GREY’S | Semi-shocker: T.R. Knight checks out

I can’t recall a set as beleagured with rumor, backstage scandal, and production turmoil in recent television history as Grey’s Anatomy has been since the pinnacle of its success a couple years ago.

The reports that T.R. Knight is leaving the show are unlikely to change that trend, which began with Isaiah Washington and whose most recent casualty was Brooke Smith’s Dr. Erica Hahn.

It’s no surprise that Knight wants out. When’s the last time George had a meaningful storyline that went somewhere? It’s been a downward spiral since that time he hooked up with Meredith and he cried during.

Then there was a failed romance with Callie, a failed romance with Izzie, and a failed romance with Lexie. There was failing the intern exam and being the chief’s glorified bitch. I can see how this material would get old — and those who dare to complain about the material are castigated by the press as whiners (see: Knight’s real-life BFF co-star Katherine Heigl).

And then there’s the blind item from last week about another original cast member who producers were about to fire — someone other than Knight. I suppose it’s too much to hope for that Dempsey is about to be shitcanned. He’s had a bad attitude about the show that saved his career for as long as I can remember.

The wheels came off this meat wagon some time ago. Spinning Addison off to the even-worse Private Practice didn’t help matters, but I’m thinking the show was unsavable even before ABC got greedy. And yet I can’t stop watching. Perhaps the entire show will just disband abruptly with no explanation?

I do look forward, five years down the road, to the tell-all books and two-hour True Hollywood Story about what the hell really happened to poor Grey’s Anatomy.

THE WHIP | ‘Amazing’ racers unveiled; Saricah Jessica snubbed; ABC annoucements; ‘Starter’ to series

• A 12th cycle of the Emmy-friendly globetrotting reality series The Amazing Race kicks off Nov. 4. CBS has announced the contestants.
• Saricah Jessica Parker has been named the world’s unsexiest woman by Maxim magazine. Grey’s Sandra Oh came in third.
• The infuriating Pushing Daisies (I’m beyond sick of the affected British narrator and the seemingly pointless numbers!) has received a full-season pickup, joining Private Practice in ABC’s Wednesday night stable for the year. The only reason I continue to watch: Chi McBride. Can’t stand it either? I’ve been getting a supplemental Chi fix with weekday repeats of Boston Public on TV One (3p/2c). I love this David E. Kelley teacher soap and wish it were available on DVD.
• Meanwhile, ABC is shuffling the deck on Fridays (returning 20/20 to its rightful 10p/9c slot) and bringing back some midseason successes in time for sweeps.
• And finally, it’s worth mentioning that USA’s successful summer miniseries The Starter Wife will be back in 2008 as a series. Debra Messing will return for a 10-episode season.

THE WHIP | Fall ‘07 movers and shakers

• THE GOOD | This week, three series got full-season pickups. They are:
  • Private Practice: ABC’s Grey’s spinoff is fall’s highest-rated new series
  • The Big Bang Theory: CBS’s new Monday comedy is holding its own
  • The Unit: a vote of confidence for this returning drama
• THE BAD | The CW’s Online Nation got punted this week, joining Fox’s Nashville in the season’s circular file of failed unscripted programming.
• THE UGLY | High-stakes gambling musical Viva Laughlin caught a beating in CBS’s post-CSI slot Thursday. The Hugh Jackman-led series holds the distinction of being the lowest-rated fall premiere this season, hemorrhaging 63 percent of its lead-in (it was an uncharacteristically low-rated night, to be fair; Grey’s hit a series low in adults 18-49). It gets another shot tonight at 8/7c, but this airing may well be the show’s last.

PRIVATE PRACTICE | 101: “In Which We Meet Addison, a Nice Girl from Somewhere Else”

I saw the Private Practice premiere. It’s no Grey’s, to be sure, but I liked it and I’m interested to see more. (Also, Grey’s was no Grey’s out of the box, something I think we’d all do well to remember while the cast and crew find their groove.)

GREY’S | The big night is almost here

Season four kicks off tonight at 9p/8c. In the meantime, here’s a special Seattle Grace-themed whip:

• Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers talk about their spinoff and the new season
• USA Today goes behind the scenes with the cast and gets some insider tidbits
• The official site has preview clips if you can’t hold out until tonight, plus a new competitive fantasy challenge game

TALK | ABC claims numbers are up; Rosie takes a different ‘View’

With apologies for my absence this week, let’s get right back to it.

Variety reported earlier in the week that The View’s ratings have improved without Rosie, something ABC is of course happy to promote and encourage. But as Rosie herself and Fox News note, while overall viewership is up, demos — particularly the ones used to sell the show to advertisers — are down. In some cases, they’re way down.

Households are up 16 percent for the first two weeks of the season, sure.  But the new viewers the show’s attracting are much older than the scads of them the show is losing. Women 18-49 and women 25-54 are both down at least 8 percent, but the big loss is women 18-34. Viewership in that demo is down 19.4 percent from last year.

The good news for The View? Whoopi’s bringing in the 50+ crowd, which is up 8 percent from last year.

READ IT AND JUDGE FOR YOURSELF | Rosie O’Donnell’s new book, Celebrity Detox, streets this Tuesday, October 2. But she won’t be doing any press to promote it, in fact canceling an interview with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer. She explained the decision last week on her blog.

VIDEO | Three bigs make new distribution deals

It was a busy week for three of the Big Four networks, as they lined up new electronic distribution deals for the new fall season.

• ABC will partner with AOL Video to find new online viewers for its primetime product. New episodes of ABC shows will be available at video.aol.com the day after they air in primetime. ABC.com on AOL will coexist with ABC’s own high definition broadband player.
• NBC has partnered with Amazon Unbox after recently deciding not to reup with iTunes.
• Fox will make it season and series premieres available for free download on iTunes following their initial broadcasts.

GREY’S | ‘Anatomy,’ Chipmunk-style

Shame on ABC for last night’s rebroadcast of the season three finale, “Didn’t We Almost Have It All.” Granted, it was going to be edited down from its original 75-minute runtime. But did the network have to borrow a page from TNT’s playbook and speed up the playback of the show itself?

It was especially noticeable in the show’s final scenes. When Meredith gives Cristina a prenuptial pep talk, the two look and sound almost like animated characters. It takes away from the emotional impact of what is a devastating season finale for several key characters.

NEXT ON GREY’S | The season four premiere, “A Change is Gonna Come,” debuts Thursday, September 27 at 9p/8c on ABC

FALL ‘07 | Local station preview: WAAY

Our Huntsville market fall preview continues with ABC affiliate WAAY 31 (all times Central; subject to change; check local listings outside Huntsville).

MAGS | ‘20/20′ puts ‘Dateline’ under the microscope

Like standing two mirrors opposite each other, 20/20’s investigation of Dateline NBC’s To Catch a Predator franchise (specifically, the bungled sting that spurred a suicide) will air this Friday at 10 p.m./ET on ABC.