Seriously? Seriously.

Here's my problem with Grey's Anatomy.  It takes itself too seriously.

I've had my issues with Grey's over the past couple seasons, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint why the show had started to drive me crazy.  Sure, they made Izzie and George hook up in an adulterous and kind of gross relationship.  Then they made Izzie emotionally unstable and neurotic.  Then they had McDreamy dating some random nurse lady.  And then this season, they apparently brought Denny back from the dead.

Tonight was the "big reveal."  Izzie finally figured out that she's got something wrong with her, and she is in the process of dying.  That's why Denny has been with her for the past several months.  He showed up because he was "here for her."  As in, he was the guy who would take her to heaven or hell when she does die.  And apparently that was his heaven—being able to be with her when she dies.

Here's my question:  why on earth did it take Izzie so long to figure out what the rest of us knew in September?  My answer:  because Grey's takes itself too seriously.

Any normal person (especially any normal doctor) would've been able to figure out that the presence of her dead fiance meant something was wrong with her neurological function.  Especially when that normal person began having conversations with the dead guy, making out with the dead guy, and finally—yes, they went there—sleeping with the dead guy.  A normal person's boyfriend would've suggested that his girlfriend talk to a psychiatrist if she was regularly conversing and having sex with someone who died several years ago.  And a normal doctor would've suggested an MRI to rule out a brain tumor.

But that's not what happened in this season of Grey's.  No ... we, the viewers, were left on our own for four infuriating months while Denny hung around making the show entirely implausible.  And it all led up to this "surprise."  The surprise that everyone living outside of Seattle Grace figured out many months ago.

I have to say that the scene when Izzie finally figured it out was really well done.  It was emotional, it was painful ...  but it was also over the top.  Because Grey's just takes itself too seriously.

I finally figured this out last weekend when I caught an episode of Grey's on Lifetime.  Apparently it's on syndication on Lifetime, and I happened to catch one of the very first episodes ... back from 2005.  It must've been only 2 or 3 episodes in because Alex and Christina were meeting for the first time.  And it was so great.  The show was witty, the characters were being developed, the patients had plausible yet interesting problems ... all in all, it reminded me of why I fell in love with Grey's to begin with.  But the kicker ... well, the kicker was in the opening titles.  I had completely forgotten about Grey's old opening titles.  You know—the one with the song "nobody knows where they might end up" and the gurney and the eyelash curler and the curtain being drawn closed and the red shoes.  Whatever happened to that?

There are no more opening songs or titles.  It's just a very intense scene and then ... "Grey's Anatomy" comes up on a black, gray, or white screen (I guess depending on what they feel is appropriate for that day).  As far as I can remember, this all started back when the ferry crashed and Meredith died (but then came back to life).  That's the first I remember seeing of this super serious Grey's opening, and I guess it just never went away.  Why, you ask?  Because that's when Grey's started to take itself too seriously, and apparently the writers still do.

Don't get me wrong—there are still wonderfully emotional moments and clever aspects to the show.  The scene where Derek was dancing a couple weeks ago to make Meredith smile ... that was amazing.  It reminded me of why we all love McDreamy.  And the scene tonight where Meredith went to the serial killer's execution and found the whole process emotionally devastating?  That was beautiful and moving and exquisitely done.

But those moments are few and far between now.  There's obviously still enough to keep me tuning in week after week ... I am, after all, a perpetual optimist.  I just keep thinking that the show's going to turn itself around.  But that hope keeps dwindling smaller and smaller with every passing episode.  Burke is long gone, rumor is Izzie wants out (which may very well be the case given the "shocking news" of a fatal illness), and George wants to hit the road now too (although, can anyone blame him?  He hasn't been given a decent story line in years).  The fact of the matter remains that Grey's won't be able to truly redeem itself until the writers stop taking the show so seriously.

I mean ... give us our old Grey's back.  Seriously.