Name of show  
“Private Practice”
 
Timeslot  
ABC, Wednesday 9 p.m.
 
Plot synopsis
One of the most-anticipated spinoffs in recent years, “Private Practice” follows “Grey’s Anatomy” star Kate Walsh’s character Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery as she leaves Seattle Grace Hospital for the Los Angeles area, landing at Oceanside Wellness Center in Santa Monica.
 
Fresh off her failed marriage with McDreamy and failed relationship with McSteamy, Addison reconnects with two friends from medical school, the recently divorced Naomi and Sam Bennett, who don’t get along but try to keep things civil for the sake of their teenage daughter Maya.
 
Naomi (Audra McDonald, replacing Merrin Dungey from the pilot) is a hormone and fertility specialist, as well as majority owner of the clinic, while Sam (Taye Diggs) is an author of various self-help books.
 
The wellness center also includes a pair of down-on-their-luck singles, Dr. Cooper Freedman (Paul Adelstein), who’s known for finding questionable women online, and Dr. Violet Turner (Amy Brenneman), who’s dealing with the recent marriage of an ex.
 
And then there’s Dr. Pete Wilder (Tim Daly), with whom Addison shares an initial attraction, a cocky-on-the-outside, torn-on-the-inside type whose wife died eight years ago.
 
Outlook
“Private Practice” will air head-to-head against one solid but not outstanding returning drama in CBS’s “Criminal Minds,” which averaged a 3.9 rating last season among viewers 18-49, and Fox’s "Kitchen Nightmares,” its latest reality show starring chef Gordon Ramsay.
 
It will also face newcomers “The Bionic Woman” on NBC and “Gossip Girl” on CW.
 
Conventional wisdom would say the spinoff should handle its competition easily, but the night is filled with questions. “Practice” is the second of three new dramas airing on ABC for the night, a risky strategy, and there are some doubts about how the light, breezy show will pair with its lead-in, the dark, quirky first-year drama “Pushing Daisies.”
 
The big question mark, though, is “Bionic Woman,” the new series about which media people are divided. Some see it as too dark to attract a wide audience, but others think it has a chance to be NBC’s new “Heroes.”
 
The buzz
The sense among media people is that “Private Practice” will undoubtedly perform well, but just how well depends on the quality of the show. The pilot aired as part of a two-hour “Grey’s” episode last spring that received a critical drubbing, though it did draw more than 20 million viewers.
 
“ABC’s decision to air the first episode during May sweeps now looks like a good decision,” says one media researcher. “But we didn’t feel it was as compelling a story as ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ so I doubt it will equal the success of its predecessor.”
 
What critics are saying
“If there was something charming about ‘Grey’s’ interns awkwardly juggling work, life and romance (and was is the relevant word, based on last season's second half), the cluelessness of the grown-up doctors here feels more forced and irritating, despite what amounts to an all-star TV cast and an equally pedigreed production team.” – Brian Lowry, Variety
 
“Once the episode progresses, it does get a wee bit, well, I'll say it, boring. But the relaxed vibe, the chemistry between Tim Daly and Kate Walsh, as well as the adorable Paul Adelstein (formerly Agent Kellerman on ‘Prison Break’ and now a standout as a decidedly anti-Kellerman ladies’ man) gives ‘Private Practice’ real potential. Not to mention, Kate Walsh is a bona fide star.” – Kristin Veitch, E! Online
 
“‘Private Practice’ has less to do with medicine than ‘Scrubs’ does. Occasionally, when a real emergency happens, the scene shifts to a hospital. Otherwise, it’s about the variously stuck, lonely and tangled private lives of the practitioners.” – Joanne Ostrow, Denver Post