'Practice' makes imperfect
Spin-offs
are invariably a tricky business. Stick too close to the original
and you’re accused of lacking originality; stray too far
away and you risk alienating the audience that enabled it to be
made in the first place. In the case of Private Practice,
the first spin-off from Grey’s Anatomy, let’s
just say the latter isn’t such an issue.
The series is set up through a tête-à-tête
between Dr Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) and head of surgery
from Grey’s Anatomy Dr Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr).
She explains that, having grown sick of her troubles in Seattle,
she wants to move to Los Angeles and hook up with a group of friends
who run a “wellness clinic” in Santa Monica. This
of course exposes an initial problem; because these apparently
close friends have had barely a mention in Grey’s Anatomy.
Nonetheless, Addison jumps in the car and is soon
ensconced in a house on the beach in La-La-Land. She’s been
brought south by her longtime friend Dr Naomi Bennett (Audra McDonald),
who has recently split from her husband Sam (Taye Diggs). By a
quirk of fate, Addison finds herself living next to Sam; and manages
to inadvertently reveal her naked body to him within 10 minutes
of the opening credits. Once at the clinic, drama continues because
Naomi hasn’t told Sam or any of her other partners at the
clinic – paediatrician Cooper Freedman (Paul Adelstein);
psychiatrist Violet Turner (Amy Brenneman) and alternative medicine
specialist Pete Wilder (Tim Daly) – that she’s hired
the neo-natal surgeon.
You
can pretty much see where things are going from here – relationship
dramas, medical emergencies, romantic and professional tension
– just like, let me see… oh yeah, Grey’s
Anatomy.
A bit like the rather modest building in which the
practice is housed, there’s something a bit out-of-place
with this series. Leaving aside the conceit by which the series
has come together, the interactions among the characters seem
a bit forced. This applies particularly to Addison and her love
interest Pete, particularly as she makes it very clear early on
that she considers his professional work to be little more than
quackery.
Kate Walsh is naturally enough the focus of the
early episodes, but the series is more of an ensemble piece than
simply a vehicle for Walsh to strut her stuff. There are certainly
some familiar faces, notably Amy Brenneman (who seems quite ageless)
and Taye Diggs. While both start out rather tentatively, they
grow into the roles as things develop. Tim Daly is basically a
male version of Walsh, with his flashing smile and easy charm
– is it any wonder he was cast to play Walsh’s love
interest?
Private Practice is a child still tied
to its mother’s apron strings. The producers appear afraid
to allow this series to stray too far from its progenitor; but
in the end, it rather resembles Grey’s Anatomy
a little too much. If you’re a big fan of Grey’s,
then that’s not likely to be a problem, but if you’re
expecting something a bit different, you may be rather nonplussed.
Phil James
