Dissecting the Medical Drama “Grey’s Anatomy”
Natalie AconeMSS 332Section A
A Content Analysis
What is “Grey’s Anatomy?”
• Primetime television medical drama on ABC• Follows lives of doctors at Seattle Grace Hospital• Brings unique medical cases and dramatic personal
lives of doctors together
Research Question
• Is “Grey’s Anatomy” a balanced representation of both the medical and dramatic elements of a medical drama?
What constitutes a medical drama?
• Medicinal Themes + Personal Drama Themes = Medical Drama
• Equal balance of both– Both given equal amount of scenes
and air time
Medical Themes
• Patients• Hospital/clinic• Diagnosing• Treatments• Emergencies• Surgeries• Tests• Life of a doctor
Medical Content
• (5:18-6:10)• http://www.hulu.com/watch/176825/greys-an
atomy-with-you-im-born-again#s-p1-so-i0
Personal Drama Themes
• Relationships– Family– Friendships– Dating– Marriage– Sexual
• Life outside the hospital– Home– Bar
• Issues relating to the character– Loosing self– Finding self
Personal Life and Relationship Content
• (10:56-12:54)• http://www.hulu.com/watch/159423/greys-an
atomy-a-hard-days-night#s-p3-so-i0
Research• Looked at 6 episodes
– Season 1 Episodes 1+2– Season 4 Episodes 1+2– Season 7 Episodes 1+2
• Focused themes in the content• Units of measurement
– Number of scenes that featured theme
– Amount of air time (mins:secs) that featured theme
Theme Categories
Doctor-Patient Scenes• About the illness• Having to do with getting
through the illness• Having nothing to do with
the illness
Doctor-Doctor Scenes• About personal
life/relationships• When talking about patient• When acting as a
doctor/talking about being a doctor
*Red = Personal life/relationship content
*Purple = Medical content
Season and Episode About the illness(# and total airtime
mins:sec)
Having to do with getting through the
illness(# and total airtime)
Having nothing to do with the illness
(# and total airtime)
Season 1 Episode 1 5 2:11 2 1:36 2 1:17
Season 1 Episode 2 11 5:25 1 0:22 2 1:18
Season 4 Episode 1 7 2:10 6 4:55 1 :30
Season 4 Episode 2 8 4:00 2 :52 5 3:50
Season 7 Episode 1 1 1:03 2 2:49 0 0:00
Season 7 Episode 2 8 5:50 2 1:10 9 5:57
Totals: 40 20:39 15 11:44 19 12:02
Doctor-Patient Scenes
Doctor-Doctor ScenesSeason and Episode About personal
life/relationships(# and total airtime)
When talking about patient(# and total airtime)
When acting as a doctor/talking about being a doctor(# and total airtime)
Season 1 Episode 1 12 9:19 13 19:14 13 10:05
Season 1 Episode 2 15 9:00 15 8:25 17 18:30
Season 4 Episode 1 19 17:34 8 3:32 14 15:22
Season 4 Episode 2 29 25:47 10 3:08 10 5:23
Season 7 Episode 1 32 25:19 1 1:03 4 4:07
Season 7 Episode 2 31 18:44 8 9:38 5 2:12
Totals: 138 105:43 55 42:00 63 55:39
Surgery Scenes and Medical Cases
Season and Episode # of Surgery Scenes # of Medical Cases in Episode
Season 1 Episode 1 5 4Season 1 Episode 2 5 11Season 4 Episode 1 6 4Season 4 Episode 2 3 4Season 7 Episode 1 2 1Season 7 Episode 2 5 3Totals: 26 27
Medical Content vs. Personal Content in Each
Episode Medical Content Personal Drama Content
#of Scenes Airtime # of Scenes Airtime
Season 1 Episode 1 33 34:23 14 10:36
Season 1 Episode 2 144 31:42 17 10:18
Season 4 Episode 1 35 25:59 20 18:04
Season 4 Episode 2 30 12:23 34 29:37
Season 7 Episode 1 23 18:02 32 23:19
Season 7 Episode 2 23 18:50 40 24:46
Totals: 173 129:23 157 117:45
Comparing Content
Total Content From all 6 Episodes
Medical Content (by scene)Personal Drama Content (by scene)
Total Content From all 6 Episodes
Medical Content (air-time)Personal Drama Content (airtime)
Analysis
• Amount of scenes & air time spent on medical themes = amount of scenes & air time spent on personal drama themes
• “Grey’s Anatomy IS a balanced representation of both the medical and dramatic elements of a medical drama