TV: "Private Practice" Review

Last season "Grey's Anatomy" had a lot of bad press due to the irresponsible conduct of some of its actors. But no one would've guessed that one of them, Kate Walsh (who plays the neonatal surgeon Addison), would get a spinoff. I love Grey's, but she's not even in my top 5 list (Alex, Izzie, Christina, George, and Miranda) of favorite characters. But when they introduced her new show right after an episode of Grey's last season I was somewhat interested.

Addison has gone through a lot in the last year. Her husband, Derek, divorced her for cheating on him with his best friend Mark. Then she struggled to find her stride amongst the gossiping interns and cope with the idea that her ex had moved on with one of them (Meredith). Once she had accepted her fate, she tried to find comfort in the arms of another emotionally retarded man, Alex. But she was harshly rejected. At the end of last season it seems she came to the conclusion that what she really wanted out of life was...a baby. Then she learned she was pretty much infertile. Naturally, it's hard for her to look at life for its possibilities, instead of its disappointments. But she's determined to do so, and hoping a new setting will help her.

At the beginning of the official pilot, the chief of surgery, Richard, tries to goad her into staying at Seattle Grace, but she's determined to high-tail it to California to work with her estranged best friend Naomi (Audra McDonald from "The Bedford Diaries"). During their squabble, she introduces the viewers her new set of friends. Here's the basic breakdown of each of these Californian doctors:

Naomi is a fertility specialist who works with women that are desperate to conceive. She's going through a bad divorce with Sam (Taye Diggs from How Stella Got her Groove Back), who allegedly initiated the separation. She admits to hiring Addison so she can have a friend in her corner. Meanwhile, Sam feels like the divorce is her fault. He left her to see if she would come after him. He wanted to see her fight for their love.

Pete (Tim Daly from "Wings") is the new agey, holistic practitioner who uses meditation, acupuncture and herbs to treat his patients. He's the McDreamy/McSteamy equivalent, except he comes with a lot of baggage, since he's still mourning the death of his wife. But since he kissed Addison on her first visit to the practice, he thinks she moved there for him. So he has McDreamy's sensitivity with McSteamy's ego.

Violet (Amy Brenneman from "Judging Amy") is the psychiatrist who's stalking her married ex-boyfriend and can't get over the rejection. She has this way of quietly deteriorating before your eyes whenever she's emotionally torn that's extremely endearing. Her BFF is Cooper (Paul Adelstein from "Prison Break"), a pediatrician, who's an awkward, goofy sex addict that just can't find the right girl.

Will (Chris Lowell from "Veronica Mars") is the receptionist who's studying to be a midwife. Of course, he feels undervalued. Midwives and nurses are looked down on by big time surgeons like Addison. She sort of treats him like she did Alex--keeping him at arm's length and questioning his expertise. But this is a different Addison. She's a lot less guarded and is beginning to trust quicker, which is the opposite of what you'd expect from someone who's experienced and witnessed as much heartache as she has.

The irony in Addison's journey to becoming a happier person is that we all assumed the other doctors would welcome her with open arms. But apparently Naomi hired her without even telling them. Despite the fact that she owns 55% of the practice, they were supposed to vote on it. Even though Addison is adamant about staying, she doesn't really seem to know what she's gotten herself into. The co-op is about practicing small-town medicine, so there's no long patient list, hi-tech equipment or huge staff to back her up when a patient flatlines. Like she says, she's performing "MacGuyver surgery" at a moment's notice, because the nearest major hospital is 20 minutes away. She's out of her element, which will challenge her. In fact, it seems like they all need to be out of their element to retain their sanity.

I'm a huge fan of ensemble casts, because of you get bored of one person you can focus on another. I wouldn't say that all of these doctors will have me coming back for more, but I see the potential they have to build great stories in the future. Since Walsh's show goes up against Gossip Girl and Bionic Woman, there's a chance that she won't exactly reel in the scifi lovers or teenagers. But if the Grey's fans are as devoted as they seem, they'll keep her afloat.