Moral of the Story: What I learned from Medical Dramas

I can't watch Grey's Anatomy or House with my dad anymore. I love him, but he insists on pointing out everything wrong with what's going on in the show. "No hospital is filled with doctors that good-looking." "He's holding that X-ray upside down." "The problem is with the patient's heart" (that one is usually about 10-minutes into an episode of House, where it takes House and his team 42 minutes to figure it out). Dangit, dad, it's television and I don't care.

Well, only part of me cares that it's not completely accurate, because the rest of me is busy being entertained and pulled into the drama. Not only do I love the medical parts, but let's be real, Meredith and Derek, Dr. House and Cuddy, no more drama has ever been seen in a hospital probably.  If you don't watch either of these....eh, it's probably too late now to catch up, but you can catch House reruns on Tuesday nights, so that's something. Here are five things I've learned in my almost-decade of watching Grey's Anatomy and House. Also, has it really been that long??

1. Friends are the actual best -- especially having that one "person."

Wilson is the rock in this relationship, but House wears the pants.

Eh, Meredith and Cristina are both kinda screwed up, but it works.

2. Office romances are awful until they're great until they're awful again. -- There are a lot of ups and downs in office/hospital relationships, like most regular relationships. But if you date someone that you work with, there are 1,000 more opportunities for awkward encounters, emotion-laden glances from a distance, and opportunities to make a statement and then walk away without waiting for a response.

Sure, everyone looks happy now, but just wait an episode or two... 

3. A group of coworkers needs a place to hang out and discuss the day's events/current dramas -- For Meredith and the gang, it's Joe's, for House's team, it's their locker room. Everyone needs a place to be able to talk about what's going on for their benefit and ours. Also, who doesn't want to go to a place like Joe's every Friday night?

4. A white board is the best way to DDX a problem (I also learned that DDX means "diagnose") -- House uses one, and he's a genius. He also uses his team as human white boards, so generally having something or someone to bounce ideas off of will help with many problems.

5. Take time to celebrate victories with a 30-second Dance Party.

Though House is over, Grey's is still going strong and starts back in a few weeks. It'll be interesting to see where this season goes, and what I'll learn from my favorite fake doctors.

Do/did you watch Grey's or House? Do you love them as much as I do? 

A Study in Sherlock

Every few weeks or so, I post something about a new show that I love or have recently started loving. One of my first posts was about Downton Abbey, then it was Breaking Bad, then Hell on Wheels, and most recently, Call the Midwife. The reason I so easily become obsessed with these shows is because they are great stories that are very well told...it's that simple. If you know me, you know I love a good story, be it a novel, a movie or a TV show. Writing that manages to produce rich characters, plot and dialogue is hard, so I'm always impressed when they make it look so easy.

Today, I'm talking about "Sherlock" on the BBC. While I did like the movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, that's for another day. And I have some serious problems with "Elementary" on CBS... with Sherlock in New York with a female Dr. Watson. Now, I have no issue with Lucy Liu as Watson, but Sherlock Holmes and London go together like tea and crumpets, and to separate them is just...nonsensical.

The BBC's "Sherlock" has everything that I expect from a Sherlock Holmes show, and they've successfully modernized it to current day London. Instead of letters and elementary forensics, there are cell phones and advanced science helping out the Baker Street duo. Watson is the narrator in many of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, and in "Sherlock," he is writing a blog about all their adventures. Of course the focal point of the show is Sherlock, who is unpredictable and unpleasant, but somehow so appealing. For me, it's those rare moments of sentiment and softness that make him likable.

This is not one of those moments, but one of the first scenes we meet Sherlock, he's sizing up Watson to be his roommate, and it kind of gives me chills how awesome it is:

There are so many other great quotes that I couldn't choose just a few, so of course I turn to Buzzfeed to do the work for me. Check it out.

Also, I would go on about how handsome I think Benedict Cumberbatch is, but I will spare you.

Another great thing about this show is that it comes on right after Downton Abbey, so my Sunday nights are so chock full of drama and intrigue that I can barely stand to get up the next morning. So, let's raise a cup of tea to many more nights of "Sherlock."

I'd love to know, what's your favorite show? Do you love Sherlock as much as I do? What other shows should I be watching?