Fall TV Blog

A variety of gut-wrenching sick-kid stories made some doctors feel the love while others found themselves fighting the system and each other in an episode that constantly zigzagged between funny and heartbreaking and had its fill of “Oh My Grey’s” moments. –Carrie Bell

Alex: After finding out Izzie left him with $200,000 of unpaid medical bills, Alex threw himself into the care of a premature stroke baby. Reed, who overheard the bill discussion, turned up the charm. The hardened Alex we used to know (but not love) reared his ugly head, telling her to “get out of [his] face.” When the baby’s fate seemed sealed, his tenderness reappeared and he held her and assured her she wasn’t alone. His technique, the kangaroo hold, kick started her system. Bailey explained it often worked better with skin-to-skin contact, so he spent the rest of the episode shirtless, earning flak from the McDoctors and appreciation from Reed (and Justin Chambers fans). After he spent the night cuddling, Bailey suggested he specialize in pediatrics. (more…)

When Derek is asked by a beloved co-worker to operate on the great white of tumors — an inoperable mass tangled around the spinal cord and tapped into the blood stream — he must overcome his nerves, deceive his boss and achieve the impossible. While it was mostly Der’s moment to shine, his fellow docs pitched in, proving once again that there’s no ‘I’ in team. –Carrie Bell

Words of Wisdom: You can always count on Bailey to tell it like it is. When Der argued with the Chief about the new scheduling computer, she said, “You two need to stop bickering. It’s unattractive.” Under the guise of a consult, Isaac lured him with scans of the “perfect tumor.” McSteamy accused McDreamy of trying to earn daddy’s love back with the daring procedure, but the Chief actually told him not to go near the “beast, a malpractice suit waiting to happen.”

Silent Treatment: Derek scheduled surgery behind the Chief’s back and set up a test to figure out who would be the best assistant. Yang was confident but lost out to Mercy West’s Avery. After a pre-op pep talk from the patient, Der cut and realized the mass was worse than they thought. He went in crazy circles, shouting, talking to himself and unable to proceed after 10 hours. The Chief shut him down when he caught him, but Isaac was still positive about Der’s skills and suggested he sleep on it and try again the next day. (more…)

The Grey’s Anatomy cast is whole again! New moms Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigl returned to work on the show this week, PEOPLE has learned.

“They’re both back at work and everyone’s really happy to see them,” says a show source.

Pompeo, who welcomed Stella Luna Pompeo Ivery on Sept. 15, won’t be absent from any episodes of the show thanks to the production team’s planning ahead for the actress’s maternity leave by pre-taping Meredith’s scenes.

After adopting 10-month-old baby Naleigh on Sept. 10 — and taking five weeks off to film the romantic comedy Life As We Know It — Heigl also returned to the set this week. Heigl’s character Izzie will return to Seattle Grace in the episode airing Nov. 12, the same episode where guest star Kim Raver will begin her stint on the show. (more…)

It was a dark and stormy night at Seattle Grace and the ER was slammed with mass casualties from a hotel fire. After a patient with minimal injuries died, the Chief gathered the doctors, heard their sides of the story and fired the person responsible for the fatal error. The multiple-perspective whodunit tale probably gave the continuity person an ulcer, but the storytelling style was a fresh device for the hospital drama, a treat for fans and good material to court an Emmy next fall. If you were watching closely, you probably caught the clue in the beginning. However it didn’t take an astute viewing to enjoy this week’s OMG moments. –Carrie Bell
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The Mercy West invasion began Thursday on Grey’s Anatomy and it’s safe to say that the Seattle Gracers did not put out the welcome mat. The transfers didn’t exactly bring a hostess gift either. The competition was fierce, the backstabbing brutal and the episode intense, satisfying and full of OMG moments.

Space Invaders: The Mercy West residents set up shop and things immediately started off on the wrong foot. Izzie threw down when one refused to vacate George’s locker and labeled her crazy. The old staff hid, already beaten down, in Meredith’s hospital room, convinced they were going to be forced to become coroners. In a role reversal, Meredith was the positive go-getter using an Aliens analogy as a pep talk: “This is our ship. We own this hospital. We were born in this hospital. Go get surgeries before they take them.”

Matters of the Heart: Even star pupil Yang, whose been feeling lost on her career path, gave up. A bit of her fight came back in the ER, but her Mercy counterpart outdid her every step of the way. The last straw? Her beau let one of them scrub in on her patient. “You‘re prioritizing based on some random code, some stupid rule you have not to favor me,” she said to him. Yang fled to Mer’s room and broke down about how much she missed Burke and his heart cases. “Nothing is happening to me. I’m chasing surgeries I don’t care about,” she said. “I spent this entire day fighting and I don’t want to do it anymore “ Sandra Oh dug deep for that one. (more…)

As the doctors of Seattle Grace continued to grapple with the impending merger and cuts on the horizon, the fight to scrub in to surgery grew more and more competitive. But when Thatcher Grey returned to the hospital with a dismal diagnosis, the residents stood by each other, giving Thursday’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy its best moments.

Daddy Issues: When a disoriented Thatcher was brought into the hospital with Lexie at his side, Meredith was quick to write off his behavior as another drunken episode. But after he vomited blood at Meredith’s feet, Thatcher was diagnosed with end stage liver disease, and required an immediate transplant. Lexie offered to be a donor, but was not a match. In a fit of desperation, she peeked at Meredith’s medical files, learned her sister was a match, and begged her to help. “As crappy as he was to you, he was wonderful to me,” Lexie said. The heartfelt request got through to Mer, who agreed to go under the knife. “If you die, it will break her,” Mer explained to Thatcher. “And I’m not gonna let you do that. I don’t know what it’s like to have a father, but I do know what it’s like to have a sister, and it’s good.” (more…)

Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) had her fair share of family drama in Private Practice’s previous season when her brother Archer (played by Grant Show) turned up with a life-threatening illness.

Unfortunately for the surgeon, that drama is only beginning: a show rep tells PEOPLE that after years of hearing of Addison’s privileged upbringing but not knowing much more about her background, viewers will finally meet her father.

Due to a conflicting work schedule, Spin City actor Barry Bostwick is no longer playing Addison’s father, which was reported last week. Stephen Collins will be stepping in to play The Captain, a source close to the show tells PEOPLE, and will make a surprise visit to Oceanside Wellness Center in an intense November episode entitled “Sins of the Father.” Addison and The Captain “have bad blood between them,” the show rep says. “It’s a tense relationship.”

Private Practice airs Thursday (10 p.m. EST) on ABC.

Tell us: Do you think Addison will finally find love in this season of Private Practice?

Eric McCandless/ABC

Still reeling from the Chief’s announcement about the merger last week, the entire staff of Seattle Grace doesn’t feel safe and is going to great, and often misguided, lengths to secure jobs. Their misfortune is a treasure chest of quality OMG moments for fans.

CHILD’S PLAY: Yang feigned interest in pediatrics because Arizona’s “merger-proof. She keeps little kids alive. No one likes a dead kid.” She immediately found herself immersed in her own personal hell of bear lapel pins, funny voices, games and fetching pudding (the last of which she ate instead of giving it to her patient). She begged Owen to tell the Chief he needed her. “I need to be on the stays list. That list is my future, my salvation. The list is life.” Only Yang would feel justified in quoting Schindler’s List in this moment. She also requested Meredith use her “dead mommy connections to get answers.” Her plan backfired when Callie ratted her out as a kid hater and after a particularly gnarly severed baby arm procedure, Arizona showed a tough side we hadn’t really seen before, “It’s not a good idea to piss off your attending. I don’t like being used. I like being lied to even less.”

HAIR APPARENT: Izzie wasn’t immune to the layoff paranoia so she threw on some clean scrubs and a wig and reported for Derek’s duty. (Yang called the wig Stepford wife, but we must admit we thought it was kinda hot. Sure, it didn’t look all that real, but red was a nice change and the scenario is certainly relatable for many watchers.) Alex hounded her to take her meds and tried to get her to quit a five-hour craniotomy she wasn’t physically ready for. She pushed through the surgery, dripping in sweat and obviously hurting, but admitted that she’d forgotten cancer and George for a few hours. In the writer’s continuing effort to make Alex look like a changed man, he was given another great speech. “I want you to keep doing what you love. You are a great doctor but you gotta take care of and pace yourself. I can’t be your nurse.” (more…)

Grey’s Anatomy kicked off season 6 with a two-hour episode that picked up where the finale’s cliffhanger left off. In between the crying fits (which came fast and furious for 120 minutes), we compiled the top 10 OMG (as in ‘Oh My Grey’s‘) moments as the doctors of Seattle Grace tried to survive losing one of their own. –Carrie Bell

Audacity of Hope: For a brief moment, George fans wondered if a goodbye was necessary when Lexie claimed the body was too tall and the others questioned Meredith’s finger-writing interpretation skills. But Callie checked for his Texas-shaped freckle and confirmed the end of 007. Unless, of course, Izzie starts hallucinating again. (We bet George would be up for some ghost sex.)

Four Residents and a Funeral: When the remaining four original interns stepped away from the burial unable to control their snickers, it had the authenticity, emotion and humor of season 1, and reminded us of why we started TiVo-ing the show in the first place. (more…)

SPOILER ALERT! ABC.com has the first few minutes of the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy, which returns to TV on Sept. 24. The clip raises an interesting question!

Here’s what happens: The surgeons of Seattle Grace bring Izzie (Katherine Heigl) back to life while mourning the loss of George (T.R. Knight). But Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) isn’t convinced that John Doe is really George, raising the question of his fate. We know Knight, whose character had enlisted in the army, is leaving the show but was he killed? If not, then who is the John Doe?

Grey’s returns to ABC in a special 2-hour season premiere on Sept. 24 (9 p.m. EST). –Janet Mock

Tell us: What do you think? Is George really John Doe? And if he isn’t, what happened to him? Or is Lexie just going through the first stage of grief: denial?

Randy Holmes/ABC