AOL TV: "5 Reasons Why Katherine Heigl Should Leave Grey's"

[JamesG]

The doctor is out. Almost.



After six years of doomed love affairs, a hallucinatory boyfriend and a battle with cancer, Izzie Stevens is reportedly hanging up her stethoscope for good.

According to Michael Ausiello, blonde beauty Katherine Heigl has succeeded in negotiating a release from her "Grey's Anatomy" contract with showrunner Shonda Rhimes; all that remains is for ABC Studios and Heigl's reps to work out an exit agreement, and Heigl will have her freedom.




The relationship between Heigl and the "Grey's" camp has long been considered gossip column fodder; the trouble seemed to start in 2007, following Isaiah Washington's homophobic slur against Heigl's BFF TR Knight on the "Anatomy" set.

Heigl was vocal in her disapproval of her co-star's poor choice of words after Washington repeated the insult at the Golden Globes.


Then, in 2008, Heigl provoked controversy of her own with her decision not to enter the Emmy race because she felt that she had not been given strong enough material to warrant a nomination -- the "Grey's" writers were less than thrilled.




Last summer, Heigl jokingly complained about her 17-hour work days during an appearance on "The Late Show With David Letterman", which sparked another barrage of tabloid reports and behind-the-scenes rumblings regarding Heigl's attitude.

"Our first day back was Wednesday," she told Letterman, "and it was -- I'm going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them -- a 17-hour day, which I think is cruel and mean."






This season, Heigl has been largely absent from "Anatomy" anyway; she took time off to film another movie and get to know her newly adopted daughter, but reports seem to indicate that Heigl was supposed to return to work on March 1 and never showed.

Conflicting sources have muddied the water, with one insisting that Heigl was at home and ready to work on March 1, while another claims Heigl's negotiations with ABC have been ongoing for months.

Instead of returning to finish out the season, Heigl is now expected to remain absent and part ways with ABC immediately, though the studio's reps have declined to comment on the confusion, and Heigl is apparently without a publicist as of today.




Until someone makes an official announcement one way or the other, the circumstances surrounding the supposed split will remain fuzzy, but in the meantime, we've compiled a list of five reasons why controversy-courting Katherine should leave "Grey's Anatomy".






1. She's a Baby Mama now

In September, Heigl and hubby Josh Kelley brought home adorable baby Naleigh from Korea, where Meg, Heigl's adopted sister, was born.

Naleigh is a special needs child who was already 10 months old by the time she reached the couple, so it makes sense that Heigl would take some time away from those famously long workdays to bond with her little bundle of joy.







2. Her BFF went bye-bye

Not only was Heigl close with Kate Walsh, who flew the "Anatomy" coop a couple of seasons ago to start up her own "Private Practice", but last season saw the exit of everyone's favorite Seattle Grace underdog, George O'Malley, and with him left TR Knight, Heigl's on and off-screen best friend.

True, the actress still seems to be friendly with co-star Justin Chambers, but we've got to imagine that the "Grey's" set got a little lonelier for Heigl after her partner in crime's departure.







3. The writers really weren't giving her good material

After Heigl's Emmy win in '07, it seems like the "Grey's" writers were content to rest on their laurels as far as Izzie Stevens' storylines went.

She bounced around from almost getting fired after Denny's death to almost quitting, to breaking up her best friend's marriage, to having hallucinations of her dead boyfriend, to having sex with hallucinations of her dead boyfriend, to getting cancer, to getting shotgun married to the resident douche, to surviving cancer but getting fired anyway, to disappearing for weeks on a voyage of self-discovery from which she will apparently never return.


After Denny's exit, it seemed as though the writers didn't know what to do with Heigl's character, and though part of the blame can be attributed to Heigl's hectic movie schedule, it's fair to say that audiences (and obviously Heigl herself) have noticed the lackluster plotlines Izzie has been given in recent seasons.







4. She really wants out

Let's face it, Heigl doesn't want to be there, the writers don't want her to be there, and Hollywood is beckoning.

Heigl's had her heart in movies since the success of Knocked Up, and with a slew of new projects lining up, her television role was always going to suffer.

She's also started a new production company, Abishag, which adds another string to her bow and another diversion from "Grey's".







5. We're bored of all the drama

The poor woman has been trying to escape her contract for the last three years, and every time she opens her mouth, the tabloids jump down her throat.

Drama follows Heigl wherever she goes, which definitely keeps "Grey's" in the press, but at this point, aren't we all a little over the constant back and forth between publicists and 'inside sources'?


The whole debacle begs the question: why ABC didn't release Heigl at the end of last season, when the cliffhanger ending that robbed us of O'Malley could've easily stolen Stevens too.

Either way, ABC needs to put Heigl and the loyal "Anatomy" viewers out of their misery and just let her go.

http://insidetv.aol.com/2010/03/12/5...greys-anatomy/