Birds on "Grey's Anatomy"!
On last night's episode of "Grey's Anatomy," birds appeared in a plotline. I didn't catch the entire episode but came into it when Izzie convinced a reluctant cardiac patient to go through with an unusual procedure -- open-heart surgery while awake but numb via an epidural. She did it by blurting "Ivory-billed Woodpecker."
Mr. Arnold, the patient, wanted to see the bird in Arkansas and agreed to the surgery. Izzie even put a picture of the bird on an IV pole next to Mr. Arnold's head.
When he panicked at being the object of attention during the surgery, Izzie encouraged Mr. Arnold to think of the people in the observation platform as birds and to describe them. He characterized one woman as an ibis, Dr. Yang as a Purple Sandpiper, Dr. Shepherd (aka McDreamy) as a Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush, and Dr. Webber as a Great Blue Heron that watches over and sees all... and the patient's anxiety decreased enough for the surgery to continue.
What I'd enjoy learning: Which writer introduced that storyline? Is that writer a birder? How'd that storyline come into play? How were those species chosen to represent the doctors?
Very cool that birds and birding enjoyed some prime-time minutes on a high-ranking show.
Mr. Arnold, the patient, wanted to see the bird in Arkansas and agreed to the surgery. Izzie even put a picture of the bird on an IV pole next to Mr. Arnold's head.
When he panicked at being the object of attention during the surgery, Izzie encouraged Mr. Arnold to think of the people in the observation platform as birds and to describe them. He characterized one woman as an ibis, Dr. Yang as a Purple Sandpiper, Dr. Shepherd (aka McDreamy) as a Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush, and Dr. Webber as a Great Blue Heron that watches over and sees all... and the patient's anxiety decreased enough for the surgery to continue.
What I'd enjoy learning: Which writer introduced that storyline? Is that writer a birder? How'd that storyline come into play? How were those species chosen to represent the doctors?
Very cool that birds and birding enjoyed some prime-time minutes on a high-ranking show.
Labels: Grey's Anatomy, Ivory-billed Woodpecker
posted by Amy at 11:15 AM
7 Comments:
Cool - I wish I'd seen the show!
You can see it online. Look for the 11.1 episode called "Kung Fu Fighting."
I obviously picked a bad season to stop watching Grey's Anatomy! Thank goodness for online episodes. The bird choices were so arcane that one of the writers has to either be a birder or know one pretty well (rather like this piece in The Onion).
Cool--we don't have TV (other than DVDs and videos) but that's a pretty decent show when I've watched it while in bars, motel rooms, and such. (gee, that sounds a lot worse than I meant it to)
Those are some pretty odd birds to call out, minus the blue heron. Interesting.
I knew what you meant, Delia ;) I typically watch TV only while traveling (e.g. while in hotel rooms).
I saw the whole episode and thought the same thing---yay for birds and birders in prime time!! And not in a silly way, but in a life-changing, passion for a good hobby kind of way.
Reminds me of the time that Daryl Hannah said she was a birder on the BBC So Graham Norton show. He asked if she took that hobby with her everywhere and she replied that she had the Sibley's guide in her guest room at that very moment.
Yay for birders on TV!
Quack Quack from Oregon. Glad to see any bird exposure in the learning forum. Thx GA, you're not as bad as I thot. Odd birds to pick, but no odd ducks. Must have been in Washington.
Post a Comment
<< Home