Confession: prior to the announcement that “Grey’s Anatomy” was going to be getting a spin-off, I’d never seen a single episode of the show.
Even worse, I don’t even have a decent excuse for it. Everybody I know who’s seen the show has loved it, so, really, it just comes down to the fact that there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to check it out. One of these days, though, I’m sure I’ll take the plunge and pick up a copy of Season 1 and just jump headlong into the series…and based on how much I enjoyed the pilot for its spin-off, “Private Practice,” that day may come sooner than later.
Y’know, I’ve tagged this as a “Pilots Revisited” entry, but the truth is that this is the first time I’ve checked out this pilot; before, all I had to go on was last season’s 2-hour episode of “Grey’s,” where Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery (Kate Walsh) leaves Seattle Grace Hospital and goes to visit one of her friends, Dr. Naomi Bennett (Merrin Dungey), who’s a member of the Oceanside Wellness Center, in Santa Monica, CA. It was what the kids today call a “backdoor pilot,” which is to say that it gave the folks at the network all they needed to see to know that Addison’s adventures would make for a great series on their own…so, basically, if you saw the episode and heard about the impending spin-off, you won’t be surprised to find that the first episode of “Private Practice” – “In Which We Meet Addison, A Nice Girl From Somewhere Else” – begins with Addison tendering her official resignation to Dr. Webber (James Pickens, Jr.) and heading off to join Naomi’s practice.
Well, first things first: Naomi is now played by Tony Award-winning actress Audra McDonald, who you may or may not remember from a few episodes of “Kidnapped.” Otherwise, however, the gang from the Wellness Center remains intact…and, frankly, that gang – Tim Daly (“The Nine”), Taye Diggs (“Day Break”), Amy Brenneman (“Judging Amy”), Paul Adelstein (“Prison Break”), and Chris Lowell (“Veronica Mars”) – is what makes this show worth checking out whether you’re a fan of “Grey’s Anatomy” or not.
(Here’s a YouTube link to an ABC / Entertainment Weekly segment collaboration which talks about the cast.)
This first episode revolves around one key event: Naomi neglected to tell anyone else at the Center that she’d hired Addison, which annoys everyone to a certain degree, some more than others. Addison rolls with the reaction from her new co-workers and tries to indoctrinate herself into the group as best she can; meanwhile, everyone else pretty much just goes on with their normal day. The feel of the show is, I’m led to understand, pretty similar to “Grey’s”…which is to say that when I asked fellow editor David Medsker, “Does ‘Grey’s’ kind of blend humor and drama, with really snappy back-and-forth patter when the primary cast members are talking to each other?”, he responded, “I’ve only seen an episode or two, but that sounds about right.” So, y’know, take it with a grain of salt. As it stands right now, it looks like the series will blend the expected medical drama with a more leisurely pace – Addison’s told to expect an average of about one patient a day – that will no doubt lead to just as many developments in the characters’ personal lives as you’d anticipate in a nighttime soap.
Stupid ABC, making me want to watch a spin-off of a show I’ve never even seen before. Why must you create such a fantastic ensemble? You suck.
P.S. More, please.
