Finding "My Person"

Last week in the office, I did something a little silly. I openly acknowledged my love for Grey's Anatomy to everyone. Now, I know what you may think. "Grey's Anatomy?! Didn't it jump the shark when Izzie started having hallucinations about her dead boyfriend/when Meredith and Derek actually got and stayed together/when they made a musical episode?"

And yes, it would seem that Grey's has joined the ranks of super-popular doctor dramas that start out amazing (if still a bit far-fetched) but ultimately get worse and worse with each season. And yes, I maybe wanted to stop watching all together when everyone began to belt out their frustrations a la High School Musical. But when I didn't, something pretty cool happened. The show became awesome again.[[MORE]]

I understand that there must be some people who think Grey's never lost its mojo, but I think we can all agree that this current season has gotten the show back to its roots with a good mix of borderline realistic story lines that I actually care about and interesting medical cases that ultimately attach me to both the core group of main characters and the transient guest stars.

Here, I'm thinking primarily of the Valentine's Day episode and the woman who stormed out of her and her boyfriend's apartment after she thought he was not going to propose to her, disappointing her as he'd done year after year. Since this is still Grey's Anatomy, he had of course planned on proposing to her via an ugly piece of jewelry, but got hit by a truck chasing after her and died. Surprise!

But who didn't feel totally devastated on that woman's behalf? Who didn't hate the unfairness of it all? In a mere 45 minutes, I was tied up in this couple's story, and could see them existing in reality. How did the writers work that out? In terms of script writing, I think that episode managed to accomplish something that seems impossible: getting the audience to care about a minor character that they know will not reappear. And this is something good television shows manage to do on a weekly basis.

Personally, as I face the task of molding my own major and minor characters into a script of my own, it makes me realize the importance of characterizing even those "littlest" of parts. Perhaps it's a matter of negotiating stock characteristics that many will understand, such as the spineless boyfriend and marriage-hungry girlfriend, with quirky and individual traits, or scenarios that make people stand out. At this point, I'm thinking that will be my strategy. Not reinventing the wheel, so to speak, but adding some hot spinning rims to preexisting wheels.

So now I turn it over to all of you. Any guilty-pleasure television shows that you plan on using for inspiration this April? Any strategies for making characters come alive not only on paper, but through an actor on stage or screen?

- Shelby

Photo by Flickr user skunks