"Private Practice": Same Old Story, But Too Different

Published: September 27, 2007 at 08:29 PM GMT
Last Updated: October 16, 2007 at 08:29 PM GMT

By Sally Cohen-Cutler

Shonda Rhimes has gone on record several times stating that she doesn't want Private Practice to be considered Grey's 2.0. And the script and characters certainly work toward establishing their own unique appeal, even with Grey's-esque great music in the background. However, I tuned into Private Practice because I love Addison, and if Rhimes wants this show to succeed, there will have to be a balance of Addison's old character with her new persona in California. It's a spin-off - I'm watching this because I watched the parent show and liked it.

So, to start, Private Practice doesn't boast the same dramatic setup as Grey's did - Naomi, Addison's best friend, informs her that she will only have one patient a day, and it will most likely be a natural birth in the "birthing suite." In some ways, this turn away from the high stakes lifestyle of Seattle Grace suits Addison's insistence that she needs a change. The different pace could have a ripple effect on all the interactions - between patients and doctors, between fellow physicians, and establish some more non-medical characters. However, Addison's one case for the premiere ended up requiring her to perform, as she called it, "McGyver surgery" on a pregnant teenager with a disapproving father. The scenario felt less like Grey's 2.0, and more like Grey's, but with fewer patients. If you want surgeries in your show, it should be set at a hospital, not a Private Practice - that just defeats the purpose.

But at the same time, this season's premiere was much better than last year's soft premiere. For one, Addison seems to retain some of her strong and confident attitude that established her in Seattle. The flightiness that characterized the soft launch was toned down a lot, which definitely helps the watchability of Private Practice. But Private Practice was just that - watchable. I wasn't drawn in, and I didn't hate it. I saw some things I liked, but not much that I loved.

On which note, I definitely did not love the wishy-washy, weak female characters. Naomi and Violet are both absolutely crushed by their failed relationships and deal with their emotions as though they are recently dumped teenagers. Naomi speaks to Sam, her ex-husband, in completely unveiled and exaggerated analogies, using their disagreements to argue about patients, and Violet actually calls her ex-boyfriend repeatedly and hangs up when he answers. Seriously, that is what is supposedly a plausible reaction for an adult psychiatrist with a broken heart? The only remotely strong female character on the show is Dr. Charlotte King, the nearby hospital's chief of staff, and even she is portrayed more as a bitch than the intelligent, sharp, and witty females of Grey's. Does a woman have to work at a hospital in order to have a real personality?

Maybe because the premiere was attempting to establish these main characters, I also found the patients to be much less compelling than those on Grey's, and their issues much more generic. Besides Addison's pregnant teenager (who comes, by the way, with no back story), the premiere features Violet's patient, Jenny, who has been triggered into a pyschotic break. While her eventual story is, indeed, heartbreaking, it seemed a little obvious to me that it was something Violet didn't know. Her sudden realization that Jenny once had a child was pretty ludicrous, not to mention Jenny's being suddenly shaken out of the break by talking about it. It's TV, yes, but to minimize the severity of such a mental episode seems contrary to the medical realism Rhimes has established in the past.

Private Practice can't seem to decide if it's a sitcom or a drama. It goes for the convoluted set-ups and exaggerated patient crises much like Grey's, leaning toward the drama end of the spectrum. But at the same time, everything was tied up by the end of the episode - Naomi recognizes her own fault in her failed marriage and agrees to work toward being less bitter, everyone learns to accept Addison as a new member of the community, the pregnant girl's father holds the baby with joy. Meanwhile, the script struggles with this balance too, as if it wants to have the weighty monologues of Grey's with Naomi's realizations about her marriage, and Jenny's violent psychotic break. But simultaneously, we have the staff conflict about Addison's hiring, which, much like a silly sitcom establishing conflict, seemed contrived and resolved before it even began.

While I get that Private Practice will not be Grey's Anatomy in California, it also needs to be good TV for my interest to stick. The conversation with Dell, the cute receptionist, about his midwifery skills (it is a word!) is what I want to see more on Private Practice - a funny exchange as a side note to an overall plot point, endearing the viewer to both the characters involved and the development of that story. I want to see less buildup of the obvious chemistry between Pete and Addison, more of Violet and Cooper's easy and amusing interactions. What I really want is to look forward to Wednesday at 9 PM the same way I look forward to Thursday at 9 PM - even if it's a very different show.

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