Private Practice

OK it's got the depth of a puddle and the nuance of an angry 15 year old girl. But that's the demographic sweet spot. I'm sure it's fine in that sense. You can't judge trash by the standards of anything other than trash and this is pretty good trash. OK so all the men are women and the women are insane. But only in that high school chick movie way. In the real world you'd run screaming for the doors if any of these borderline narcissists came at you with a scalpel or medical help. Assuming of course any of them could pull their respective genitals out of each other long enough to see patients. But so what? Oceanside Wellness careens from one improbable medical disaster to the next. And it always ends well or tragically. Which is the same as ending well. I feel that the only moral dilemma they left out was having a suicide bomber show up demanding to be artificially inseminated with the sperm of dead cloned Rabbi so she could go off and detonate in a glorious spectacle of female empowerment. Maybe they did that one. I forget. At any rate, give it watch. It's stupid mindless fluff that will leave you asking the TV whether they're retarded or you are. And the answer does not matter. I rate this a 5/10 because it aims for silly mediocrity and hits it perfectly.

This show is really just completely average, which may be better than many shows on television currently, but it is not that good. All of the female characters especially are so one-dimensional. Kate Walsh is great and I like the rest of the cast, but Adison has lost all of the complexity and interest that she had in Grey's Anatomy and now is some pathetic woman who just wants a baby. All the women in this show are going through mid-life crisis' or something and are not realistic or complex at all. If this show would just get canceled Grey's Anatomy might get back to the good quality that characterized the first three seasons.

It gets much, much better with time. Lame cliché, but true. Why is that? you may ask, well, first because it's getting a distance from GA. It's technically a spin off, but it's truly not. It's a brand new show with a character that USED TO BE on GA. Huge difference. Which, unfortunately, made the pilot/episode of GA almost un-watchable. It was really bad because we got a bunch of new characters tossed at us in two hours with a: this is the new show, like it! Almost impossible in those circumstances seeing as they are extremely different shows. So the first episode on it's own made me go: huh! better than I remembered. So distance: good.

Secondly, the characters are getting more interesting. Not only are the actors obviously... getting to know who their characters are, but so am I. Violet is getting past the stalking thing. She now has a personality that doesn't involve stalking Allan (big plus). Cooper is getting over having sex with women of dubious nature and becoming a very caring character who wear wings to discover the source of little girls illness (major plus). Dell is passed the surfer dude stage, gotta love the happy pap! And so on. I'm not sure I'll ever get to like Charlotte though I do have to say that the urge to hit her over the head with a large stick has mostly passed... So, they are getting past their starting point and I like that.

Thirdly, and final point, the writing is better. It's directly relating to second point, and the story line are interesting. They do only have two patients an episode, so not a whole lot of medicine, most of the time not even Addison's, but it doesn't matter cause they are good story lines. And they are getting explored now. They use more of their potential and that's very nice. It seriously makes for an enjoyable watch. Give it another chance, you might actually be surprised at what you'll find.

I actually enjoy this show and I was doubtful when I heard about it. Has ANYONE worked in a place with friends and NOT had personal dramas? I doubt it. We all know it's there. The cast is incredible. There are some amazing performances by some very notable names. These are believable characters with believable faults and believable problems. It's humorous, dramatic and it pulls you into the stories. It's got heart wrenching stories without being far-fetched and odd, but believable cases. OK, it's not Grey's Anatomy, but let's face it. It wasn't meant to be.

I would recommend at least watching a few episodes yourself, then stopping and see if you aren't drawn back to the stories. You will be.

This is one of those shows that has been discredited by many viewers as a simple spin-off. Think it not a spin-off, but an extension. Before simply saying, "I have to make a choice between Private Practice and Grey's Anatomy. I can't watch both." Give Private Practice a chance.

The all-star cast is incredible. And Kate Walsh is even better now that she is in her element with actors and characters who are her age, and act like it. Grey's Anatomy's story now seems immature, and repulsively similar to high school in comparison to Private Practice's adults in their late thirties/early forties who are fed up with the crap of relationships. These characters have been divorced, been broken up with, and are looking for something of substance and meaning to add to their lives.

Yes, the individual episode format of medical conflict is similar to that of Grey's Anatomy. But more than just surgery plays its part in this show; therapy, alternative medicine, pediatrics and simple family medicine can be just as complex as surgery; often more-so since the patient is conscious and often fuels the issue with their personality problems.

So give this show a chance. The cast is great and the storyline is much more mature than Grey's Anatomy. If you don't try it, you won't know if you like it.