Amidst all the writers’ strike hubub this week, ABC announced its renewals for the 2008/2009 season.

Besides the obvious Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Ugly Betty and Brothers and Sisters, the Alphabet gave the greenlight to freshman series’ Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies and Samantha Who?.

I’d say that this is representative of the very strong season that ABC has put up this year. They’ve offered up some quality programming, and I’m excited to see that these (sometimes) underappreciated programs will be making a return next year.

Unbelievablly, no word on whether Cavemen will return. (Dear Lord, no.)

Season 1, Episode 9 - In Which Dell Finds His Fight

Tonight saw what is likely to be the final installment in the first season of Private Practice. The show was a spinoff of Grey’s Anatomy, but was it a worthy follow-up? We’ll look at that in a bit.

As far as the season finales we’ve seen so far this year, this episode seemed the most well-rounded for me. It didn’t feel rushed or forced, like Desperate Housewives, nor did it leave us with zero resolution, like The Office. Simply put, it just worked.

There were three primary medical dilemmas this week. First, the couple that Addison had helped with their sexual problems a few weeks ago were back and unable to conceive, as he was sterile. Through a revolutionary procedure, Addison managed to find a lone “swimmer”, and fertilized the egg. I don’t know how medically accurate it was, but it was pretty cool to see an egg fertilized…I guess I should start watching more Discovery Channel or something.

Next was a plot with Pete and Cooper starting a parenting class for first-time fathers. Not really much to say about it, as it really seemed like filler.

Finally, the big thread was Dell’s grandfather. The receptionist suspects that his Papa is being abused in the nursing home, but it turns out that there’s some kind of underground geriatric boxing tournament going on. I’ve gotta say…old people fighting is funny. Anyway, Dell’s grandfather tells him about how boring life in the nursing home is, and how much he wished he had fought more in his life, which convinces Dell that he has to fight…for his right…for Naoooooomi. (Sorry, it’s really late.) I wasn’t convinced about the whole Dell/Naomi thing until he said “She’s worth it” to Pete. That could get interesting next year.

So…how was the season? If you stand it up alongside its parent show, it’s not as good. But, really, Grey’s, with the excpetion of recently, is one of the finest shows on television, so it’s unfair to compare them. On its own, then, I say that these nine episodes have been fantastic. Nothing mind-blowing, mind you, but I would say that it lived up to my expectations. I’m glad that it will be coming back, and I look forward to next year.

Episode grade: A-
Season grade: A-

Season 1, Episode 7 - In Which Sam Gets Taken for a Ride

Love is in the air…well, lust is, anyway. Hormones were running rampant tonight, and it was enough to mess with a lot of heads. And for everyone else, the nine-month-later result of that lust was on the brain.

Yep, it was babies night on Private Practice tonight. The mother of three rambunctious boys, expecting a girl this time, gives birth to yet another male. The recently widowed expecting mother finally realizes that she’s alone in the middle of labor. Those were decent enough storylines, but the other subplot…not so much.

Sam gets duped into making a house call to a liquor store that is being held up to help a wounded man. Turns out, the hostage-taker is pregnant with the wounded man’s baby, and Sam is forced to deliver the baby in the store. Sound cliche? It is. Sound overly convenient? Yeah, I thought so, too. I’m not a fan.

Anyway, back to the lust. Addison and Pete make plans to step up their relationship, but Pete stands her up. Meanwhile, Violet and Cooper arrange a friends with benefits tryst, but Cooper backs out at the last minute. Seriously, what is the deal with the emasculation of the guys on this show? At least Sam had the juevos to step up and seal the deal. You go boy.

All sarcasm aside, this was still a very solid episode. I think Practice is absolutely taking some strides in the right direction. Keep it up, and this could become a great show.

Episode grade: A-

Season 1 Episode 5

I’ve been pretty pleased with Private Practice so far. It’s not the best drama on tv by a longshot, but it manages to remain pretty entertaining. It may even be getting better as the season progresses.

I think a big concern that I have with the show rightnow is that we are focusing more on the patients than we are on the relationships between the main characters. Sure, it’s a medical drama, but it’s the bonds between the characters that made us fall in love with Grey’s Anatomy. We’ve seen some steps in the right direction already, but I think there is still room to grow.

Let me start by saying that I write this with a bittersweet taste in my mouth.  When I saw Private Practice, my mind thought it was Pushing Daisies, and I wrote a whole post on how my new favorite show got a full-season pickup.  But it hasn’t.  Not yet, anyway.

Anywho, onto the real news.  EOnline is confirming that Private Practice, the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff has just received a full-season pickup from ABC.  Practice averaged about 12 million viewers this week, and has continued to put up some decent numbers for ABC.

I’ve been watching, and, while it’s not up to Grey’s quality, I’ve found pretty much every episode to be pretty good.  I love every single actor, and every character, quirks and all.  Great to see that it’s sticking around.

Now, about Pushing Daisies…

I really enjoyed the ‘Private Practice’ pilot back in May.  The show seems to be much more relaxed and much more fun, and I’m interested to see what lengths they go to in effort to separate themselves from parent show ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.

The news came in over the weekend that there has been a bit of a shakeup in the ‘Practice’ cast.  The role of Addison’s supposed best friend, Dr. Naomi Bennet, which was previously occupied by Merrin Dungey of ‘Alias’ fame, will be taken over by Audra McDonald, a four-time Tony winner for her time on Broadway. 

I’m not too concerned about losing Dungey.  She’s a fine actress, but her chemistry with Kate Walsh didn’t really pop as well as it could have, I guess.  What does concern me, though, is this little comment:

“Grey’s Anatomy was cast off whoever seemed to fit the parts best and have good chemistry,” says a well-placed source. “The spin-off was cast with actors the network and studio already had under contract.”

I’m sorry…what?  I understand the whole using what you’ve got to save money thing, but come on.  You’ve got an established formula with ‘Grey’s’ that you know works…why are you going to change that to go with a “let’s use Tim Daly, he’s not doing anything right now” method?  (Don’t get me wrong…love Tim Daly, especially in this role.)

Regardless, I’m excited to see how the show looks after the shine’s worn off and everyone starts to settle into their roles next season.

(Source: Ausiello @ TVGuide)

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.