PRIVATE PRACTICE (TV SERIES) - DVD review

Things always run in cycles, and currently TV seems to be dominated by reality shows and soap operas pretending to be dramas. It can get old. Why, even a character from "Grey's Anatomy" got so fed up with the romantic triangles, complications, and bee-yatches and Seattle that Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) left. 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.

But of course she just trades in one soap-opera life for another.

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 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. There's a surprising amount of bumbling and attempts at "Scrubs"-style humor (which fails miserably), and things can get kind of graphic (scalpels cutting into skin, backsides shown in shadows, etc.). This season, as with the first, there's almost more emphasis on the personal than the professional. Dr. Addison becomes head of the Center this season, and a competing wellness center (Pacific Well Care) turns up in the same building to make hard economic times seem even harder.

Twenty-two episodes are contained on six single-sided discs that are housed in a fold-out case:

1) "A Family Thing." The mother of an eight year old wants to induce labor to get stem cells from the baby, and it touches off a moral debate. So does a 14 year old who announces he's ready for sex. Unfortunately, he's HIV positive.

2) "Equal and Opposite." The doctors look for new ways to bring in clients and income to survive bankruptcy.

3) "Nothing to Talk About." Financial problems continue, but as Addison's relationship with Kevin (David Sutcliffe) grows more serious, so does the threat of her leaving, as St. Ambrose tries to get her to jump ship.

4) "Past Tense." It's Sam vs. Naomi in a showdown of solutions to save the practice.

5) "Let It Go." Addison isn't making good decisions, and it may have an adverse affect on the practice.

6) "Serving Two Masters." Okay, this one is just plain kinky. Addison treats two pregnant women who have the same husband, but don't know it.

7) "Tempting Faith." A patient who's accused of a violent crime causes trouble, and Addison's brother causes trouble for her when he visits unexpectedly. Call it the trouble episode.

8) "Crime and Punishment." A patient may have murdered his wife, and a pregnant woman is in a coma. Need anything more to fill 50 minutes?

9) "Know When to Fold." Pacific Wellcare opens up in the same building, and the rivalry begins. Given the health care debate, this episode just seems crass as hell.

10) "World Apart." Pete's girlfriend returns and decides that he and Violet have become a little more chummier than she's comfortable with. Meanwhile, Cooper encounters a diabetic boy whose past is more disturbing than the disease.

11) "Contamination." Measles force a quarantine.

12) "Homeward Bound." Addison gets wandering eyes for a doctor at the rival wellness center, and Violet double-dates . . . with two different guys, who have no idea she's doing that.

13) "Nothing to Fear." Violet is pregnant, and guess who's the father? Uh, that's pretty much the point of the episode.

14) "Second Chances." Cooper acts as go-between as he helps Violet figure out how to approach the two candidates for fatherhood.

15) "Acceptance." A patient is abandoned, Archie has a seizure, and Violet faces the music.

16) "Ex-Life." Sam has an asthma attack, Addison helps Derek save a pregnant patient, and a mother suffering from post-partum depression tries to kill her baby.

17) "Wait and See." Addison wonders whether Archer and Naomi's "thing" is real. He does, after all, have a history.

18) "Finishing." More relationships and flirting among the cast; meanwhile, the two maybe-dads try to get Violet to take a paternity test.

19) "What Women Want." Not anyone from this crowd, I'm guessing. But it's a misleading title. Women want to be loved and to live, and there are several this episode who are in jeopardy of neither.

20) "Do the Right Thing." Pete starts dating a single mother, and Violet (get this) gets jealous.

21) "What You Do for Love." A pregnant woman with heart problems gets some help, and the whole Pete-Violet thing gets more complicated.

22) "Yours, Mine and Ours." Violet has to choose between the two, while Naimi has to choose whether to stay at Oceanside.

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. As with Season 1, the 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:
In addition to extended episodes for "Crime and Punishment" and "Nothing to Fear," there are deleted scenes with optional commentary by creator Shonda Rhimes and executive producer Betsy Beers for "A Family Thing" (two scenes), "Equal and Opposite" (one), "Nothing to Talk About" (two), "Past Tense" (one), "Let It Go" (one), "Know When to Fold" (two), "Worlds Apart" (one), "Contamination" (two), "Homeward Bound" (four). "Second Chances" (one), "Wait and See" (one), "Finishing" (one), "What Women Want" (one), and "What You Do for Love" (three).

Then there's a blooper reel, a Season Two round-up ("Patient Confidentiality: Examining Season 2") that functions as a making-of bonus feature, and a curious but fascinating "Life through the Lens: The Pictures of Chris Lowell." Lowell is an actor, but he's also a great photographer, and this little bonus feature shows black-and-whites of his photography and testimonials from fellow cast members.

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. It remains so in Season 2.