das treatment
NEW YORK (AP) -- Often when I'm watching "Grey's Anatomy" I feel like I work at Seattle Grace Hospital. (What!? What?!)

Seriously. (What!?)

Sure, I'm not a surgeon and I never deal with patients, but frequently I feel like the stories on screen eerily reflect my own life in the way that every medical case mirrors a character's personal struggle. (These people aren't surgeons either, in fact they really don't do much of anything relating to medicine. Maybe the likenesses comes in the excessive drama you create in your life.)

And I'm not the only one who feels this way. (Here we go. Vindication through "friend" approval.)

Over the past year-and-a-half, my diverse girlfriends (Notice she includes diverse. Diverse in the sense that they are multi-racial, because obviously they all have nothing better to do than watch a prime-time soap opera) (and some male (GAY) friends as well), from the Bay Area to Boston, have all independently (Oh my God have you watched this show called "Grey's Anatomy"? Their life situations and responsibilities are so relevant to my little world! You have to watch it!) gravitated toward the medical drama that examines the anatomy of life's many shades of grey. (What!? What!? How does the line go: "It feels like someone just threw up inside of my head.")

Through the hospital staff's professional exploits and extracurricular sexploits, the show strikes such a relatable chord that it has become a vernacular for how my friends and I discuss and deal with our own lives. (Because Sex and the City is off the air, we had to gravitate to some other show about women and apply it to our own lives.)

For example, around the time of Meredith and George's sexual incident, I briefly dated my own "George," (What an AMAZING coincidence!) a beautiful soul who would have given me the world, if only I was physically attracted to him. (He didn't have enough money. Notice she refers to the world and not "anything I could ever want.") And several months back, I had an ill-fated connection with a "McDreamy," a chemical force of a man who could knock me off my feet with the slightest glance. He remains the occasional awkward presence in my life. (I still sleep with him because he knows I'm good for a no-strings fuck and will do anything for even 30 minutes of his presence.)

When I was caught (see above) under my "McDreamy's" spell, all I could think of was the show's line, "I hate how into you I am." This line was not said about Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd. Rather, Callie was talking about her feelings for George, demonstrating in true "Grey's Anatomy" fashion that someone's "George" is someone else's "McDreamy." (Blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.)

The appeal of "Grey's Anatomy" goes beyond the relationship hurdles of finding, holding onto and losing one's "McDreamy." It also reflects the common struggle contemporary women face professionally in our quest to have it all. (What!? What!? It never goes beyond the petty little relationship issues that contemporary women have!)

The show, which returns Thursday on ABC, is led by creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes, a successful black woman who has found a way to infiltrate the ranks of Hollywood, one of many white-male-dominated industries that rarely take women as seriously as men. (Do we need to go into my issue with successful black women?)

In conceiving the show, Rhimes concocted a recipe with familiar ingredients in the forefront, served with an underlying richness that deliciously addresses the diversity, depth and evolving roles of women today. (She played exactly into the predictable psyche of women 25 - 50 years old...like Oprah.)

The show's central character, Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), is Ally McBeal and Carrie Bradshaw in scrubs. (I can only compare TV personalities with other TV personalities because that's how limited my mind is.) A lovely, thin, inquisitive woman, she is successful professionally, but a mess when it comes to men and relationships. (What an excellent concept: a woman with a relationship problem.)

Real women (Too easy.)

But the similarity to those popular shows' female characters ends there. "Ally McBeal" was full of eccentrics, and the women of "Sex and the City" each represented a portion of the female psyche (the cynic, the romantic and the sexual free-spirit). (More TV comparisons.)

"Grey's Anatomy" reflects the diversity of real women. Dr. Christina Yang (Sandra Oh) and Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) anchor the show with their compelling, unconventional humanity. Together with newcomer Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez), they give faces to the underrepresented Asian, black and Hispanic communities while refusing to succumb to Hollywood stereotypes. (OK so let me get this straight: you had a white girl, an Asian girl, and a black girl? So you hired a Hispanic girl to complete the set and that doesn't have anything to do with Hollywood stereotypes? Am I the only one alive with any sense here?)

Former model Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens (Katherine Heigl) has a curvy, healthy-sized body, unlike virtually every other designated "pretty girl" on television. (Tits? Is that what you mean by "curvy, healthy-sized body?" That she has big tits? Nice try, but no man is going to sit and risk growing a vagina just to see some tits. That's what the interwebs is for.) And Dr. Addison Shepherd (Kate Walsh) fights the notion that an extremely successful woman must be bitchy, neurotic or masculine when working at the top of the food chain. (What!? What!? You talk a lot and nothing relevant is comes out.)

What unites these women at Seattle Grace Hospital is their common desire to be strong, successful professionals. (They are all there because they're doctors. Oh, I get it now. For a minute I thought this show was about women and their relationship problems who happen to be in a hospital all the time. My mistake.) They each embrace their sexuality, but they also struggle with how their femininity can be a liability for retaining respect and how it can soften them into feeling vulnerable and insecure. (And this has what to do about being a doctor?)

Every member of the ensemble cast is deeply flawed, and, as a result, endearing and sympathetic. (Hitler was deeply flawed and nobody was endeared or sympathetic to him. Yeah had to work a Hitler in there.) The more each character transforms into a multifaceted person, the more interesting and enjoyable the show is to watch. (The more men they sleep with the more I can blame TV for being the way I am.)

My friends and I can't wait to see what will happen this season. (I'll bet.) Recently I was walking down the street with a thirtysomething friend of mine, and the moment she saw an advertisement for the show's new episodes, she squealed and jumped up and down with excitement. (Thirtysomething? Squealed? Jumped? You left out perpetually single.)

Even as it can so obviously bring out the little girl in all of us, "Grey's Anatomy" has shown that today's women deserve to be taken seriously. (Listen Ms. Associated Press. You and your entire news organization are a mockery of journalism and human responsibility. If you're any indication of what today's woman is like, I feel bad for today's rest of the world who has to deal with you.)

Seriously. (Die in a fire.)

QUICK NOTE: I think it's about time for pumpakin/apple picking and other autumny activities.