"Private Practice": When Ally McBeal loses her wit, goes to medical school
By Sarah Carlson
May 15, 2007
ABC unveiled its 2007-08 lineup today, and low and behold, the much-loathed "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off "Private Practice" will air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. CT. More than 21 million people tuned in for the pilot, which was spliced together with a regular "Grey's" episode two weeks ago, a number up from the average 19 million viewers "Grey's" has earned this season. If execs took the large viewership as a sign of approval and not as one of people tuning in out of curiosity/because it was the only way they could watch "Grey's," they're delusional.
"Private Practice" made our heroine, Addison Montgomery/Shepherd/McSomething (Kate Walsh), into a babbling, walking contradiction who mugged for the camera and hoped to come across like the eccentric Ally McBeal (or Calista Flockhart's latest character, Kitty, on "Brothers & Sisters"). It didn't work. Instead, Addison's venture to SoCal to take a breather from the tumultuous goings on at Seattle Grace was bizarre; she talked to herself, believed she was hearing voices, made inappropriate comments to a man on an elevator (Tim Daly, pictured) 20 seconds after meeting him, pined for having a child although her character had shown no interest in the matter before, made out with said elevator man in the stairwell after she had rambled a bit more, etc. Meredith is a wretched enough heroine; why give us another one to hate? When was it made a rule that strong female characters had to have eccentric, bubbly, silly, spastic sides? Do women characters have to not only have softer sides, but flighty sides, to attract male viewers?
Addison was the strong, rational one. She could have been the evil, cheated-on wife but was taken in a different and better direction. She had depth, she had class, and while she had problems, she rose above the level of neurotic to vulnerable -- there's a difference. Although McBeal was neurotic enough for several characters, as were her castmates (who had a chemistry "Practice" is eagerly trying to duplicate -- $10 their office has a unisex bathroom), it was part of her personality and it was sold with great success by the talented Flockhart. Addison's character shift was jarring and forced, which fit the feel of the bloated two-hour episode that jumped from plot line to plot line, Santa Monica to Seattle, much too quickly. The other characters (played by a who's who of former TV stars) were fair, but again, not enough time was spent on any of them to make me care what happens in their lives.
Perhaps when it's able to stand on its own "Private Practice" will grown into itself, but if the current season of "Grey's" is any indication -- having gone downhill since its disastrous "Meredith totally died" three-parter -- "Practice's" cast and viewers would be better served if Shonda Rhimes would make up her mind, stop believing her own press and provide us characters worth caring about.
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