Among the interns are George, repeating his intern year after failing his exams, and Lexie Grey, Meredith's half-sister whom she has never met. Meredith, Cristina, Izzie and Alex spend their first day as residents with their own groups of interns. Having just returned from her honeymoon with Meredith, Cristina searches for Burke, but he is nowhere to be found. See also: List of Grey's Anatomy episodesĮach episode of this season is named after a song. The season was interrupted by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, which resulted in the production of only 17 episodes, instead of 23 originally planned. The highest-rated episode was the season premiere, which was watched by 20.93 million viewers. Show creator Shonda Rhimes heavily contributed to the production of the season, writing 5 out of the 17 episodes. Despite garnering several awards and nominations for the cast members and the production team, the season received a mixed response from critics and fans. The season was officially released on DVD as a 5-disc box-set under the title of Grey's Anatomy: Season Four – Expanded on Septemby Buena Vista Home Entertainment.įor the first time in the show's history, many cast changes occur, seeing the first departure of 2 main cast members. Addison Montgomery and aired on September 19, 2007, before the season premiere.
In addition to the regular 17 episodes, a clip-show narrated by the editors of People recapped previous events of the show and made the transition from Grey's Anatomy to Private Practice, a spin-off focusing on Dr. The season aired in the Thursday night timeslot at 9:00 EST.
Season 4 had 12 series regulars with 10 of them returning from the previous season, out of which 8 are part of the original cast from the first season.
The season continues the story of a group of surgeons and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, describing their professional lives and the way they affect the personal background of each character. The fourth season of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, commenced airing in the United States on Septemand concluded on May 22, 2008.