Last night was the pilot episode of what is commonly called ‘Private Practice’, mixed in with its parent show, Grey’s Anatomy.  I really like this idea for marketing a spinoff…using an episode of an existing show to catapult the new show into the public eye.  It’s a smart move, considering the huge audience that Grey’s pulls in.

Let’s start with what I didn’t like about last night.  From a purely technical standpoint, I felt like the show was weighted way too much to the spinoff side.  There were some pretty significant things going on on Grey’s, but it felt like they only spent about a third of the time in Seattle, with the large bulk of the show set in Practice’s LA.

My knee-jerk reaction was that I just didn’t care for Addison.  In Grey’s, she played somewhat of a cool, collected doctor.  But in ‘Practice’, especially at the beginning, she seemed perpetually flustered and clumsy.  Take, for example, the deal with her hair getting all in her face in the car, and her rambling to Tim Daly’s Pete in the elevator.  That’s just not Addison. 

All that being said, I really did enjoy the ‘Private Practice’ side of the show.  It appears that they really spent some time developing the characters and giving them some really interesting quirks and flaws.  I’m also thrilled to see Tim Daly and Taye Diggs back on screen.  They both had some fatal run-ins with ABC lately, with Diggs’ recent “Day Break” and Daly’s tragically cancelled “Eyes” and “The Nine”.  They both shined in their roles, and can’t wait to see them back next year.

The feel of the show was significantly different from what we’ve come to expect from Grey’s, too.  Where we’ve gotten used to the sterile whites and grays of the Seattle Grace environment, ‘Practice’ has a much warmer feel, with the nice earth tones of a more relaxed medical environment.

All in all, I think it’s a show that I think I could really come to enjoy.  We’ll find out officially at the ABC upfront on May 15 if it will stick around for next season.