aneurysm (ny-rzm)

A localized, blood-filled dilation of a blood vessel or cardiac chamber caused by disease, such as arteriosclerosis, or weakening of the vessel or chamber wall. A ruptured aneurysm results in hemorrhage and is often fatal.

In case of medical trauma, please send Grey’s Anatomy’s McDreamy or McSteamy and you know, a cardiac doc, too – not sure WHO that is anymore thanks to ABC and their need to F with me.

I don’t want to talk about politics – yet. I’ll make my big votey post later AFTER I’ve voted this afternoon. I’m not going to post my Top 5 Tuesday post either yet, but be waiting for it later when I dish on the top 5 places I want to check out before I check out. And no, this isn’t my Teaser Tuesday post either – that will be also somewhere in the mix of the four (4) posts I have planned for today, with a teaser quote from Rumors: A Luxe Novel by Anna Godbersen.

So if this post isn’t about 1, 2 or 3, what could I possibly have to write about on this brisk Tuesday? What could be MORE important to me than today’s election, the fabulous book I’m reading or another terrific meme? What indeed. Well I won’t say it’s more important, but important to me, surely. And no, it’s not about John Mayer’s love life either. It’s not about 1, 2 or 3 – folks, I want to talk about ABC and their sudden bout of blatant homophobic anti-gay absurdity.

Apparently with no writer’s strike to cause trouble to my favorite shows, something else ridiculous had to hit the Fan – the Fan being me. Two of my favorite shows have been hit with the stupid stick this season and it isn’t the writer’s faults, it’s all on ABC. Actress Rebecca Romijn—who plays transgender Alexis Meade on Ugly Betty was recently fired from the hit show, her character hopping on a plane to France to meet the boy that she apparently fathered before becoming a woman. Daniel Junior. I didn’t realize at the time that anything was amiss but this morning my RSS feeds were flooded with the bad news. ABC also forced the hands of Shonda Rhimes who let actress Brooke Smith go – Smith plays (played?) Dr. Erica Hahn on Grey’s Anatomy (you know my favorite show ever) after getting orders from up above. Shonda says the following about the firing of Brooke Smith:

Clearly it’s not an issue as we have a lesbian character on the show – Calliope Torres. Sara Ramirez is an incredible comedic and dramatic actress and we wanted to be able to play up her magic. Unfortunately, we did not find that the magic and chemistry with Brooke’s character would sustain in the long run. The impact of the Callie/Erica relationship will be felt and played out in a story for Callie. I believe it belittles the relationship to simply replace Erica with ‘another lesbian.’ If you’ll remember, Cristina mourned the loss of Burke for a full season.

Whatever. It’s pretty obvious to me that her hands were tied in this situation. I highly doubt those are her actual opinions on the subject, but I’m also pretty sure that if she said what she really felt that her shows would be canned faster than you can say … a really fast word. Point is, she’s not stupid. And I’m not upset with her at the moment. I think the news speaks for itself. Regardless of who is to blame Smith’s last episode airs in two nights and her departure is neither obvious or well explained. In an interview with my favorite spoiler source, Michael Ausellio, Smith says a lot about being let go including the following snippet:

When did you find out?
I found out in mid-September soon after shooting the monologue that aired last week where Erica has the revelation that she’s gay. They even came down and told me it was a great scene — one of the best they ever shot on the show. So I was really, really shocked. I was floored when they told me [I was being let go]. It was the last thing I expected. In fact, when they told me I asked, “When is this happening?” And they said, “The [next episode] is your last,” which is the one that airs this Thursday. So it was very sudden.

How are you written out?
I’m not written out. My final scene is just me heading to my car. I honestly don’t know what happens in the next episode. I heard not much. [Quick sidebar: This sheds new light on Mary McDonnell’s arrival next week as a top cardiac doc.]

Who broke the news to you?
Shonda.

Did she seem upset?
She did seem upset. I wasn’t having a very good week that week. I was like, “Oh, God, what is it with this business?!” And she said, “No, no, no. You are such a great actress. We love you.” It seemed like some decision came down from above. It didn’t feel like it was her.

So, first Alexis and now Erica, but the hits don’t stop coming there folks. Spoilers have been out for weeks now about the upcoming guest spot of Melissa George (from Alias) who was originally going to be a lesbian herself, with a purported past relationship with Meredith (played by Ellen Pompeo). Apparently this story line has also been axed. George will still be there as a guest star (for now) but not as a lesbian.

“Melissa came on as a lesbian character,” a reliable insider tells me, “but they changed the script and now she isn’t. She starts off flirting with Callie but it never goes anywhere.”

The rumor mill is now talking about the possible departure of Sara Ramirez who plays Callie, the other half of the Callica lesbian relationship which has been axed. This is all speculation (for now), but according to Grey’s Anatomy News the following rumor was started at the Television Without Pity forums:

I’ve just spoken with a contact at AfterEllen.com and she is confirming that Brooke Smith is not the only one being let go. Apparently Sara Ramirez will be exiting at roughly episode 15 or 16 and they’re jockeying for an interview with her. According to what I’ve been told, Melissa George has been brought in for Mark’s character because the ABC brass wanted a ‘name’ actor for him and liked Melissa from her stint on Alias. The head honchos are the ones who lured Melissa George into the show and asked Rhimes to create a backstory for her that would connect her with Meredith (or another established character) to ‘ground her’ with roots from the beginning.

So what’s the deal ABC? You can let go of Isaiah Washington for making gay slurs but then get rid of every gay character and storyline you can find? Is all of this bull headedness coming straight from ABC or an even higher source? Am I the only one outraged by this?