Private Practice

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Private Practice
Format	Medical drama Comedy-drama
Created by	Shonda Rhimes
Starring	Kate Walsh Tim Daly Audra McDonald Benjamin Bratt Paul Adelstein KaDee Strickland Chris Lowell Brian Benben Caterina Scorsone Taye Diggs Amy Brenneman
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	98 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Shonda Rhimes Marti Noxon Betsy Beers Mark Gordon Mark Tinker Jon Cowan Robert Rovner Craig Turk Steve Blackman
Location(s)	Los Angeles, California, USA
Running time	42 minutes
Production company(s)	ShondaLand The Mark Gordon Company ABC Studios
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 26, 2007 (2007-09-26) – present
Chronology
Related shows	Grey's Anatomy
External links
Website

Private Practice is an American medical drama television program which premiered on September 26, 2007 on ABC. A spin-off of Grey's Anatomy, the series takes place at Seaside Wellness (formerly Oceanside Health & Wellness Group) and chronicles the life of Dr. Addison Montgomery, played by Kate Walsh, as she leaves Seattle Grace Hospital in order to join a private practice, in Los Angeles. The series was created by Shonda Rhimes, who also serves as executive producer, alongside Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, Mark Tinker and Craig Turk & Steve Blackman, who serve as showrunners due to Rhimes's duties on Grey's Anatomy.^[1]

On May 11, 2012, Private Practice was renewed for a sixth season.^[2]

Cast

Main characters

• Merrin Dungey played the role of Dr. Naomi Bennett in the backdoor pilot but was replaced by Audra McDonald in June 2007.^[9]

Recurring guest characters

• AJ Langer as Erica Warner (14 episodes, season 5): mother of Cooper's son Mason; Died of cancer
• Michael Patrick Thornton as Dr. Gabriel Fife (13 episodes, seasons 3–4): Genetics specialist working for Pacific Wellcare Group who later became Naomi's fiance
• David Sutcliffe as Officer Kevin Nelson (13 episodes, seasons 1–2): LAPD officer, then SWAT officer, dated Addison
• Geffri Maya Hightower as Maya Bennett (12 episodes, season 1–3): Naomi's and Sam's daughter
• Hailey Sole as Betsey Parker (11 episodes, seasons 2–4): Dell's daughter
• James Morrison as William White (8 episodes, seasons 2–3): Pacific Wellcare Group owner, was involved with Naomi when he died in Season 3
• Grant Show as Dr. Archer Montgomery (7 episodes, seasons 2–4): Addison's brother, world-class neurologist who had a brief fling with Naomi and slept with Charlotte prior to her marriage to Cooper
• Stephen Lunsford as Dink (6 episodes, seasons 3–4): Maya's husband
• JoBeth Williams as Bizzy Montgomery (6 episodes, seasons 3–4): Addison's mother
• Jayne Brook as Dr. Meg Porter (5 episodes, season 2): Doctors without Borders physician, Pete's ex-girlfriend
• Amanda Foreman as Katie Kent (5 episodes, seasons 2–4): Violet's patient, who attacked her
• Jay Harrington as Dr. Wyatt Lockhart (5 episodes, season 2): Medical oncologist working for Pacific Wellcare Group
• Sharon Leal as Dr. Sonya Nichols (5 episodes, season 2): Sam's girlfriend
• Amanda Detmer as Morgan Gellman (5 episodes, season 2–3): Addison's pregnant patient, Noah Barnes' wife
• Josh Hopkins as Dr. Noah Barnes (5 episodes, season 2): Morgan Gellman's husband, had an affair with Addison, cardiothoracic surgeon employed at St. Ambrose Hospital
• Agnes Bruckner as Heather (5 episodes, season 2–3): Dell's wife, Betsey's mother
• Ann Cusack as Susan Grant (5 episodes, seasons 3–4): Bizzy's lover
• Christina Chang as Dr. Vanessa Hoyt (4 episodes, season 3): Attending Neonatologist/Perinatologist from St. Ambrose Hospital, Sam's girlfriend
• Stephen Collins as "The Captain" Montgomery (4 episodes, seasons 3–4): Addison's father who slept with Violet prior to her marriage with Pete
• Cristián de la Fuente as Dr. Eric Rodriguez (4 episodes, season 4): an oncologist from St. Ambrose Hospital
• Nicholas Brendon as Lee McHenry (4 episodes, season 4): a man who brutually raped Charlotte

Production history

Origins

Private Practice intertitle

On February 21, 2007, The Wall Street Journal reported that ABC was pursuing a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy featuring Kate Walsh's character Addison Montgomery.^[10] Subsequent reports confirmed the report, stating that an expanded two-hour broadcast of Grey's Anatomy (which aired May 3, 2007) would serve as a backdoor pilot for the spinoff. The backdoor pilot episode features Montgomery on leave from Seattle Grace Hospital, the clinic in Los Angeles is named the Oceanside Wellness Centre.^[11] The broadcast served as the 22nd and 23rd episodes of the season (out of 25), and was directed by Michael Grossman, according to Variety.^[12] Gossip columnists Kristin Veitch and Michael Ausiello reported that the spinoff would be set in Los Angeles.^[13][14]

Broadcast history

On May 3, 2007, the backdoor pilot of Private Practice aired on ABC, the pilot was in the double episode of Grey's Anatomy entitled "The Other Side of This Life", and gave a brief description of the characters in Private Practice. The cast included Amy Brenneman, Paul Adelstein, Tim Daly, Taye Diggs, Chris Lowell and Merrin Dungey. The 2-hour episode averaged 21 million viewers, 1.9 million more viewers than Grey's Anatomy's third season 19.1 million viewers-per-episode average at the time of its airing. The episode was also #1 in the 9pm and 10pm timeslots.^[15] On May 5, 2007 it was announced, On The Ellen Show, that Private Practice was part of ABC's 2007 fall line-up.^[16] The first TV promo for the series aired during the season finale of Grey's Anatomy, on May 17, 2007. The series premiere aired on September 26, 2007 averaging 14.41 million viewers being the most watched show in its time slot. The series premiered on British television on July 15, 2008, on LIVING. It was later moved to Thursday at 10:00 p.m. after Grey's Anatomy during mid-season 2009, to make room for the return of Lost.

Casting

On June 29, 2007 it was announced by ABC that Merrin Dungey, who played the role of Naomi Bennett, would be replaced by four time Tony winner Audra McDonald. ABC gave no reason for this change.^[9] On July 11, 2007, it was announced that a new character, played by KaDee Strickland, had been added to the main cast.^[17]

Tony Award Winner Idina Menzel appeared in two episodes during the second season. Menzel is married to Private Practice star Taye Diggs. David Sutcliffe,^[18] Jayne Brook,^[19] and Josh Hopkins also appeared in Private Practice.

Location

Private Practice films a lot of their exterior shots (as well as some of their outdoor storylines) in Santa Monica, California. The Oceanside Group building can be found at the corner of 4th and Wilshire in Santa Monica, California. It is actually a bank.

Addison Montgomery and Sam Bennett live in rare Malibu beachfront houses right on the sand, which in reality would cost upwards of $4 million each.

Series Overview

Season One: 2007

The first season deals with Addison's move from Seattle to Los Angeles and her attempts to adjust to a very different type of working environment at Oceanside Wellness Group, a co-op private practice. The first season also deals with her budding relationships with her new co-workers. Among them include her best friend Naomi Bennett, a fertility specialist, and Naomi's ex-husband Sam Bennett, who specializes in internal medicine. Also working within the practice is psychiatrist Violet Turner, pediatrician Cooper Freedman, alternative medicine specialist Pete Wilder, and receptionist Dell Parker. It is revealed early on that the Bennetts established the practice with the rest of the doctors owning a share of it as well. Charlotte King, who serves as chief of staff at St. Ambrose Hospital, works with Oceanside Wellness through her dealings with Sam and her sexual relationship with Cooper.

Season Two: 2008-2009

The second season dealt with the practice's financial troubles. Naomi reveals to Addison that they are in danger of losing the practice due to unpaid debt causing Addison to tell Sam. This in turn causes a shift within the practice making Addison the new boss. Adding to the drama was the competition of a new practice, Pacific Wellcare. This new practice, located within the same building as Oceanside Wellness, was run by Charlotte causing turmoil for her and Cooper.

Another happening within this season is the dynamic between Sam and Naomi who by the finale realize they can no longer be friends as well as the deepening romantic relationship of Cooper and Charlotte. Addison was romantically linked with Kevin Nelson (played by David Sutcliffe), a police officer, but later realized their relationship was going nowhere. Towards the end of the season, Addison falls in love with cardiovascular surgeon Noah Barnes, who as it turns out, is married and is expecting his first child. Matters become more complicated when Addison realizes that Noah's wife is one of her patients.

Archer Montgomery (Grant Show), Addison's playboy brother, also made sporadic appearances causing trouble for her and Naomi. Archer was found to be with an aggressive brain tumor which was later diagnosed as parasites. Addison sought the professional help of her ex-husband, neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). After Derek successfully saved Archer, Addison discovered Archer was back to his old tricks cheating on Naomi.

Violet stirred some of her own drama when she began dating Sheldon (Brian Benben), who works for Pacific Wellcare, and Pete. During the latter half of the season, Violet was found to be pregnant although she did not know who the father of her baby was. Meanwhile, Dell struggled with his own issues caused by his former girlfriend's drug habits and the fight for custody of his daughter Betsey.

Some of the medical cases that caused a stir and tension among the doctors at Private Practice was the issue of abortion (a first for the practice), the sex re-assignment of a newborn, the sexual activity of a 12 year old, the switching of embryos for two mothers-to-be and a young couple who later discovered they were siblings.

Season Three: 2009-2010

In the third season, Violet survives the cliffhanger in season two while she gives her baby Lucas to Pete while she recovers from the ordeal. Addison and Sam get even closer but decide not to become a couple because they don't want to hurt Naomi, Charlotte and Cooper break up, and Dell loses Heather in an explosion which nearly kills Betsey also. Addison and Pete become a couple, which causes Addison to get close to Lucas until Violet wants him back even going as far as taking Pete to court to get joint custody. Sheldon starts to fall for Charlotte after they start to sleep together and Sam and Naomi's daughter, Maya, gets pregnant and marries the father of her baby, Dink. And Derek Shepherd's sister, Dr. Amelia Shepherd, arrives in town. In the season finale, Addison and Sam finally get together while Charlotte and Cooper get engaged much to Sheldon's dismay. Pete and Violet work over their issues, while Dell and Maya get involved in a car accident and the severity of Dell's condition is overlooked while Maya was being attended to in the operating room. Dr. Amelia Shepherd, younger sister of Derek Shepherd (Addison's ex-husband), operated on him but was unable to resuscitate following Dell's heart failure. Maya survived her operation to save her spinal cord and prevent paralysis while at the same time she gives birth to a girl, who also survives the ordeal.

Season Four: 2010-2011

In the fourth season Brian Benben and Caterina Scorsone have been upgraded to series regulars. The season begins with the aftermath of Dell's death, including his funeral and what happens to his daughter Betsey. Violet and Pete get married in the season premiere and finally begin a new life with their son Lucas. Addison and Sam reveal their romance to the staff of Oceanside Wellness, which causes Naomi to leave town to learn to accept their new relationship. Cooper and Charlotte's relationship continues to get stronger as they get engaged. Charlotte is raped and badly beaten by one of the patients at her hospital and decides to only tell Addison and make her keep it a secret. Charlotte later decides she does not want to tell anyone she was raped, not even Cooper. Later everyone finds out but Charlotte won't identify Lee McHenry, her rapist. Later we find out Violet was raped while she was in college. Then Charlotte decides to identify Lee because Sheldon tells her to do so. She goes to the police station, but because she did not accuse him and because of the long history about Charlotte not telling the lawyer does not accept to charge Lee, who is later stabbed by his girl friend in self defense. Her telling the authorities about almost getting killed leads finally to Lee's arrest, but before this, he is saved at the surgeon's slab with Charlotte granting the procedure in spite of her being victimized by him. In the season finale it was decided that they will close down Oceanside Wellness and open another practice; and Naomi decide it would be best to move to New York to be with Gabriel.

Season Five: 2011-2012

On January 10, 2011, ABC renewed Private Practice for a fifth season.^[20]

It was announced on 9 February 2011, that Audra McDonald, who plays the character Naomi Bennett, will not return as a regular cast member in the fifth season of Private Practice, however said she may return as a guest star or a recurring character.

Following the departure of Audra McDonald, it was announced on 20 March 2011 that actor Benjamin Bratt will be added to the series as a regular cast member for the fifth season of the show. The details of his character were released on the 7th of August, as he is set to play Jake Reilly; a fertility specialist "who is quite accomplished and up to speed with cutting-edge technology and procedures."

Later in the season, Cooper was revealed to have had an 8 year old son to a previous one night stand. The son, who's named Mason, is portrayed by child actor Griffin Gluck. While Gluck initially served as a guest star, he was promoted to series regular later on in the season.^[21] Gluck is notable for being the first child to be a series regular in Private Practice, or in the original series Grey's Anatomy.

Season Six

On May 11, 2012, ABC officially renewed Private Practice for a sixth season.^[2] Speculation has arisen that this will be the sixth and final season of the series which will consist of 13 episodes. On May 30, 2012, it was announced that Tim Daly, who plays Pete Wilder, would not be returning to the main cast in season six.^[22]

Reception

Private Practice initially received mixed reviews. Metacritic which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gave the show a score of 45 based on 25 critical reviews.^[23] The first episode was somewhat panned by critics and The New York Times described the show's characters as "collectively offer[ing] one of the most depressing portrayals of the female condition since The Bell Jar."^[24]

Ratings

Awards

DVD releases

To date, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has released the first four seasons of Private Practice on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4. The series is also available for download on iTunes Store.

International

Country	Network
Arab World	OSN First, Fox Series
Argentina	Sony Entertainment Television
Australia	Channel Seven
Austria	ORF 1
Belgium	RTL-TVI and VijfTV
Brazil	Sony Entertainment Television
Bulgaria	Fox Life, BNT 1
Canada	/A\ (Season 1 - 4) , Citytv(Season 5 -)
Colombia	Sony Entertainment Television
Costa Rica	Sony Entertainment Television
Croatia	Nova TV, Fox Life
Chile	Sony Entertainment Television
Denmark	Kanal 4
Ecuador	Sony Entertainment Television
Estonia	Fox Life
Finland	MTV3
France	France 2
Germany	Pro7
Greece	Fox Life Greece, ANT1
Hong Kong	Star World, ATV World
Hungary	RTL Klub
Iceland	Sjónvarpið
India	Zee Cafe
Ireland	RTÉ 2
Israel	yes stars Drama\yes stars HD
Italy	Foxlife, Rai Due
Japan	WOWOW
Latvia	Fox Life
Macedonia	Fox Life
Malaysia	ntv7, Star World
Mexico	Sony Entertainment Television, Azteca 7
The Netherlands	NET 5
New Zealand	TV2
Norway	TV2
Paraguay	Sony Entertainment Television
Peru	Sony Entertainment Television
Philippines	Studio 23
Poland	Fox Life
Portugal	Fox Life and RTP2
Romania	Prima TV
Russia	Fox Life
Serbia	Fox Life
Singapore	MediaCorp TV Channel 5
Slovenia	Kanal A
South Africa	M-net
Spain	FOX and Antena 3
Sweden	TV4
Switzerland	RSI La 1 (Italian), TSR (French), SF zwei (German)
Thailand	Star World
Turkey	DiziMax
United Kingdom	Previously Sky Living, Repeats on Sky Living Loves
Uruguay	Sony Entertainment Television
Venezuela	Sony Entertainment Television

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Private Practice

• Official website
• Private Practice at the Internet Movie Database
• Private Practice at TV.com