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“Grey’s Anatomy” Season 1, Episode 1, “A Hard Day’s Night,” features one of the most memorable opening scenes in medical drama history. It begins as “Grey’s Anatomy” main character Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) slowly wakes up and immediately has to deal with the aftermath of a one-night stand with the scantily clad Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). Before long, the audience discovers that it’s her first day as a surgical intern at Seattle Grace … and to her horror, he’s the same hospital’s chief of neurosurgery.
Even today, “A Hard Day’s Night” is one of the best “Grey’s Anatomy” episodes, and its opening made for a fun, daring tone-setter. The scene also received intense pushback from ABC, thanks to the network’s host of male executives who failed to see why the show would portray a female protagonist in such a situation. “There were big debates about the big reveal [of Meredith’s romp with Derek],” an unnamed former ABC Studios executive shared in an excerpt from Lynette Rice’s book “How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy,” published in Entertainment Weekly. “Most of the men wanted to take the scene out,” the former exec explained. “You’re taking your heroine to a place where she’s too promiscuous!”
Things were heated enough that “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes was scolded by ABC higher-ups about the scene and how they felt it portrayed Meredith. “I got called into a room with a bunch of people who said, ‘You can’t put a woman on television who had sex with a guy the night before she started work,'” Rhimes recounted in the book. “Because they said no woman does that, and the kind of woman who does is really trashy. There were all these old men in the room, and I had no idea how to respond.”
A real-life story ended up clearing the opposition
Today, the world of TV is rife with Shondaland series, and “Grey’s Anatomy” still arguably ranks as the best Shonda Rhimes show out there. During the debate over the show’s opening scene, however, Rhimes’ biggest credits were writing the Britney Spears film “Crossroads” and co-writing the Garry Marshall-directed comedy “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement,” as she was only at the beginning of her illustrious producing career. Thus, there’s no telling what would have happened in the battle over the “Grey’s Anatomy” opening scene if it wasn’t for the interference of Betsy Beers, Rhimes’ creative partner.
“The moment I knew that Betsy Beers and I were going to be friends for the rest of our lives, she opened her mouth and said, ‘I f***** a guy the night before my first day of work,'” Rhimes revealed. “She told the raunchiest story, and none of the men could get away fast enough. And no one ever brought it up again.”
Beers’ contribution having closed the conversation, the scene ultimately made it to the screen. The fact that “Grey’s Anatomy” premiered in 2005, and Season 22 debuted in 2025, it’s safe to say that it didn’t exactly deter the show’s runaway success.