Go, Private Practice, it’s your birth day!

With three births, a hostage situation, two attempts at sex, a shocking revelation, a re-consummation, two quality guest stars, and — finally — something for Dr. Feelgood to do, there was plenty of action, both uteral and otherwise, writes Entertainment Weekly in its review of this week’s “In Which Sam Gets Taken For a Ride.”

Really, Addison may have said it best with her quote: “It’s babypalooza!”

But wait, there’s more: Addison was (again, she said it best) “on fuego.” She sure looked hot in that slinky, colorful, low-cut number. And Pete Wilder noticed. But he wasn’t the only one. Officer Kevin Nelson also noticed.

In fact, he came all the way from Stars Hollow, Connecticut to check her out. Officer Nelson was played by David Sutcliffe, who was Gilmore Girls‘ Christopher, a.k.a. Rory’s dad and Lorelai’s ill-chosen husband.

So let’s talk about all those babies. There was the panic-prone cop’s widow, who was going to deliver in a birthing tub, despite Addison’s objections. There was Ashley, whose husband doesn’t do much to control their rambunctious boys.

Follow the link to continue reading this Private Practice commentary …

Michael Ausiello of TV Guide has been a Private Practice critic from the start, but he’s (slowly) coming around. Here’s what he says in his latest column, which includes some quotes from Paul Adelstein (Cooper)…

Question: Got any Private Practice scoop? Was it just me or was the latest episode of Private Practice 100 times better than previous episodes?

Answer: I don’t know if I’d go that far. In fact, I know I wouldn’t go that far. While Private Practice is definitely improving, it’s still not must-see TV. Yet. For one thing, the characters need to stop behaving like they’re on The Hills. The concluding beachfront make-out scene between Kate Walsh and Tim Daly was so Lauren Conrad-Brody Jenner it wasn’t even funny.

Still, the show is much better today than it was a month ago, and Paul Adelstein — perhaps Private Practice’s most consistent bright spot — credits creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes‘ prowess as a master tweaker.

“Shonda is a great adjuster,” Paul Adelstein said. “I mean, if you go back and look at the first few episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and then towards the end or middle of their first season, you see that she figures out how to gel a cast and tell a story. What she does is very ambitious, in terms of a mix in tones, and it takes a while to get that alchemy right. I feel like we’re hitting our stride.”

On the romance front, Adelstein says Cooper and Violet will soon address the whole attraction-repulsion thing they’ve got going on.

“They make some decisions about how they think it should proceed, and then they try to act like [adults], and then, you know, hilarity ensues.”

With no Private Practice airing this week, let’s take a look back at last week’s episode, courtesy of this Entertainment Weekly commentary …

Private Practice got deeper with “In Which Charlotte Goes Down the Rabbit Hole.” Charlotte opened up about her alcoholic mom, who didn’t touch her while she was growing up. Dell offhandedly mentioned that he’d been abused when he was growing up. A patient named Angie asks Naomi and Addison to tell her husband he’s unable to father a child - even though he can.

Addison, Cooper, and Dell emerged as the wise ones.

Fending off Pete Wilder, Addison resolved to hold out for true love, lasting love, marriage, and children. And her advice to Angie — “live your whole life” — resonated enough to make the patient tell her husband the truth.

Coop, meanwhile, figured out that a young patient was being abused by her MS-suffering mother. But Dell evidently knew all along — which makes you wonder why he never said anything before.

Then again, he’s, like, a receptionist. The receptionist who does nothing to hide his huge crush on the woman who owns the place, but nevertheless.

Even the music that seems to hamper every ABC drama (you listening, Brothers and Sisters?), turning any serious moment into a lighthearted romp, seemed to be somewhat under wraps. But they let loose with some bombshells just the same. They do love their bombshells on Private Practice!

Continue reading this review by Entertainment Weekly …

Last Wednesday on Private Practice, we went down to Ladytown, a place Addison had apparently never been before. She’d never gone to town solo style, if you know what we mean.

We mean Addison (Kate Walsh) had never paid herself lip service. She hadn’t dialed the rotary phone. She didn’t know how to do the two-finger taco tango!

High five! Okay, you get the point.

Addison claimed that this is because she’s from Connecticut.

If that’s true, that cross-legged state ought to declare Masturbation Mondays, or Jill-off July. They need to get somethin’ going on there.

But by the end of “In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead,” Addison and shower apparatus were about to get to know each other. Score one for SoCal!

Maybe this has been the problem for Dr. Addison Montgomery all along. She spent so much of her life getting degrees and world-class certifications that she has, well, neglected to go there. It’s really quite something.

But let’s go back to the beginning. The episode opened in an elevator in which Pete admits to Addison that he couldn’t continue working with her — that her red hair, her face, her brain… were too hot for him to handle. Ding! It’s a dream!

Continue reading this piece by Entertainment Weekly …

We’ve already given you the blow-by-blow of last night’s episode of Private Practice, “In Which Addison Has a Very Casual Get Together,” in our episode guide, and given you the chance to sound off in our forums. Now, here’s a brief recap of what we liked, disliked and remembered most about last night …

The positives: Cooper hit on Violet! Well, sort of. Almost. Kinda. In any event, it’s obvious he is leaning in that direction, even if he won’t or hasn’t yet said it aloud. Along similar lines, Pete is sooo into Addison. His patient told us! We also liked Sam helping the pregnant patient and how Cooper bonded with the teen whose gay crush - and the fallout from confessing it - pushed him to the brink.

The not-so-positives: The humor doesn’t always click with the drama as well as Grey’s Anatomy, despite the writers’ efforts to walk that line. Sometimes it seems Private Practice isn’t quite sure what it is yet, or what it wants to become. However, we must remember that it’s still early.

Some great moments:

• Cooper to a struggling Violet: “Violet… step away from the pee.”
• From one woman trying to deal with inner turmoil to another - Violet, to Addison: “You’re a little bit crazy. I like you.”
• After finding Cooper practicing his speech, when Pete asks him: “Were you just saying ‘I love you’ to your genitals?” We saw that one coming a mile away, but a well-delivered scene by both actors.

The question will be if these moments can begin to flow better with the fairly heavy material that defines these episodes and these characters.

Right now, we’re still willing to give Private Practice good grades, but there’s room for improvement! Here’s hoping the potential is reached.

Shonda Rhimes & Co. apparently got the message that in May’s back-door pilot of Private Practice, Addison acted like too much of a whiner and wimp.

As a result, two changes were made by the producers late in production of the season opener last week, “In Which We Meet Addison …” They were:

1. The opening scene where Addison resigns from Seattle Grace. This was going to be, initially, a casual little chat over coffee with Dr. Richard Webber in the Chief’s office, instead of the more heated confrontation you saw. This, in fact, was such a last-minute change that the photos released by ABC (and posted on this site) depict the original version of the opener. See below:

2. Addison’s big speech to the other doctors, which originally was to end with her admitting that she didn’t have a big finish, which was to be followed by much mockery from the other docs. In the end, they added the big finish, including the whole “world-class surgeon” bit that left the other Oceanside Wellness doctors practically kneeling in her presence.

Small changes, to be sure. But what they have in common is that Dr. Addison Montgomery seems far more confident, aggressive and in control of her own destiny - in other words, the Addison everybody liked enough to make her deserving of her own Private Practice to begin with. And those changes suggest that someone finally got through to Shonda along those lines.

Baby steps, but steps in the right direction.

Like many patients on every doctor show, at first glance, the prospects of Private Practice looked bleak.

But by the end of its premiere, it miraculously came back to life, writes the New York Daily News - and even without the aid of a tall, handsome, mysterious script doctor.

The first of what could be several spinoffs from the hit Grey’s Anatomy sends Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery, played by Kate Walsh, down the West Soast from Seattle to beachfront L.A. There she joins a Private Practice that, at first, seems like it should be called Neurosis Cliche Central.

Addison was specifically hired by her medical school friend Naomi Bennett (Audra McDonald). When we meet Naomi, she is sitting on the floor of her bathroom, crying and eating an entire cake.

Violet Turner (Amy Brenneman) is a shrink who stalks her ex-boyfriend. Pete Wilder (Tim Daly) plays a cocky alternative medicine specialist who may be Addison’s next fling. That’s not necessarily a position with job security.

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On last night’s season premiere of Private Practice, one of the medical cases revolved around a man who had just died - and whose sperm was very much in demand from his girlfriend (and his wife).

How realistic is the process of retrieving it, as Naomi (Audra McDonald) and Sam (Taye Diggs) ultimately did? According to the New York Times, doctors have been receiving a larger number of requests for this very procedure.

The practice, while feasible for decades, is still relatively rare. But it is becoming more common, according to a new study. Most of the requests for dead men’s sperm are from family members, and medical experts are starting to debate when and whether the procedure should be permitted.

As often happens in the new world of reproductive technology, doctors who are asked to take sperm from dead men find themselves in a grey (no pun intended) area where the rules are uncertain.

In the end, as shown on Private Practice yesterday evening, the decision to honor or decline a wife’s or family member’s plea for the sperm can hinge on the doctor’s personal feelings about the situation.

Some almost never refuse to do the procedure. Others say they do it only if the man was married and had wanted children. Others decline all requests.

Continue reading this article by the New York Times …

It’s predicted to win its time slot, and many critics call it a safe bet to last at least a full season. But Joanne Ostrow of the Denver Post is not as sure, calling Private Practice a medical emergency that might not be able to be stabilized.

Last spring’s two-hour “back-door pilot” introducing the spinoff series for Dr. Addison Montgomery’s (Kate Walsh) character was harshly panned by many.

As a result, creator Shonda Rhimes wanted a do-over.

What you saw wasn’t really the pilot for the new show, Private Practice, she told critics, it was an introduction to these new characters as “the first true episode” of Private Practice is the one airing Wednesday at 9 p.m.

Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) and Pete Wilder (Tim Daly).

Rhimes earned our trust, so we were hopeful for “In Which We Meet Addison…” - yet now we’re standing by with the paddles, watching it flatline. Clear!

As self-consciously precious as the episode title, the tone of the spinoff takes a sharp turn away from Seattle and Grey’s Anatomy.

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If ever TV needed a few new hits, it’s this fall.

Viewership fell to record lows this summer as reality TV shows featuring pirates, filmmakers and sports stars all fouled out.

The Emmys returned last week to their second lowest ratings ever. Viewers bored with TV seem to have migrated over to new diversions such as YouTube.

What new shows will hit the mark this fall, and what series are destined for the scrap heap?

After the success of “Heroes” last year, a group of everyday individuals are here to save the day - and the networks, as well.

Can they pull it off? We’ll see.

Here are the Canadian Press‘ picks for the fall:

SUREST BET: “Private Practice.” Kate Walsh brings Dr. Addison Montgomery to L.A. Tim Daly and Taye Diggs are among the new hot docs. How can “Private Practice - a “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff - ever fail? Well, there was “AfterMASH,” and “Joey” … although there also was “CSI: Miami” and 17 “Law & Orders.”

MOST ORIGINAL: “Pushing Daisies.” Like a lot of shows this fall, the premise is simple: a pie maker named Ned discovers he can bring the dead back to life with a single touch. The catch: if he touches them again, they stay dead forever. In the pilot, which is irresistible, he brings back a women he’s adored all his life - only to realize that, now that he’s found her, he can never touch her again.

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