What is NBC Thinking? Isaiah Washington To Appear on The Bionic Woman

Hollywood is a weird, weird place. Case in point -- USA Today is reporting that NBC has hired former Grey's Anatomy star Isaiah Washington to appear in at least five episodes of their new fall series Bionic Woman.

Is there anyone out there who doesn't think Washington has made a total ass of himself in the last several weeks? Forget the incident that took place on the set of Grey's Anatomy last year -- in my opinion, Washington's "publicity tour," in which he blames his firing on his race, ranted against former co-stars and his former network, and alleged that TR Knight orchestrated the entire series of events in an attempt to beef up his role on the show, has been nothing short of embarrassing, and I am really quite surprised that NBC would want to be in business with this guy. And it seems like they really want to be in business with him -- in addition to the Bionic Woman appearances, USA Today reports that the actor has also signed a development deal with the network "to star in a potential action drama he pitched to the network for the 2008-09 TV season."

Katherine Pope, president of NBC's Universal Media Studios, is quoted as saying, "Washington is a brilliant actor...I think people watch characters on TV, not personalities." That may be true, and I am not suggesting that Washington should be blacklisted from ever working in Hollywood again. But what kind of message does the timing of all of this mean? It almost seems as though he is being rewarded for being a total ass who doesn't know when to shut up, and that leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I'm surprised NBC would want to get involved in all of this mess.

I guess it's true what they say -- no publicity is bad publicity.

What are your thoughts? Is NBC shooting themselves in the foot by working with Washington, or does the hiring make sense?

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Isaiah Washington Has Lost His Mind

The following quote is from former Grey's Anatomy star, and certifiable maniac, Isaiah Washington, to gay activist Keith Boykin, about the circumstances surrounding his firing:

“I’m not firing back at anybody else in the cast but T.R. Knight and Katie Heigl because they both know as well as Chandra Wilson knows that T.R. Knight was very tactical in trying to remove me from the show because he knows that I know, and I was gagged, that he has been working on a conspiracy to get Patrick Dempsey and myself off the show for the last year and a half. I know Patrick Dempsey has supported me by stating that if there is anyone that needs to be fired it is T.R. Knight because he has created such a negative environment on that set because he felt like he has not been treated and given the same leading man kinds of story lines. This is something that T.R. Knight has been trying to do and using the incident of the so-called F-word that was targeted at him, which is a flat out lie, to blackmail the writers into doing his bidding, and it’s not working. The producers are not happy about it, and quite frankly, they all think that something has gone awfully awry with the stability of T.R. Knight. And I can freely say this now because I am no longer a Disney employee and I am no longer gagged. But everyone there, including the producers, all the way up to Touchstone, are very disappointed in the behavior of T.R. Knight. All of this I’m saying to you has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he’s gay. [T.R. Knight] he came out October 19 as purely a tactical move to do exactly what it did, get public opinion in an outrage to lead them to believe that he is being picked on because he is gay. He could care less about the gay community.”

This is wrong on so many levels, and only confirms that ABC made the right choice in choosing to terminate this lunatic's contract. His words here actually make my skin crawl. I'm sure T.R. Knight would like nothing more for than this whole gross incident to go away, but it looks like the more Washington tries to smear his reputation, the more likely it is Knight will have to respond in some way.

It should be noted that after the original "incident," Knight gave one (just one) statement to the media, and that was to People magazine -- "I hope the fact that I am gay is not the most interesting thing about me." It was only after Washington used the f-word again at The Golden Globes that the situation spiraled out of control. To suggest Knight orchestrated the whole thing to further his career is simply absurd.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

You can read Boykin's interview with Washington here.

Isaiah Washington Fired From Grey's Anatomy

According to variety.com, ABC has confirmed that Isaiah Washington will not be returning to Grey's Anatomy next season.

Washington, who played Dr. Burke on the show, was, of course, involved in the "f-word" scandal of '06, and is apparently not very well liked on the Grey's set (at least according to Michael Ausiello over at tvguide.com). In response to his firing, Washington released a statement quoting the film Network, saying "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore."

Huh? That's a pretty strange way to exit, if you ask me.

It seems like ABC has taken a look at the big picture and determined what is best for the morale of the show. In recent interviews both TR Knight and Katherine Heigl have expressed how happy they are that the season is over, and that they get a vacation from the set. If Washington truly was a disruptive presence on the set, and the TR Knight fracas was just one example of his unpleasant behavior, than it is right for him to go. Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes must have known that when she wrote this year's season finale -- Burke is not the chief, and he and Christina are no longer together, so what need does the show really have for him?

What do you think? Will Grey's be the same without Dr. Burke? Will you miss Isaiah?

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TR Knight Will Return to Grey's Anatomy

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that TR Knight, who plays lovable intern George on Grey's Anatomy, will return to the show next season, despite the fact that his character failed his intern test in the season finale.

There had been rumors circulating that either TR or Isaiah Washington (who plays Dr. Burke) might not return, but EW claims that not only will TR be back on our screens come fall, he will also receive a sizable pay bump. Supposedly he will now be earning 125K an episode and will receive a share of the show's profits, a deal similar to the ones made by Sandra Oh, Patrick Dempsey, and Ellen Pompeo. It apparently has not been decided whether Washington will return.

There is also no word on Katherine Heigl's salary negotiations, which have gotten a ton of press coverage in the past week since Knocked Up made almost $30 million at the box office this past weekend (by the way I saw it and loved it!) ABC released a statement a couple of months ago, however, saying that Heigl would definitely return to the hit series.

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