Grey's Anatomy is a ratings monster, absolutely beating down any and all comers on Thursday nights, including, this week, the NCAA tournament.  Coming in with 22.5 million total viewers last night, Grey's had twice as many viewers as its nearest time slot competitor.  Of course, this isn't terribly surprising, given the fact that Grey's Anatomy has consistently been on top of the Nielsen rankings this year, but I assumed that the NCAA tournament would at least put a dent in their ratings.

Not so much.  The demographics are different for Grey's and basketball, so I guess you can chalk up Grey's ratings being unharmed to that.  So, now that you know Grey's dominated the world last night, I want to talk about something else: the Grey's Anatomy spin-off and what kind of ratings I think it'll get.


As you have likely heard, Grey's Anatomy is going to have a spin-off beginning next fall, starring Kate Walsh (who plays Dr. Addison Montgomery).  The motivation by ABC is obvious: they think the Grey's spin-off will be a lucrative endeavor.  I think they're probably right, but I wouldn't be as gung-ho about it as ABC seems to be.  The thing about spin-offs is they usually suck. 

I don't count the CSI's and Law & Orders, because those are procedural shows that rely on formulas.  They are easy to replicate.  Spin-offs that rely on characters are much trickier.  Will the Grey's spin-off try to be as close to the original as possible?  How far will the departure be?  Can Kate Walsh carry her own show?

These are all worthy questions.  ABC better make sure they put out a quality product, because the Grey's stigma alone will not be enough to get big ratings for the spin-off.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer