Practice, in a two-hour crossover event which will feature the return of Addison Forbes Montgomery (Kate Walsh) to Seattle Grace Hospital.

The timing couldn't be worse for the show's main character, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo). Despite its ups and downs, the only remnant of the good old days on Grey's Anatomy is the relationship between neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) and resident Meredith.

Last week's episode, "Beat Your Heart Out" was supposed to end with Derek's marriage proposal to Meredith, which would have been a landmark event for the series - and fans rooting for MerDer to find their version of happily ever after.

We say "Supposed to" because, alas, McDreamy's plan ultimately went awry when he received an urgent call from California - his ex-wife Addison begging for his help saving her brother Archer's life and setting up this week's crossover special.

Fans seem to cling to Derek and Meredith because the rest of the Grey's Anatomy world has fallen to pieces around them. Several original characters on the show have found their lines drastically reduced or rendered irrelevant.

George O'Malley, played by T.R. Knight, had the misfortune of being paired in one of the worst on-screen relationships ever with Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), and now it takes 30 minutes for him to even make an appearance in an episode.

Reformed jerk/lothario Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), who's supposed to be in a relation ship with Izzie now, also finds himself without a solid storyline.

Connecting the dots here is Izzie, who's gone from being one of the most emotionally riveting Grey's Anatomy cast members to a sigh-inducing spaz.

It seems as though Grey's Anatomy writers, led by creator Shonda Rhimes, are exacting revenge on Heigl by giving her the worst storyline to date: a fling (yes, sex included) with her dead former patient and soulmate, Denny Duquette.

Heigl made waves when she withdrew her name from Emmy contention last year saying that her character wasn't worthy, a slap in the face to Grey's Anatomy writers, including Rimes.

She was rumored to have demanded more money and was really more interested in furthering her movie career than in developing Izzie's character.

It seems that Denny is finally out of the picture, but it's possible that we're seeing the beginning of the end of Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy.

In last weeks episode, Izzie, convinced she was ailing, duped her interns into running a battery of tests. Her results indicated anemia, but they are delivered at the same time as a patient who gets a surprise cancer diagnosis.

Old-fashioned TV savvy suggests that the test results might have been switched and that Katherine Heigl is soon headed for the Big Pink Slip.

Reportedly, Melissa George, who plays Meredith's resurfaced friend Sadie Harris, said of Rhimes, "She's really lovely, until she wants to punish you."

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.