Kevin McKidd is the new guy on 'Grey's Anatomy'
McDreamy and McSteamy, make way for McHunky. That's right. There's a new doctor operating on "Grey's Anatomy," the ABC hospital drama that begins its fifth season with a two-hour episode at 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25 on WEWS Channel 5.

And the new cast member actually has a last name that Mc-fits the "Grey's" Mc-nickname pattern for its so-called "studs in scrubs" characters. Scottish actor Kevin McKidd, best known for his star turns on HBO's "Rome" and NBC's short-lived "Journeyman," makes his first appearance Thursday night as U.S. Army surgeon Owen Hunter.

This will be at least an 11-episode tour of duty for Hunter, but if the drama-and-trauma character catches fire with the fans, look for McKidd to become a regular with stars Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Chandra Wilson, Patrick Dempsey and Cleveland native James Pickens Jr.

What won't change, promises executive producer Shonda Rhimes, is her hit show's blend of life-and-death drama, soap-opera romance and quirky humor.

"I feel like the humor that came out of 'Grey's' came because we were dealing with such serious situations, and people do use gallows humor a lot of the time," said Rhimes, also the series' creator and head writer. "Creating that funny underbelly to what was going on in the serious situations is what made the show feel more like real life than just a drama where everything was serious."

While McKidd will be injecting intriguing new elements into the Seattle Grace mix, Heigl, who plays Isobel "Izzie" Stevens, provided one of last season's most dramatic moments for "Grey's Anatomy." Unfortunately for Rhimes, this happened away from the set.

Heigl, an Emmy winner for "Grey's Anatomy" in September 2007, made headlines by griping about not being given any material last season worthy of submission for Sunday's prime-time Emmy awards.

This is not the kind of drama a top-10 drama show needs, and the man in charge wasn't happy.

"I think it's unfortunate when there's any kind of turmoil on a show," said Stephen McPherson, ABC's entertainment president. "There are so many people who work so unbelievably hard to make that show . . . and I never like to see when any of them are in any way taken lightly."

With Heigl's film "Knocked Up" a box-office hit, some saw her comments as a ploy to push through a resignation from the hospital staff.

"She's absolutely staying with the show," McPherson said. "There's an unbelievable storyline for her this year, which is really central to everything that's going to go on this season. We're really excited about that."

Rhimes, busy running both "Grey's Anatomy" and the spin-off series "Private Practice," is just eager to put the Heigl headlines in the rear-view mirror.

"I have to say that my reaction was that I found it surprising," Rhimes said. "I actually have a really wonderful working relationship with Katherine, and I love and respect her as an actress, and as everyone knows, Izzie is one of my favorite characters."

She was not insulted, Rhimes said. She hardly has time to be insulted.

"At the end of every day, I sort of sit down and think, 'OK, I got through that one, now let's got to the next one,'" Rhimes said. "I mean, I really wish for a clone. A clone would be awesome."

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