You've got questions, we've got answers...

As some of you have already discovered, Shonda took the time last weekend to answer many of the "frequently asked questions" that have been posed to her over the last few weeks.  You can find the new FAQ here:

http://abc.go.com/primetime/greysanatomy/faq.html

It's a work in progress that she hopes to keep updating as the season progresses, and definitely worth checking out.

Comments

[iris]

The depth of communication between the writers and the world reflects the depth of the characters. Thank you for a show that does not vanish in an hour.

[Tina]

Thank you Shonda! There is justice in the world! I'm still upset about "Yesterday" but your blogs and FAQ's are so consoling and convincing and beautiful that I will just have to take your word for it that everything is going to be ok and that you guys really weren't drunk when you wrote that episode and you guys totally know what you are doing.

I have faith in the Grey's Anatomy writing team. Thank you for an amazing show and for being so great and loyal to your fans.

[Cori]

I already thanked you in the other blog post but thanks again =)! That was interesting.

[sophie]

i thought of a good idea for a FAQ!there has been a lot of talk of the exact ages of the characters. i figured that izzie is 27 because she had a kid at 16 and now the kid is 11 but the rest we can't tell the exact ages of. so it would be awesome if you could tell us how old each character is and make us feel like they are even more real then they already are to us!

thank you SO much for being so good to your fans. we seriously worship you guys! keep being wonderful!

[shewhoheartsshonda]

Hey,in Japan, young women say "Hontoni" or "Honto" or "Magi" alot. As a question, or in shock or as an expression of glee or dismay - anyhow they all mean seriously - seriously.

[Me]

Shonda,

You said you will post more responses as you get questions so here are a few that I have and that I have seen been asked several times before:

1. Why did Izzy prod George to confess his love for Meredith? Doesn't she know, as she is friends w/ Mere, that Mere has no interest in George whatsoever and he will only stand to get hurt?

2. Are you guys turning this into a soap opera? Because we really fell in love with the humor and sarcasm and patient cases which also made up a good bit of each episode. I guess this is more of a suggestion but can you please put more of that back in and a little bit less of the drama? Thanks

3. Why portray Meredith's mom as so promiscuous? She was such a smart, intelligent, well respected woman

4. Why was so little compassion shown for the lion boy? Nobody seemed that sad about that either.

Um I think that's it for now. I'll post more questions when I think of them :)

Keep up the awesomeness

In response to Ann (2/24 at 12:57pm):

I agree. There actually ARE fans that don't have sex with every flame or bf they've ever had. I hate how tv portrays sex as such a common, meaningless, frequent occurance on tv. Most of the people I know do not sleep with just anyone they meet at a bar and would not just randomly sleep with their nice guy friend when they are depressed.

So in that respect Shonda, a lot of your fans can NOT relate to Meredith's sleeping around. Because the way we were brought up, sleeping with that many guys IS considered whorish. Sorry :/

[Krys]

I love you... I honestly love you... I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of...

Sorry. This show and all of the writers and creators just make my heart sing.

I thought I loved Friends. But never in the entire run of that series did I feel a need to read FAQs, or learn more about what the writers were thinking, or wish that I could spend MORE time learning about the characters, etc.

I love GA in a way that shouldn't be legal. Oh, maybe it isn't!!!

Shonda, you will eventually tire of being told how incredibly wonderful you are, and how much we appreciate your willingness to shower us with attention. But for now, I will assume that you still enjoy it, and therefore, I say: You rock, girlfriend! Love you love you love you!

Shoot. I'm gushing. I never gush. Oh, here I go again...

You're the one that I want... Ooh ooh ooh... The one that I want...

[stacey]

may god - or michelle kwan - bless you for actually caring about your fans and writing these fabulous blogs.

[Katherine]

Thanks for all you do for us fans. The slices of sanity your show grants us when we're stressed about exams and need a break from the real world to watch an amazing cast of characters experience life in their version of the real world. Thank you!

I have a question for you. What is Dr. Addison Mongomery-Shepard's specialty? Because I'm personally interested in possibly pursuing surgery, and I can't figure out what exactly her area of expertise is. It seems to be above and beyond regular OB/GYN.

[Lacy]

"Where do the scrubs your characters wear come from? Because I'm a doctor and *they're* scrubs look amazing on them and, in real life, scrubs just hang from the female body like a big ugly sack."

Shonda, honey, you used the wrong they're/their. Can't help myself from nitpicking. I'm an editor; it's what I do.

[Heather]

If enough of us ask about McSteamy, will you let us know if he will be back at all? If not, maybe you could just keep his face in a box at the upper right hand corner of the tv. That'd be great. Thanks.

[Lisa]

Shonda (and the other PTB [Powers that Be] of Grey'a Anatomy),

You guys are awesome! We all appreciate the time you take to interact with your fans.

as for questions...

1)How much time has passed since the interns first started the program?

2) How old are the interns? Izzie is 27 based on her daughter's age, I guess Meredith, George and Alex at 27-28 (minimum), and Christina has to be at least 5 years older than that since she has a PhD (I'm a PhD student myself...).

Thanks again!!!

[DJ]

THANKS for having a writers' blog - amazing idea to let us know what went on in your brains as you were writing, plus learning about the thinking/writing process is really interesting, I wonder if any teachers out there can even use this kind of stuff to help their students see the process....
And now THANKS A TON for the FAQ's.
What an innovative website! I want to command everyone involved with the show for your incredible dedication to us the fans and for your grasp of current technology and its uses for viewers. ;-)
(I must say that not all TV websites and few shows' sites are as user-friendly as GA's.)

But regardless.... the explanation for Meredith/George still doesn't pass muster for me. Nope, I can't rely at all. Even if the point was to help George get past his Mer-addiction. Hopefully Meredith is going to redeem herself soon by doing something spectacularly nice and thoughtful and sacrificing on behalf of George. :-)

[DJ]

I second the question about ages.
Most people finish college at age 22, then take a couple years off to work. For med school I've been told that medical experience is basically a must during and/or after pre-med. Some people go in the Peace Corps, CityCorps, TeachForAmerica, also (2 years.) There's something good to a doctor who'd volunteer two years of his/her life for others.
So I'd assume that the interns' ages range between 27 and ~32. Am I wrong?
Is Christina the youngest? Because she doesn't look it but she acts it sometimes (in an 'immature genius' way). I'd venture Alex and Izzie are the oldest. Izzie because she would have had to work after college, even if in med school she paid bills by posing for magazines; Alex... just because he looks older than the others and has the slacker quality about him that doesn't indicate "went straight from college to med school". I'd put George as being younger than Meredith but it's hard to tell. Meredith would probably have the means to volunteer somewhere but George would have had the heart.
In any case they can't possibly ALL have gone straight from college to med school.
Also, apparently Christina was a chem-math-French major (and does not speak Chinese like Meredith assumed once!!) Wonder what she'd do if she had to handle a French speaking person - would she be in trouble because it's not literature, or would she take it in stride? Like, Canada isn't that far from Seattle, is it?

[Cheri Columbus, OH]

OK - here's a question for you. We know (and love) that the writers of the blogs read our comments...do the actors?

Thanks!
Cheri

[Cristina Tardaguila]

Hi there!
I am a Brazilian journalist who writes about TV on www.globo.com/tv and I´d like to interview Shonda about Grey´s Anatomy. Would it be possible to have an email address to send my questions? Mine is cristina@corp.globo.com.
Thanks a lot and congratulations for the show!

[Baylink]

I just *can't* get First Post these days.

Anyway, here come the flood of Infrequently Asked Questions.

According to Brainygirl, the Great Inmate Shuffle is now in progress, and they won't know til I think March which program they ended up in.

And yes "lick him inappropriately" is decidedly the coolest observation ever permitted to be made on a website owned by MouseCo.

Amazing what they'll let you pull when you're the number 3 show on TV, isn't it?

Again: ATTENTION POSTERS:

Speling. capitalization Punctuation.

Paragraph breaks.

If you don't want to give us other readers a break, think about the poor PA who's gotta *read* our crap.

And don't *rant*. Be polite, even if you're unhappy. (It's ok to be impolite if you're happy.)

Even if you're not posting under your real name, remember: Shonda Knows Who You Are.

[Shonna]

Could someone please tell us if things are going to look up for Addison. I love her and want to see her smile and be cute again

[Kimberly]

I gotta say, I'm a religious reader of Watch with Kirstin on E! and was very upset at the lack of spoilers. Until I found this blog. I would much rather give up the very few spoilers I *do* read to get an in-depth back story of the previous episodes. God bless you for understanding that Grey's fans want MORE, MORE, MORE. This satisfies me waaaay more than spoilers. Thank you for making the best damned show on TV!

[clarissa in Texas]

Love the show, Question: Are Meredith and George going to be a couple for a while? I certainly hope not, that would take away the chemistry of the show which is Derek and Meredith..

[bballmom]

I love seeing Loretta Devine as Dr. Webbers wife. Will she be back?

[a fan]

Excellent writing, excellent cast, and great music choices. You make the people watching want to know not only the cast better but the entire team that makes this show happen. Thank you for putting out such a wonderful show.

[SW]

Thank you for putting the blog up in the first place. This is the only show besides "Friends" that I can watch over and over again, and I think that that says alot about the writing. I LOVE the humour.

That said, M/D isn't the only relationship on the show, but that's the only thing that you talk about in your BLOG and in the PODCASTS. Please write more about the rest of the characters, specially Cristina and Burke. Is there a reason you aren't?

Everyone keeps talking about how much they LOVED the Burke/cristina dancing scene, but what we'd also like to know is how that came about, because it was so great and unexpected.

[Clarissa]

O.K., I just listened to the podcast with Shonda and Krista and guys... If you think the viewers want to see Mer/Ger together, you obviously are not listening to our pleas!! They do not have chemistry!! Krista made the comment that when there is a guy who is in love with the main character, it upsets her that the guy never gets the girl so you guys decided to write about how Mer/Ger would get together. I'm a viewer and personally I hate when writers do that to a great show, why does there always have to be the "quirky" guy fall for the main character? Every show has that!! You guys also made the comment that Mark wasn't originally going to make his appearance until the 3 or 4 season because it wouldn't have an impact on Derek and Addison's marriage because they would have worked out their issues by then.... I hope the show is not going in this route... We watch because we love the characters and because Derek and Meredith have so much chemistry!!!! What are you guys doing?