Gizzie Gone? Confusion Over Whether Heigl & Knight Will Leave 'Grey's'

*Some Grey's spoilers below. . . You've been warned!*

The writing has been on the wall for some time.

T.R. Knight has been unhappy that his George O'Malley has seemed liked persona non grata on Grey's Anatomy these days. During the last episode, if you blinked, you missed him. And with a two-hour Grey's-Private Practice crossover extravaganza slated for this Thursday, I'm not expecting George to have much more airtime. If he does, I'll be very surprised.

Katherine Heigl -- who publicly lamented the fact that her character, Izzie Stevens, had a cruddy story arc last season -- has been rewarded by having her character talk and have "sex" with her dead finance Denny Duquette, who is likely, according to news reports, the manifestation of some type of brain tumor or something of that ilk. While we mercifully didn't see Denny last week, I fully expect that the next time we see him, Izzie's head will have exploded. Will that mean the end of her character? Who the heck knows?

The internet has been abuzz over the past few days with reports that both Knight and Heigl's characters will soon leave Grey's. Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello echoed those reports -- ". . . all indications are that it will happen. The only question is when." -- adding that show creator Shonda Rhimes may want "Heigl and Knight to briefly reprise their roles next season." That would rule out the possibility of Izzie dying from a brain tumor or aneurysm this Thursday, unless, of course, she's slated to return as a ghost to haunt Alex Karev, who'll have had two serious girlfriends leave following serious medical problems.

Those who've commented on Ausiello's article at EW.com are all over the map about what they think about the possibility of these two original characters leaving, but many are in agreement that Grey's isn't what it used to be.

Your thoughts Grey's fans?

Image credit: ABC.

'Grey's' Channeling 'Ghost?'

Way back in 1990, Ghost was a very popular film. Starring a pixie-cut sporting Demi Moore, the movie was a supernatural love story about Demi's boyfriend (Patrick Swayze) who was killed in what appeared to be a robbery gone wrong. Only Demi's dead boyfriend/fiance didn't leave earth right away. He could still see her and walk around the apartment they once shared, although he could only communicate to living people through a medium, who happened to be played by Whoopi Goldberg.

In one creepy yet touching scene, Whoopi's character allowed Patrick's ghost to use her body so he and Demi could feel one another's embrace. It was only at the end of the film, when Patrick was about ready to ascend to heaven after he'd saved his lover from danger, that Demi was able to see him with her own eyes and say a tearful, "Goodbye." (Still chokes me up, even though it was a ridiculous premise.)

Why am I bringing this up? Because Ghost was all that was on my mind while I was watching the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy where Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) continued not only to see and talk to the ghost of her dead fiance Denny Duquette, but could touch and embrace him. The whole Denny story was resurrected (pun intended) after Izzie met the man who was supposed to get the donor heart that Izzie "stole" for Denny two seasons ago. Ever since then, she's been seeing Denny everywhere, even after she said her goodbyes to him and had current boyfriend Alex Karev burn Denny's favorite sweater.

So either Grey's is going all supernatural (ghost sex anyone?) or Izzie is going to be the second consecutive girlfriend of Alex's who is in need of psychiatric services.

By the way . . . loved, LOVED the Big Grey, Little Grey, Little Sloan, excuse me Big Sloan bit. Cracked me up.

Image credit: ABC.