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PATRICK DEMPSEY (left, with Pompeo) ''I talked to Shonda,'' he says, ''but she was just trying to keep up with the number of episodes that were demanded of her with starting a new show. So I think she was feeling overwhelming burnout''
Scott Garfield

Fans were vocal too, blasting the show on Grey's Anatomy blogs. Said one poster on the EW.com message board, ''The chemistry between Mer and Der is the magic of the show. We want our Grey's Anatomy back!'' Fired another, ''George and Izzie as a couple? Cringeworthy. God-awful. Just...no.'' That type of instant viewer response poses a unique quandary for the creators of television's current hit dramas — from Lost to Desperate Housewives to Heroes and, indeed, to Grey's. (Imagine, for example, if the Dallas audience had successfully demanded that Sue Ellen shoot J.R. instead of Kristin.) Mythologies and serialized storytelling invite fan participation, and Rhimes was faced with a pressing question: How do you please die-hard viewers but at the same time carry out a creative vision that may not win you any popularity contests?

The 100-day writers' strike pretty much solved that problem for her. During the forced hiatus, Rhimes screened all three and a half seasons of Grey's and the first nine episodes of Private Practice (after taking a month off to sleep, of course). While she still defends some of her decisions — ''I never said George and Izzie were a great love story. They made a mistake. George needed a way out of his marriage'' — she also admits that the break made her realize it was high time to announce a reconciliation between Meredith and Derek. ''I'm notoriously secretive about what's going to happen on the show. But when the strike happened, fans were left in the lurch,'' says Rhimes, who's been able to focus all her attention on Grey's post-strike episodes after ABC pushed Practice's return until fall. ''I wanted the fans to have something to hold on to while they were waiting for the show to come back.'' Pompeo is happy that Rhimes acknowledged the vitriolic reactions. ''If there are no fans, there is no advertising money. And if there is no advertising money, there is no show,'' she says. ''The fans are the show.''

NEXT PAGE: ''I did say they were going to be together, but I don't think I ever said they were going to be happy.''


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