(September
26th, 2007. - Editor)
Kate Walsh (Grey's Anatomy), Tim Daly (Wings, The Nine), Taye Diggs
(Day Break), Paul Adelstein (Prison Break), Merrin Dungey (The King Of
Queens), Chriss Lowell (Veronica Mars) and Amy Brenneman (Judging Amy,
N.Y.P.D. Blue) star in the medical drama Private Practice, airing
Wednesdays on ABC.
Addison
Forbes Montgomery (Walsh) is a renowned neonatal surgeon, respected by her
friends and colleagues at Seattle Grace Hospital. But when she is passed
over for the Head Of Surgery position, she decides she can no
longer continue to co-exist in the same workplace with her ex-husband and her
ex-lover. Addison heads to Los Angeles to reunite with her once-married,
now newly divorced
medical school friends, Dr. Naomi Bennett (Dungey) and Dr. Sam Bennett
(Diggs) and join their chic private
practice. What her friend Naiomi never told her, was that her arrival
would come as a complete surprise to the other doctors in the practice
and that she would be expected to run her department alone. Montgomery
must prove to her colleagues and to herself that she has what it takes
to rebuild her life and her career with this group of people and in this
place. Even she is not sure if she has made the right decision.
I understand that there are not a lot of directions to go when you are
spinning off a doctor character from a hospital show, but to ask the
audience to believe that a career-driven woman at the top of her
particular specialty, would suddenly abandon all hope of furthering
her career to instead move to a small practice where she would be the
single person in her expertise, is a lot to ask of an audience. To ask
them to care about a character that is not particularly kind, not
particularly warm and not even particularly interesting might be more
than the producers can hope for.
Executive Producer, Series Creator and Writer Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy)
will be put to the test with this effort. The easy chemistry and
almost overnight acceptance of her first series by the audience will
not be duplicated here. The pilot script is filled with scenes meant
to tug at our emotions and draw us into the the life and death
situations being played-out. I found that there is too much pressure
on the emotions of the viewer, that may force them to back away from
this series in favor of lighter fare. The patients were seldom the
real focus of Grey's Anatomy. Sure the characters are doctors, but
saving lives always seemed to be a sub-plot, not the focus of that
drama. In this effort, the characters are older, more settled and in
most cases, damaged goods. The quirks and twists of each character
make it much easier for the writers, but I wonder if they will do
anything to attract or keep a viewer.
I have to wonder if it was a good idea to have a drama series
developed with a first time leading actress and including three former
TV series stars who have been given supporting roles. There is always
a conflict behind the scenes when the actors in a large cast first
realize that they get paid based on the size of their roles. This
group is going to know that from day one. Judging by the conflict on
the set of Grey's Anatomy over the past season, there could be some
issues here quickly if the producers don't get a lid on this right
from the start.
The strength of the acting talent in this cast and the on-screen
chemistry they displayed in the pilot episode, suggests that if this
drama fails, it will be because of the scripts not the acting. But as
television has proven before, just having a collection of good actors
is not enough. In the very busy Wednesday night lineup, the viewer
needs something more. This drama is starting slow, but may build to
something if it is given a chance.
-- Editor --
