‘Grey’s Anatomy’is suffering from a chronic illness. Once upon a time it was television’s hottest show, dominating Friday morning watercooler chatter. Its combination of quirky medical stories, close friendships, romance and humor made it must see television.

Now, in its sixth season, it is still one of television’s highest rated shows. But viewers seem to be watching largely out of habit and a hope that the show will magically return to the glory of its first two seasons.
Season five’s improbable storylines and dark tone turned a lot of people off. This year people willed themselves to tune in with the comforting thought that it would be impossible for the show to come up with anything worse than last year’s Denny The Sexy Hallucination storyline.

Indeed, this season has been 100% ghost sex free. Unfortunately, that does not mean it has recovered. Watching the ill-conceived merger storyline, it is hard to shake the feeling that the show has strayed so far from its original premise that it has lost its identity.
We may not be Dr. House, but we at Fancast think we can diagnose what is ailing ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’
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1. The Cast Is Fleeing This Show Like It’s The Titanic
Either the Grey’s set is the seventh circle of Hell or the show went out of its way to hire primadonnas. Actors on longrunning shows often long to spread their wings, but there has never been a number one show whose cast members are do desperate to give up a seven figure paycheck. Half the original cast is gone right now. Isaiah Washington was fired for conduct unbecoming an actor. T.R. Knight left in a snit because he did not feel he was getting enough airtime. Katherine Heigl demanded a multi-episode leave of absence so she could film a movie. Ellen Pompeo — who puts the Grey in Grey’s — is barely on the show thanks to her maternity leave. Unlike pure procedurals which can move cast members in and out easily, viewers tune in to see the characters they have grown to love. Without them, Grey’s is just another medical show.

2. The Merger Storyline Is A Textbook Example of How To Jump The Shark
Shonda Rhimes’ solution to losing so many cast members at once was not to delve deeper into the lives of the core characters who remained on the canvas. (Alex’s family background is woefully underexplored.) Nor was it to slowly introduce an interesting replacement for George. It was, instead, to throw together a contrived hospital merger storyline and introduce half a dozen new residents in the space of fifteen minutes. Who are these people? Well one of the guys is kind of a jerk, another is cute and then there’s the woman who was already gone. The Seattle Grace residents likely regard the newcomers from Mercy as unwelcome invaders. Why should the audience think any differently?

3. Resident Evil
The show began as an in depth exploration of what it is like to be a surgical intern. It was thrilling to watch the characters learn to become competent doctors. We saw them go from doing blood tests and writing charts to performing vital roles in major surgeries. Once they became residents, their progress should have continued. There could have been so many great plots about them teaching interns and picking specialties. Instead, their teaching responsibilities were treated as jokes. The new interns were universally portrayed as incompetent. The only resident who seems to have settled on a specialty is Christina, not that she gets to pursue it since Seattle Grace no longer has a cardiac surgeon.

4. Lexi Is Still Grey’s Version of Cousin Oliver
Long lost siblings are great on the daytime soaps, but in primetime they are almost always annoying. Lexie ranks right up there with Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Dawn, and Gossip Girl’s Scott in terms of annoyance. From her photographic memory, to the way other characters constantly praise her, Grey’s is constantly instructing the audience to love and admire her. It has not worked. Whether she is guiltripping Meredith into donating a piece of her liver to the father she hates, or ripping off her clothes and begging Mark to teach her, Lexie is almost always unlikable and downright inappropriate. Though she has been part of the cast for longer than Owen she still seems like a tacked on newbie. Yet she is always front and center. Most episodes she has more to do than Derek. That is just plain wrong.

5. McDreamy is McAbsent
America fell in love with Derek Shepherd right along with Meredith. He was smart and quirky and gorgeous. It looked like he would be front and center this season, with an arc that suggested he would become the new Chief of Surgery. Instead, he has gotten less screen time than the annoying new residents. Patrick Dempsey is a bankable movie star. It is baffling that a show would not keep its popular leading man front and center. Last week’s episode focused on Derek. It was by far the season’s best. Let’s hope it’s the start of a trend.

6. The Drama 101 Monologues
Grey’s used to have great, albeit highly stylized, dialogue. Its linguistic influence was so great that everyone started saying, “Seriously,” and “Mc-blanky.” Now the creativity has turned into a cliche. At least once an episode a character launches into a soliloquy filled with repetitive declarative statements like, “You’re the guy who used to pour my cereal in the morning. That’s it. It’s all I remember about you. You’re not my father, you’re just the guy who used to pour my cereal. ” It’s cheesy, artificial and irritating.

7. The Growing Medical Incompetence
Seattle Grace used to be a great hospital. That was why nationally renowned doctors like Derek and Mark chose to work there. Patients received state of the art treatment from doctors who really cared. Those days are over. Today it is a hospital where the care is so shoddy that an entire episode was devoted to the numerous mistakes that let to a patient’s death. A show about a lousy hospital is not a light drama. It’s a horror story.

8. The Ruined Couples
Grey’s has a knack for creating rootable couples: Meredith and Derek, Alex and Izzie, Christina and Owen, even Callie and Arizona. Unfortunately, once they get together they become dysfunctional and unlikable. Izzie and Alex are not celebrating her miraculous survival. They are too busy resenting each other. Christina helps Owen through his PTSD only to have him treat her shabbily at work. Unrelenting misery is not entertaining. Grey’s needs to learn to write happy functional couples.

9. Lack of Memorable Patients
Remember the woman who swallowed the dolls heads in season one? How about the train crash victims who were impaled on the pole? They were interesting, likable, three dimensional characters unlike those on any other medical show. They made indelible impressions in just a few minutes of screentime. They were all in the first couple seasons of the show. Now all of the patients seem to exist solely to provide heavy handed parallels to the doctors personal lives. They are no longer distinctive, another symptom of how this show has lost its way.

10. Fail To The Chief
The Chief used to be everyone’s dream boss. He was a strong leader and mentor who was tough yet compassionate. When George failed his residency exam, he created a special Chief’s intern position to soften the blow. Now, he is completely incompetent. He hides in his office to avoid dealing with the problems his lack of leadership has created. He did not even bother to come up with a transition plan for the merger. It is difficult not to see him as a stand-in for series creator Shonda Rhimes, who is feeling the pressure of running two shows. Nobody sympathizes with a leader who refuses to step up and do his job.

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Question: Please give us some scoop on Alex and Izzie on Grey’s Anatomy. Is there any good news for them coming up? I’m dying here! —Rachel
Ausiello: My new BFF Shonda Rhimes says there are “some shocking things” in store for the newlyweds during the second half of the season. “The next part of [their] journey,” she teases, “is going to be pretty interesting.” I don’t know about you, but I get a little scared when Shonda throws words around like “pretty” and “interesting.”

This one is between Alex and the Chief

Yesterday, I added the screencaps of episode 3×07 Give Peace A Chance. Dissapointing episode for AI fans. No Izzie and then Alex had 4 scenes! Really crappy! Anyways here are 119 screencaps of Alex in 3×07.

ADL in N.J.: I can’t believe Izzie left Alex on Grey’s Anatomy! Will they get back together soon?
All we can promise is that Izzie will be back soon—Katherine Heigl is back on the set of Grey’s Anatomy this week, along with Ellen Pompeo—but no promises about a full Alex-Izzie reunion. (I mean, if you were Alex, you’d be pretty pissed at Izzie right about now, wouldn’t you? Hmmm, maybe Sarah Drew should move in for the kill?)

Justin made an appearance at the Monte Carlo Television Cocktail Party, last weekend. He was there with his wife Keisha.

I have these on my pc since like forever! I never updated them to the gallery, so here are some more episode stills of the Season Premiere 6×01 Good Mourning

Here are some candids of Katie and Josh out and about on October 20! You can view the photos in our gallery

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.

No word on whether or not Stella and Naleigh have come to work with their moms yet, but if Chyler Leigh’s experience with 5-month-old Anniston is any indication, they’re more than welcome on the family-friendly set. “My trailer is overtaken by kid’s stuff. Anniston has a buzzy chair, diapers, wipes, formula, toys,” she told PEOPLE in August. And the cast takes to it well, too. “Justin [Chambers] crowned [Anniston] baby Elvis because of her mowhawk!”

One thing is for sure — soon Anniston, Naleigh and Stella will have a new playmate: Eric Dane and his wife Rebecca Gayheart are expecting their first child together next year.

Izzie is still MIA so only Alex screencaps this week! I really liked the episode though. Something different for once. I have added 222 screencaps of Alex to the gallery. You can see them here!