Hello? "Grey's Anatomy"?

Before last night, I had never seen a full episode of "Grey's Anatomy." I know it's where Katherine Heigl got her start. I know there's a gay actor, and there was some controversy about homophobic remarks between one star and another. Frankly, I never cared all that much. Being averse to medical dramas in general, I avoided this one in particular. Following last night's sample, I plan to continue in the future.

Apparently there was a crossing of story arcs last night, involving a convicted and condemned serial killer with a brain injury, and a dying kid in need of a liver and an intestine. Three guesses where this is headed. Yup. Serial Killer, slated to be executed within a week, is a perfect match for the Dying Kid. I will spare you the various twists and turns, but it all culminated in a scene wherein Dying Kid's doctor implores the Serial Killer's brain surgeon (in the OR... surrounded by OR personnel) to let him die on the operating table so the kid can have the organs. After much pontification and cogitation, Serial Killer is healed and survives long enough to be executed, and Dying Kid's story arc gets another (ludicrously tidy yet dramatic) conclusion.

I realize that griping about "Grey's Anatomy" on medical grounds is roughly as sensible as studying old episodes of "Ally McBeal" in preparation for the bar exam. But I just can't help myself. A situation like last night's climax occurs in real life slightly less often than never. There were more lapses in medical ethics in one fifteen-minute span than I can even accurately recall, and that's not including the surgeon with the broken penis. (Yes, that's right. Broken penis.) A surgeon that would pause mid-surgery while his patient's brain hemorrhages in order to hold forth on his responsibilities qua surgeon is known, in real life, as "fired."

I know that night-time dramas are more concerned with exciting stories than medical veracity. I'm neither hopelessly naive nor ridiculously idealistic. But surely, surely they could make some kind of effort to retain at least a nodding acquaintance with reality.

And don't get me started on "Private Practice."