This list doesn’t necessarily include the most popular or memorable episodes (although some of those are in here), but it does feature the ones which best encapsulate the essence of Grey's Anatomy - what it has been, and what it has become. As Grey's Anatomy comes of age this year (and possibly approaches its finish line?), it's worth looking back at the moments and storylines that helped one of the most influential shows of the 21st Century explore and discover its own identity. Over time, though, as tends to happen, Grey's Anatomy evolved into a show that still resembles what it was in its youth, but has grown and matured into something that is different in many ways from what it once was. It was also notable for the visible diversity of its cast - especially for 2005 - which included multiple people of color in prominent roles, as well as an emphasis on making sure the background actors were equally diverse, something that was important to creator Shonda Rhimes from the get-go. In the beginning, Grey's Anatomy was mostly known for its focus on steamy (and often illicit) romantic relationships, the fiercely competitive atmosphere among the doctors of Seattle Grace Hospital, and how the “medical part of its genre designation was really just a mechanism to deliver the all-caps DRAMA.
Premiering in 2005, the long-running series has been through myriad changes over its 16 years on the air, including the evolution of its themes and plotlines, and the gradual rotation of most of its cast, so that the faces now seen each week on our TV screens are largely not the same ones viewers met during the show's first season. Grey's Anatomyis well into its seventeenth season of television, and the juggernaut medical drama will celebrate its Sweet 16 on March 27.