TV medics bicker over picket duties

As the writers' strike enters its second week, Hollywood actors are falling over themselves to show solidarity. None more so than the implausibly beautiful stars of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy where there are reports that the cast - including Ellen Pompeo, who plays Dr Meredith Grey (above, right), Patrick Dempsey and Katherine Heigl (above, left) - are bickering over who gets the most visible spot on the picket lines.
 
It depends on which of the various studio gates they picket, some attracting more TV news cameras than others. Last week, Heigl - now a megastar for her leading role in the hit comedy film Knocked Up - chose her spot well, managing to get images of herself toting a picket sign beamed across the world. Watch out for a bold move from Pompeo.

The worldwide popularity of Grey's Anatomy has come to light in the case of the murder in Perugia of the British exchange student Meredith Kercher. Much was made last week of a mysterious text received by a man in Rome the day before Kercher was killed. It read: "For me, Meredith dies tonight".
It is now thought that, far from referring to any plot to kill the student, it was sent by a fan of Grey's Anatomy. On the day of the message, Italian TV was due to broadcast the episode in which the the heavily advertised plot twist involved the possible death of Dr Meredith Grey. ·