PRIVATE PRACTICE (TV SERIES) - DVD review

In matters of the heart, grey matter sometimes wins out. Which is to say, if you liked that medical melodrama "Grey's Anatomy," you'll like its spin-off, "Private Practice." Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) gets tired of Seattle, tired of romantic triangles, tired of complications, and sick-and-tired of main character Meredith Grey. So she turns in her resignation. Recruited by a former college roommate, she leaves Seattle Grace Hospital for Santa Monica, California and, hoping to reinvent herself and the life she leads, she joins the trendy Oceanside Wellness Center.

Physician, heal thyself.

We learn in one of the bonus features that when a spin-off was proposed, it was Walsh's agent who insisted that they test the concept first as an episode of "Grey's Anatomy." That, of course, is the way most spin-offs are spun, but it made especially good sense here because the two shows are identical in one respect but worlds apart in another. "Grey's Anatomy" took the medical drama fans knew and loved (like "ER") and infused it with a bigger dose of soapy melodrama. Personal relationships and complications multiplied so much that they competed with the medical crises in ways that dwarfed the individual dramas on previous medical shows. Real doctors and nurses noticed all sorts of gaffs, but the show developed a following. The same melodrama and "medical license" drives "Private Practice," but the fast-paced world of a hospital is totally different from the tofu-and-granola world of a wellness center, where the midwife is a surfer dude and one doctor practices herbal arts and acupuncture. Would the public buy it? Yes, it turns out. But be warned: the show tries for a little more "Scrubs"-like levity than it manages to pull off.

I appreciated "ER" in the early years, before the personal storylines started to pull a little too much at the show's center, and so of course neither "Grey's Anatomy" nor "Private Practice" is to my taste. But I will say this: if characters are the thing that pull you into a show and make you willing to invest your time in it, then this ensemble is a good one. Walsh is extremely likable as a top neo-natal surgeon who tries to ratchet down a bit to fit a more relaxed California lifestyle, but so is Audra McDonald as Dr. Naomi Bennett, the center's fertility specialist/endocrinologist and the one who brought her to the center. Taye Diggs is also appealing as Bennett's ex-husband, Sam, the resident internist who's written a bestseller called Body Language: The Mind Body Connection. Then there's Dr. Cooper Freedman (Paul Adelstein), the resident pediatrician who has an off-duty fascination with Internet dating and the kinky sex it often leads to (yeah, he's the guy I want examining my child). Mr. Tofu himself is Dr. Pete Wilder (Tim Daly), who, despite a medical degree, has opted for alternative medicine and is the center's expert on acupuncture and holistic treatment. He's also a narcissistic Lothario who's convinced that Addison came to California just because he once kissed her (these are all former college buddies). If you're thinking this group needs a psychiatrist, they've got one in Dr. Violet Turner (Amy Brenneman), but she's as much of a basket case when it comes to relationships as the others. Those are the partners. The fringe characters are Dell (Chris Lowell), a surfer who's learning to be a midwife (yeah, like I want him near my wife) and Dr. Charlotte King (KaDee Strickland), who's Chief of Staff at nearby St. Ambrose Hospital, where, of course, the Center's cases-gone-wrong frequently end up.

This ensemble gives us characters that are somehow likable, despite their flaws and in spite of scripts that frequently have them doing most unbelievable things. Bumbling gyno exams are thrown into a mix that also has traumatic water births. Things can get kind of graphic (scalpels cutting into skin, backsides shown in shadows, etc.), and there's almost more emphasis on the personal than the professional. In fact, at times, it feels more like an ensemble like "Friends" playing doctor, with these so-called professionals talking in front of patients about very personal things, having sex in the office, and generally hanging out at coffee shops, bookstores, and Internet cafes. At times, it feels like this show wanted to be a little more off-the-wall, but the tone falls a little short, so instead of quirky it only seems, well, kinky. Those crazy Californians.

Shows like this depend on plots and surprises, and so I won't spoil anything except to say there are plenty of nude situations (though parts are strategically covered), plenty of hook-ups, some complications, a few triangles, some feuds, and . . . well, basically everything Addison thought she was leaving behind, except for Seattle itself. Nine episodes are included here:

1) "In Which We Meet Addison, A Nice Girl from Somewhere Else"
2) "In Which Sam Receives an Unexpected Visitor"
3) "In Which Addison Finds the Magic"
4) "In Which Addison Has a Very Casual Get-Together
5) "In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead"
6) "In Which Charlotte Goes Down the Rabbit Hole"
7) "In Which Sam Gets Taken for a Ride"
8) "In Which Cooper Finds a Port in His Storm"
9) "In Which Dell Finds His Fight"

As I said, if you like "Grey's Anatomy, " you'll like this show. But you have to be a fan of melodrama, and you can't be a stickler for verisimilitude. At best, this show is a guilty pleasure, and what makes it so is the likable ensemble.

Video:
"Private Practice" is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen and "enhanced" for 16x9 televisions. Colors are bright, there's no bleed on the edges--even with reds or oranges--and the level of detail is pretty good for a DVD. Shadows are murky, but then again, I don't know of too many standard def releases that offer more.

Audio:
The audio is also decent, with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround delivering a nice balanced soundtrack that deftly modulates the dialogue, effects, and background music. Rear speakers don't get as much involvement as on most big-screen releases, but there's a nice wide spread along the front mains. Subtitles are in French and Spanish.

Extras:
A nice surprise here. Two bonus features are quite substantial, and really cram a lot into two half-hours. The first, "Kate Walsh: Practice Makes Perfect" spends a LOT of time chronicling the actresses early years and early struggles, with her brother and people who knew her when she was all but down-and-out in Chicago having plenty of interesting things to say about "making it" and lots of kind things about their friend or sibling. Then there's "Alternative Ensemble," which details how each of the actors was recruited and offers the same expansive blend of talking heads and testimonials. But both of these features feel far more honest than the run-of-the-mill bonus features we encounter all the time. These people aren't in it for the money, and both features make that amply clear.

Other bonus features include six deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and commentaries. On Disc 1, Walsh, creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes and executive producer Betsy Beers team up for a commentary on "In Which We Meet Addison, a Nice Girl from Somewhere Else." All the usual bases are covered, with a little "Grey's" overlap. I didn't listen to other commentaries (okay, there are only so many hours in a week), but on Disc 2 actors Brenneman and Adelstein team up on "In Which Sam Gets Taken for a Ride," and on Disc 3 there's a commentary from actors Diggs and Lowell on "In Which Dell Finds His Fight." Also included is a full-color fold-out map of the Santa Monica hangouts and brief-but-gnarly bios of the cast.

Bottom Line:
Engaging characters and warm performances--especially from Walsh and Daly--blunt the pain of familiarity and contrivance. But for my taste, "Private Practice" is a pill that's sometimes too hard to swallow.