Six months after the pilot was shot, production on the next 12 episodes began, but about three weeks later, ABC – flush with the recent success of Desperate Housewives and Lost – shut them down. The reason? "We were getting bogged down in medical stories without seeing their impact on their characters," explains ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson. "If this had been sheer medical drama each week, I’m not sure it would have broad appeal." Execs also objected to a graphic close-up of a rape victim’s battered face in episode 2, and questioned whether the series’ breezy tone could accommodate such gore. "It freaked people out," says Rhimes. "The amount of scary realism along with the humor made it seems like we were being flip."

But the cast members knew little about the show’s progress over the course of the six-month shoot and grew weary as ABC held off setting a premiere date. "It was extremely frustrating," says Dempsey. "I started to wonder if we weren’t on some weird reality show where our behaviour was being taped and analyzed." Adds Heigl, 26, "They were playing a really tricky political game with the schedule, and we didn’t trust them." Wilson finally lost her patience and snuck into Horton’s office, where she watched rough cuts of early episodes. "I had to see a finished product," she says. "So I finally [went in], watched the pilot, and said, 'This is a good show!’"