September 2007 News Archive (Page 4)

For awhile, notes James Hibberd of TV Week, Private Practice was widely assumed to become the biggest slam-dunk new hit of the fall season.

But as excitement for NBC's Bionic Woman and ABC's own Pushing Daisies has grown exponentially this summer, the Practice buzz has waned.

• The PRIOR Private Practice pilot that aired in May as part of a two-hour Grey's Anatomy episode was disastrously haphazard, causing critics and fans to slam the promising concept with surprising vehemence.

• The FUTURE Private Practice premiere was then re-cast, shot, then re-shot again. The result is a premiere episode that's firmly better than the May intro and more successfully captures the Grey's sense of humor.

The most despised elements of the "backdoor" pilot (talking elevators, women fawning over a young staffer) are gone. What weaknesses remain, ABC hopes to address in future episodes.

One source noted that both Grey's Anatomy and Brothers and Sisters started out shaky, then successfully course-corrected, and that ABC plans the same ongoing fine-tuning for Private Practice.

The sour taste of the May effort has partly lingered because, unlike most fall first-year dramas, until recently, ABC hasn't had a completed Private Practice premiere for critics and insiders to view.

The show's launch is set for September 26 and hardly anybody has seen the show (including most ABC employees, who are typically treated to early screenings).

Also, ABC elected to shiftmarketing efforts to tough sells like Pushing Daises, Dirty Sexy Money and Cavemen rather than its perceived fall flagship debut.

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Addison Montgomery is officially out the door at Seattle Grace and coming to Oceanside. We've compiled a gallery of photos from the Private Practice series opener, set for September 26 and entitled, fittingly, "In Which We Meet Addison, A Nice Girl From Somewhere."

They don't give away much, but it appears a Grey's Anatomy star (other than Kate Walsh, that is) makes appearance in the first episode!

Find out who, and check out the official stills in our gallery.

"Oh, God. Are you kidding me?"

Unfortunately for Dr. Addison Montgomery, the answer to that question is no. Inside the slick offices of Oceanside Wellness — the setting for ABC's highly anticipated Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice (debuting at 9 p.m., September 26) — Addison (Kate Walsh) is shocked that her pregnant patient has requested a holistic birth from sexy alternative-medicine practitioner Dr. Pete Wilder (played by the sexy Tim Daly).

She nervously pivots in her scrubs.

"People have babies in hospitals," says Addison. "That's normal! This is..."

"A change of pace?" asks Pete.

You could say that.

When Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes first conceived Private Practice, a drama-comedy about a consortium of sexy, not-getting-younger medical careerists in Santa Monica, she had one hope for her second baby: that it not look identical to her first.

"I feel it's lighter than Grey's Anatomy," Rhimes tells Entertainment Weekly, which features Walsh and Private Practice on the cover of its fall TV preview. "It's got all the drama without the surgery! Grey's has always been high school kids with scalpels. These people are a little bit more grown-up."

Funny, Walsh isn't feeling like the picture of maturity right now.

Outside a hideaway café in Los Feliz, Calif. — not far from the house she shares with her new husband, Alex Young, a 20th Century Fox exec — she's arriving 30 minutes late for a meeting.

Rushing through the door, the Private Practice star apologizes repeatedly and sheepishly admits she forgot her wallet.

The 39-year-old actress mutters something about a bad impression, but that's hardly the case, given the commotion she's caused.

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Hunky Private Practice star Tim Daly is part of a People magazine feature on stars of today's hit shows - who also held that distinction years ago.

Here's the scoop on Tim:

Then: Joe Montgomery Hackett on Wings (1990-1997)
Now: Dr. Pete Wilder on Private Practice (ABC, Wednesdays, 9 p.m.)
Premieres: Septemeber 26
On His McHot New Role: "It was between this and the remake of Ironside for me – being in a wheelchair the entire time," Daly jokes about choosing to play Kate Walsh's new McDreamy on the Grey's Anatomy spinoff.

The lovely star of Private Practice, Kate Walsh, strapped on her blue bikini and enjoyed an afternoon of lounging by the pool with movie executive husband Alex Young Friday in Los Angeles.

Kate, 39, and Alex, 36, tied the knot Saturday, September 1, in the town of Ojai, Calif., north of Los Angeles. Here are some excerpts from an interview with Kate Walsh in this week's OK! magazine:

OK: How does it feel to be married?

Kate Walsh: To be Kate Walsh-Young? Suddenly calm. We are so happy and blissed out. You think as a performer you'd be able to imagine, but there's really nothing like it. It's profound.

OK: How did the weekend go?

Kate Walsh: I've had a 10-mile smile. We had an unexpected heat wave and there was a blackout during the reception dinner, but fortunately there was a backup generator! It's just a lesson in life. You can only plan so much.

OK: Any other last-minute hitches?

Kate Walsh: It was so hot in the church, and I felt faint. I was like, I think I need to drink some water. So I walked out to rehydrate. I walked back in, picked up the microphone, and said: "Hey, everybody! I'm back!" The gospel choir sang "Hallelujah."

OK: How did Alex propose?

Alex Young: We were at a beautiful restaurant called Gary Danko. I had the ring with me. Butterlies are a big theme in Kate's life and in our life. We're sitting there and the appetizer came out in the shape of a butterfly...
Kate Walsh: It was kind of ridiculous, actually. It was a tuna tartar with wasabi antennae!
Alex Young: I found myself starting to talk about what Kate means to me...
Kate Walsh: And then I realized, ‘Oh! This is it!'
Alex Young: I pulled out the ring, and it was just one of those great moments.
Kate Walsh: Before, he asked my brother's permission. Which was really wonderful.

Aired the first week of September 2007, a new promo for Private Practice offers a sneak peak of the new series' debut episode. It's great stuff! A naked Kate Walsh (Addison Montgomery) is among the topics touched upon by the cast in this funny 30-second spot. We can't wait for the debut of this new series!

Follow the link to our video gallery for more Private Practice promos, as well as some clips from the May pilot and fan-made videos. Leave a comment or use our Contact Us form to submit your own fan video, or send us the link to any good Private Practice clips we've missed!

God willing, no.

It's always a concern, though, for the much maligned spin-off - no matter who or what is being spun.

Fortunately, according to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello (considered a timely and accurate gauge of such matters), the answer is no. Audiences still have a lot of good will towards Grey's Anatomy, for one.

ABC has also surrounded Private Practice on Wednesday nights with two of its top pilots, Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money.

It has a solid night in Wednesdays, Ausiello writes, with Private Practice as a pre-sold tent pole (if you will) to hold it up.

But expect the veteran cast of Paul Adelstein (pictured), Kate Walsh and their Private Practice co-stars to attract, and secure, a slightly older audience than the Grey's Anatomy mother ship.

To promote its fall lineup, ABC produced three half-hour preview shows that are the stuff of a TV exec's fantasy: they feature editors and writers from three big magazines who have traded their critics' hats for pom-poms.

"If you liked Grey's Anatomy, you're going to love Private Practice," said Alynda Wheat, a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly, in one of the shows.

About another new program, Ms. Wheat says, "If there's anything this season I'm excited about, it's Dirty Sexy Money. I mean, it just seems like so much fun. It's probably going to be the thing we're talking about come fall."

Working with a network to promote its shows may come across as contrary to journalistic objectivity, the New York Times opines, but editors say it's just a lending of expert opinion.

"We participated in the ABC special because our staffers are TV experts offering commentary," said Suzy Berkowitz-Weksel of Entertainment Weekly. "Their remarks are entirely separate from whatever reviews our critics later deliver."

If Ms. Wheat or the 17 others involved — including Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly, Craig Tomashoff of TV Guide and Galina Espinoza of People — had anything negative to say about ABC's programs, those comments were not shown, at least not in the parts ABC posted on YouTube.

This endorsement of shows - intended or not - did not sit well with Roy Peter Clark, vice president of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

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After just over a month of dating, and just over three months of being engaged, Kate Walsh and Alex Young officially tied the knot over the weekend.

The wedding of Walsh and Young took place Saturday at the Ojai Presbyterian Church in Ojai, Calif., and the reception was at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa after.

A lavish reception was scheduled to follow at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa's Casa Elar, a Spanish-style estate where guests enjoyed sit-down dinners.

Many of Kate Walsh's Grey's Anatomy co-stars, including Katherine Heigl and fiance Josh Kelley, as well as T.R. Knight, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., Justin Chambers and his wife Keisha, along with Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice creator Shonda Rhimes, were in attendance.

Kate Walsh is gearing play her Grey's Anatomy character, Addison Montgomery, on a spin-off series entitled Private Practice (as we all know) September 26.

Like most brides, Kate experienced the occasional meltdown as she got ready for the big day - a wedding she planned very quickly, to boot!

Just last week, the busy TV star told Entertainment Tonight that with Private Practice set to get underway soon and her engagement to Alex Young, "I'm living a very good dream."

Young, 35, is a production executive at 20th Century Fox. His proposal to Kate in May was discovered by reporters who spotted her wearing an engagement ring at a television event. The two went public at a Barack Obama fund raiser.

Follow the jump for a pair of Kate Walsh wedding photos ...

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