The show centers on Dr. Meredith Grey. Within the first season, Meredith forms camaraderie with four other interns and falls in love with her resident, Dr. Derek Shepherd, fondly dubbed “McDreamy.” The show follows the trials and tribulations Meredith is forced to endure, both in her personal and professional life. Other characters include the ice queen Christina Yang, the lovable George O’Malley and the emotionally involved Izzie Stevens.

From its debut almost three years ago, “Grey’s Anatomy” has experienced widespread popularity. The dark humor and sarcasm serve as a perfect counterpart for the medical trauma that takes precedence throughout the show. The element of love in the workplace only adds to the suspenseful plotline, especially with Yang and surgeon Dr. Burke’s recent engagement and the blossoming relationship between intern Alex and Addison, Shepherd’s ex-wife. The entangled love subplot may leave a newcomer to the show a bit bewildered; however, it is well worth the effort to understand in order to become a faithful Grey’s follower.

“Grey’s Anatomy” has been incredibly well-received on the Marquette campus, to put it mildly. “I sacrificed ’The OC’ for ’Grey’s.’ As a latecomer to the show, I was a little worried that everyone had hyped the show up too much. However, mid-way through second season, I was hooked,” said Sara Burnworth, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. One risks the imminent threat of death if the mistake is ever made of walking into a room anytime between 8 and 9 p.m. on Thursday evenings. Where two or three are gathered, riveted to the television in complete silence, “Grey’s Anatomy” is undoubtedly the focus.

It seems the show takes precedence over most other activities on campus, whether it is a club meeting or the English paper due at 10 a.m. the next morning. “Despite the fact that working on Thursdays would be much more convenient for me, I refuse to work, or do anything else for that matter, on Thursday nights. It’s the price you pay,” said Micaela Robb-McGrath, a freshman in the College of Communication. It be difficult being the fan of a hit television show. It takes time and dedication. No one said it would be easy.

Let’s be honest: We’ve all had our hearts broken once or twice by network television. We jump on the bandwagon of pop culture’s finest, foster a relationship and establish trust. We tune in each week and follow the story line religiously. We dedicate get-togethers for the sole purpose of its viewing and MySpace the actors on the show.

But once our weekly favorite reaches its pinnacle of success, something happens. It becomes everything we never wanted. It becomes unrealistic and mutates into food for the masses, deviating from its original concept. Some of us are still getting over the heartbreak of the later “Dawson’s Creek” episodes, and we shed a single tear when “Saved by the Bell: The College Years” finds its way on to basic cable.

This time, though, the networks have gone too far. ABC’s “Lost” is one of many on the long list of shows that have lost its charm. The show’s painful erosion mocks its pre-mainstream suspense and in-depth character development, leaving its audience bored and jaded. And with new episodes beginning Feb. 7, we can only hope our three-month separation sufficed to let old wounds heal.

So what happened to “Lost’s” desert island magic and vicarious adventure that caused the show to jump the shark? – the phrase referring to the episode of “Happy Days” when Fonzie water skis over a shark wearing his leather jacket, marking a decline in the show’s believability.

Let’s rehash the past…

A plane crashes. The survivors, who at first seem as strangers to their fellow castaways, are secretly connected by a subplot of arbitrary happenstance. Each episode directs focus to a string of flashbacks that provide insight into each character’s morally questionable and tumultuous past – not to mention a few closeted skeletons that undoubtedly get outed in later episodes.

There are “the others” who seem to kidnap secondary characters at will, or at least for an interesting plot twist. A smoke monster wreaks havoc on the island; there are character hallucinations, secret hatches, drug addictions, and every once in a while, polar bear attacks during sweeps week.

It seems like an interesting show, right? It was, or at least while we harbored the assumption that “Lost’s” many questions would be answered. But they never were. Since the end of the first season, “Lost” fans have been left completely unsatisfied with redundant flashbacks, forced real-time plot, and questions answered with more difficult questions.

Despite huge budgets, network support and three years to compose relevant rising action, writers have left America with the slimmest of pickings for sustenance in an otherwise barren wasteland of network television.

Let’s take a look at a few of the characters:

Jack Shephard is our troubled protagonist. Shephard’s heart of gold and can-do attitude renders him ripe for the leadership role. His rugged doctor look aligns nicely with his subtle but consistent beard stubble that fails to develop into full-on facial hair, despite the 40 days he’s spent on an island. Short of Norelco product placement, there’s just no other way to explain it.

Hugo “Hurley” Reyes is the show’s comic relief. Before the crash, the overweight Hurley ironically won the lottery and quit his job at the local fast-food joint. Now obesity is no laughing matter, but there is something off-putting about a character who maintains his husky physique after a month plus diet of coconut milk, raw fish and running from mythical creatures.

Kate Austen is our desert island heroine and the uppermost tip of the Jack-Kate-Sawyer love triangle. Her past hints at crime, legal mishaps and violent relationships. Every show needs a good back and forth love story – “The Creek,” for example, wrote the book on the “will-she-won’t-she” plot line – but finding Mr. Right seems a lesser priority when avoiding death becomes part of one’s daily ritual.

Charlie Pace remains outside the circle of Lost’s central story, but is one of the four members of Driveshaft – a fictional band of international acclaim. Despite being an unlikely love interest of one of the hotter hotties in the cast as well as kicking a heroin addiction a little too easily to believe, his musical flashbacks reveal a band that wouldn’t make it on MTV at 3:00 a.m.

The second and third seasons pale in comparison to season one. As the series progresses, each episode becomes less believable than the one before it. As we last left the show, “the others” had captured Kate and Sawyer and forced them into back-breaking labor. When Kate finds a way to escape, she forgoes the opportunity in order to sleep with Sawyer – the show’s sharp-tongued, yet handsome troublemaker. Lost has charged its audience with a suspension of disbelief so intense, that escaping torture seems a lesser priority than a romp in the hay with a main character. This stunt alone sinks the show to the level of a certain “Happy Days” episode.

It’s not as if the writers are incapable of interesting ideas and a progressing plot line. Season one did just that. They’re simply too afraid to reveal anything of importance for fear that they’d give away too much and have nowhere to go. The result, however, is redundancy, useless information and a fading number of viewers.

The show’s development is sad, really. Each new episode bears more and more a resemblance to your high school prom. Every Wednesday we get dressed up for a night of dancing and fun, but are left with nothing more than overcooked chicken and that sinking suspicion that we’ve been used.

First and foremost, a new viewer should be introduced to Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell. Michael, the manager of Dunder Mifflin, is the epitome of the boss everyone dislikes. Not only do his employees detest him, but his personality forces loyal “Office” fans to despise him as well sometimes. His offbeat comments and complete lack of work ethic push his fellow coworkers to the breaking point. And yet, amid the frustration, one cannot help but laugh at all his absurdities. His sidekick and partner-in-crime is the ever-annoying Dwight K. Schrute. One must experience Dwight first-hand to fully understand his quirks, and he is always at Michael’s side.

Let us not forget the chemistry between desk receptionist Pam Beasley and salesman Jim Halpert. At times the romantic tension is unbearable. For the entire first season and most of the second, Pam and Jim were friends with a bit of innocent flirting. This restraint was largely due to Pam’s engagement to Roy, who also works for Dunder Mifflin. The second season concluded with Jim revealing his feelings to Pam. When Pam denies Jim’s pursuit, he requests a transfer to another branch.

The third season opens with Jim at the Stamford branch and a newly single Pam, who has broken off her wedding plans with Roy. Eventually the Scranton branch absorbs the Stamford branch, which means Jim returns to Scranton – and to his old flame. Karen, Jim’s attractive coworker from Stamford who clearly has feelings for him, also joins the Scranton branch.

The Marquette “Office” fanbase seems torn on which woman to root for in this love triangle. After all, it was Pam who turned Jim down. Freshman Pat Feavel said, “I am rooting for Karen because she is the underdog. In my personal opinion, Karen is far more attractive.” If you are new to the show, episodes such as “Fire Drill” or “The Injury” are a great place to start. In the latter, Michael actually burns his foot in a George Foreman Grill, using the excuse, “I like bacon, so sue me.” Other characters – like the very conservative and judgmental Angela, and Phyllis, who is engaged to Bob Vance of Bob Vance Refrigeration – add to the comedic dynamic of the office environment that you will surely enjoy.

Many Marquette students find it essential to gather in large hordes to fully enjoy the show. Andrew Miller, a freshman in the College of Business Administration, falls into this category. “On average, we have about 25 billion people watching in one dorm room every week,” said Miller.

The clever script and awkward glances to the camera make the show irresistible. With the absence of a gaudy laugh track, “The Office” becomes even funnier to watch because one is never quite sure when it is appropriate to laugh. Freshman Becky Moylan of the College of Arts and Sciences said, “‘The Office’ makes me glad I am not in the College of Business Administration.”

“The Office” can be seen Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. on NBC.