Seriously, 'Grey's Anatomy' is back

A TV show shouldn't make you angry. Yet that's exactly the emotion I experienced while watching the opening minutes of the two hour season premiere of Grey's Anatomy (Thursday, NBC, 9 p.m.). I won't give away anything but I will say that I found the scene simply ridiculous.

I'm beginning to accept that Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) may be a completely unsalvagable character and that I'm better off completely ignoring her story line. The big hype this year is that Meredith and Derek are going to find out what happens when they are living their "happily ever after" existence. But in order to want to see that, I have to want them together in the first place, which I don't. Turns out Meredith is just as whiny and annoying when she's happy as she is when she's sad. When she says things like, "I'm afraid of having a happy ending," I want to throw something at my TV. Do you know anyone who talks like that? The show would be much better off without the "happy" couple.

Because the rest of the two hours is pretty good. The best part is the arrival of Kevin McKidd (the star of last season's underrated Journeyman) as renegade (and of course sexy) army doctor Major Owen Hunt. His scenes with Cristina (Sandra Oh) are a lot of fun and it's great to have Cristina back to being a little more herself. Plus none of their verbal sparring happens in an elevator -- a welcome change of pace. Cristina has one line -- you'll know it when you hear it -- when I think she's speaking for the entire audience.

I'm a little concerned about the multiple romances the show is brewing among the people in the opening credits. It feels repetitive and derivative of paths they've gone down before. The show is becoming far too incestous. In this episode Lexie learns that George, who she now is in love with, has slept with Meredith, her half-sister. George needs a reprieve from dating anyone he works with.

The smartest thing the show does in the opening is have Richard give the doctors of Seattle Grace a smackdown. He promises change is going to come to the hospital and I can only hope he's right. I think it's a three star premiere and I can't wait to hear what you guys think about it.

Lipstick Jungle

Last season I didn't think Cashmere Mafia or Lipstick Jungle were particularly great shows but if I had to choose I definitely would have gone with Cashmere Mafia. There's something about Lipstick Jungle that just doesn't ring true for me at all. There are many "see what great friends we are" scenes but I simply don't believe any of them.

Rosie Perez joins the cast this season as Victory's (Lindsay Price) publicist but she's the kind of character that only exist on TV. In the premiere (tonight at 10 p.m. on NBC), the series is clearly trying to hard to come up with Sex & the City catch phrases and plot lines but none of their efforts really pay off. Nico's (Kim Raver) visit to a plastic surgeon is silly but not entertaining. Nico's story line takes an abrupt turn towards the end of the premiere that is both clichéd and an easy way out of a story line that the show probably decided it didn't want to pursue any more.

There is one really compelling reason to tune in tonight. Mary Tyler Moore guest stars as Wendy's (Brooke Shields) mom and the scenes between Moore and Shields are great. Wendy's is the only story line I was still invested in by the end of the second episode NBC sent me for review (it airs next week).

After you've watched Lipstick Jungle, let me know what you think.

Knight Rider

I have a confession to make. I couldn't watch Knight Rider. I just couldn't. I started to but it was so bad I couldn't keep going. It actually seemed like it was going to be worse than the disastrous movie that aired last spring.

So I outsourced this to a fan of the original who called it "a cross between Transformers and The Fast & the Furious: Tokyo Drift." And declared it to be "not unwatchable." Not exactly an overwhelming endorsement. Watch if you dare and let me know what you think.

Ask TV Gal

Can you tell us whether The Middleman (ABC Family's fast-paced throw-back to snappy dialogue and corny fun) garnered enough viewers to return for a second season? I really enjoyed this silly, but often brilliant, show. Spuffy

Alas Spuffy (is that your real name?), I checked with my friends over at ABC Family and the network hasn't made a decision about whether the show will return for a second season. But when I know, you'll know.

Fun links

You can get a sneak peek at the new season of Chuck by clicking here.

And if you want to learn more about life at the Buy More, click here.

Where Have I Seen Them Before?

Kevin Rahm was the missing person on Without a Trace. Rahm will be seen this Sunday as Wisteria Lane resident Lee on Desperate Housewives. He was also Kyle on Judging Amy and Dr. Danny Kozak on Jesse.

Shaun recognized Ally Walker as the opposing counsel who also happened to be Alan's ex-girlfriend on Boston Legal. She was Sam on Profiler and we saw her last season as Katie in Tell Me You Love Me. William Daniels, Mr. Feeny on Boy Meets World and Dr. Mark Craig on St. Elsewhere, was the judge presiding over the tobacco case.

Ryan was so excited to see Bruce Boxleitner as the governor on Heroes. He was Capt. John Sheridan on Babylon 5 and Ryan will always remember him as Lee Stetson on Scarecrow & Mrs. King.

Michelle caught Rena Sofer as Charlie's ex-girlfriend on Two and a Half Men. Among her many roles, Sofer was Heidi Petrelli on Heroes, Marilyn Bauer on 24, Susan on Coupling, Bonnie on Ed and Eve on Melrose Place.

Michelle also recognized Tamara Mello, Lily on Popular, was Nicky, the girl who threw up on Sam on Worst Week.

Kristina caught Dean Norris, Hank on Breaking Bad, doing double duty on FOX last week. He was the manager of the plant on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and then as the man who had a dog fighting ring on Bones.

That's all for today. I realized that My Own Worst Enemy doesn't premiere until Ocotber 13 so I'm postponing my review of that show. I'm back on Friday with quotes of the week and to talk about the season premieres of Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters -- two series that took risks in their season finales. Did those risks pay off? We'll talk about it on Friday. Have a question? Seen a familiar face? Want to nominate a quote of the week? Write me at amytvgal@zap2it.com. Talk to you on Wednesday.

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