Want to feel old or guilty that you watch too much TV, or both? Consider this—the same week in 2005, America got two new characters they’d fall in love with (and sometimes love to hate): Meredith Grey on Grey’s Anatomy and Michael Scott on The Office. That was 20 years ago this week, and here’s my humble opinion about how and why Grey’s Anatomy is still going strong, and the reasons The Office sputtered to an end in 2013. (But there’s signs of life via a reboot—more on that in a minute.)
I’m not ashamed to say I still remember watching the first episode of Grey’s when it aired on ABC on March 27, 2005. The neurotic-but-cute Meredith Grey seemed cool, assuaging her night-before jitters as an intern by hooking up with an angelic-looking guy in a bar. I was surprised when, the next day, it turned out her boss was that guy, Derek Shepard aka McDreamy, and an on-again/off-again romance and series trademark of wild occurrences and coincidences was launched.
Just a few days earlier on NBC, March 24, 2005, The Office premiered. Initially I was underwhelmed, since I’d loved the original English version of the series starring Ricky Gervais, which I thought was edgier and funnier. However, Micheal Scott grew on me as the clueless, tone-deaf leader of an unassuming office named Dunder-Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Additionally, I grew fond of this pack of unremarkable but lovably relatable office workers too, and I joined the rest of America in my repelled attraction to both the mocumentary form and the cringe comedy genre, both of which would recur in subsequent series like Parks & Recreation.
