How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey's Anatomy

by Lynette Rice

Overview

The first inside story of the cultural touchstone that redefined television - this is the unauthorized, unfiltered, and unbelievably juicy account of Grey's Anatomy.

More than fifteen years after its premiere, Grey's Anatomy remains a beloved drama and ABC's most important property. It typically wins its time slot and has ranked in the Top 20 most-watched shows in primetime for most of its seventeen-season run, currently averaging over eight million viewers weekly.

Grey's Anatomy has made household names of Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, and T.R. Knight, launched the unique voice of Shonda Rhimes, and injected phrases like "McDreamy," "seriously," and "you're my person" into the cultural lexicon. The behind-the-scenes drama has always been as captivating as the on-screen storylines, from Isaiah Washington's controversial departure to Katherine Heigl's fall from grace and Patrick Dempsey's shocking death episode.

In How to Save A Life, Lynette Rice offers exclusive intel on the show's humble start, the behind-the-scenes culture, the most heartbreaking departures and the more polarizing plotlines. This enthusiastic and unauthorized deep dive is a must-have for any die-hard Grey's Anatomy fan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250272010
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/21/2021
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

LYNETTE RICE has covered the entertainment industry for twenty-five years. She's currently an editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly and was the only journalist to secure an exclusive interview with Patrick Dempsey after his 2015 departure from Grey's Anatomy. She previously wrote about the TV industry for The Hollywood Reporter. A native of Redlands, California, How to Save a Life is her first book. She lives in Sherman Oaks, California.

Table of Contents

Author’s Note
Cast of Characters
1 “Pick Me, Choose Me, Love Me,” or, How It All Began
2 “The Fairy Tale May Be Slightly Different Than You Dreamed,” or, Working with an Ensemble
3 “You Give Them Someone to Run To,” or, The Care and Feeding of Fans and Media
4 “He’s Gone. I’m Free,” or, How Isaiah Washington Brought Shame to Seattle Grace
Interlude: “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol
5 “I Need a Reason to Get Up Every Morning,” or, How Addison Montgomery Kicked Off the Spin- offs
6 “You Fought. You Loved. You Lost,” or, A Look Back at Some of the Most Polarizing Relationships on the Show
7 “There’s an End to Every Storm,” or, How Katherine Heigl Went from Famous to Downright Infamous
Interlude: “How to Save a Life” by the Fray
8 “He’s Very Dreamy, but He’s Not the Sun,” or, How Grey’s Anatomy Loved—Then
Learned to Live Without—Patrick Dempsey
9 “It’s a Beautiful Day to Save Lives,” or, The Guest Stars Who Survived and Some Who Didn’t
10 “Somebody Sedate Me,” or, How Grey’s Anatomy Managed to Gross You Out
11 “Not Everyone Has to Be Happy All the Time. That Isn’t Mental Health. That’s Crap,” or, Eleven of the Most Memorable Episodes of Grey’s Anatomy
12 “Trauma Always Leaves a Scar,” or, The Most Heartbreaking Departures and Deaths . . .
Interlude: “Keep Breathing” by Ingrid Michaelson
13 “We Have to Keep Reinventing Ourselves, Almost Every Minute, Because the World Can Change in an Instant,” or, How Shonda Rhimes and Ellen Pompeo Became the Highest-Paid
Women in Television
14 “Everybody Wants Their Place in History,” or, Deciding When to Hang Up the Scrubs
Entertainment Weekly Sources
Acknowledgments
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This juicy oral history will be a comforting read for those who've been there since the beginning." —Booklist

From the Publisher

10/22/2021

Rice (editor at large, Entertainment Weekly) has compiled a "totally unauthorized" oral history of the long-running medical TV drama Grey's Anatomy, complete with gossip and backstabbing comments about the series' stars and its creator, Shonda Rimes. Rice interviewed nearly 80 different individuals involved in the making of the show (those who chose to remain anonymous are credited as a "person familiar with the situation" or similar) and pieced together quotes from previously published interviews with Grey's figures she wasn't able to speak to, including Rimes. Rice focuses largely on the actors' bad behavior and scandals—including those that made headlines (Isaiah Washington's homophobic comments; Katherine Heigl's voicing her displeasure with the script) and those that didn't (Patrick Dempsey's complaining that allegedly created a negative atmosphere on set; Ellen Pompeo's dislike for learning her lines)—but she also includes an entertaining interview with the Fray, whose song "How To Save a Life" became the group's highest-charting tune thanks to its use on multiple Grey's episodes. Sadly, the book doesn't examine the show's 17th season, which covered both the pandemic in real time and ongoing human rights issues. VERDICT There's a simple reason why Grey's is entering its 18th season: its passionate superfans, who will devour this tell-all book.—Lisa Henry, Kirkwood P.L., MO

Library Journal