Grey’s Anatomy: Sprinter or Marathon Runner?

Prior to this season of Grey’s Anatomy I never missed an episode, and when they went on a two week hiatus in Season two I was having withdrawels. Season three has been different. There hasn’t been a new episode in three weeks, and frankly, I don’t care all that much. Apparently, I’m not alone. Until recently, Grey’s dominated their time slot. Last episode, CSI followed shortly behind Grey’s by only 611,000 viewers, according to the Nelson ratings. CSI was also voted the number one program of the night among key men. So, I can’t help but wonder what has caused Grey’s Anatomy to lose it’s steam?

The easiest thing to blame for Grey’s sudden decrease in ratings would be the recent media frenzy among the cast and crew. Just weeks after T.R. Knight (George) announced that he was a homosexual, his cast mate and “friend” Isaiah Washington (Dr. Burke) called Knight an anti-gay slur. After denying the comments at first, Washington finally apologized and remained on the show. This is an easy out for the producers to blame on the shows decreasing ratings. However, we all know that there is no such thing as bad press. If anything, the controversy should have sparked more interest in the show. After all, did viewers stop watching Sex and the City when there was a rumored feud between Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker? Absolutely not. The loyal fans kept watching because it was still a good show and more people tuned in to see the chemistry between the women. If anything, Washington and Knight’s spat should have helped the ratings, but it did not. So, perhaps there’s more to it.

It seems that recently hit shows have become popular extremely fast. For instance, The O.C. raked in impressive ratings from the get-go having 9.7 million viewers the first season and 7 million in the second. Then, something happened when the third and fourth seasons began to dwindle with 5.6 and 4 million viewers. After the O.C. began, other shows like Desperate Housewives and LOST followed with great ratings in their first seasons. Both Desperate Housewives and LOST’s ratings have gone down since the their first seasons.

These immediacies that the networks place on shows seem to be taking away from their longevity. So, while it may seem great to have high ratings in the first couple of seasons, the show might not last as long. Nowadays new shows and seasons seem to be stuffed too full. They are crammed with so much information and drama that there’s nothing left to write about in the following seasons. It is hard to know whether this is a product of our “fast food” culture or if the Networks simply don’t have faith in their shows.

Seinfeld and Cheers had horrible ratings in their first seasons and they are two of the most popular shows of all time. The networks believed in them and they had staying power. In other words, they were “marathon runners.” They stayed constant throughout their run. They started off a little slow, but they lasted longer. Shows like the O.C. are “sprinters.” They blow out all their energy too fast. I can’t help but wonder..Will Grey’s Anatomy be a “sprinter” or a “marathon runner?”