Ratings (and marriage proposals) up for Grey's Anatomy...

It's kind of surreal watching "Grey's Anatomy" now with all that has gone on off-screen due to Isaiah Washington's behavior and use of a gay slur toward T.R. Knight. But the facts are this: it's still one of the best shows on television and one of the most popular: ABC won the night Thursday in the 18-49 demo with a 5.3 rating/4.6 share thanks to a new "Grey's Anatomy," which averaged an 8.8/21 to win its 8-9 time period, and beat  "CSI" with an episode that featured two marriage proposals.Ironically, those two proposals came from the characters portrayed by Washington and Knight to their respective love interests on the show played by Sandra Oh and Sara Ramirez.

The episode saw George (Knight) mourn his father's death by embracing life — first by indulging in nonstop sex with Callie (Ramirez), then by sharing his feelings with her more honestly than ever before. "Every time I look at you, I feel better," he told her. Then came the kicker: "Marry me?"

George also shared a lovely scene with Izzie (Katherine Heigl, the only cast member to publicly rebuke Washington at the golden Globes and stand up for Knight) in which she realized George no longer needs her. "I have to let you go," she told him.
Also Thursday, when Cristina (Oh) discovered that a marathoner nearly died because he was so focused on winning, she abandoned her stalemate with Burke (Washington). "I'm in this for the long haul," she told him. Apparently, so is he: "Marry me," he replied.
Perhaps a wedding will take place after Washington gets out rehab for his issues, or "gayhab" as some have called it. It certainly looks as if he will not be fired from the show, not with ratings up, no sponsors pulling out, and the cast still doing stellar work.