Does Mixed Fan Reaction Leave Future of "Private Practice" in Doubt?
Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) left Grey's Anatomy last week, ostensibly for her own spinoff show, tentatively titled Private Practice.
Now it's up to ABC to decide if that spinoff is justified.
From a numbers standpoint, it's an easy decision. Last Thursday's two-hour episode, "The Other Side of This Life," in which Addison left Seattle Grace for a new start and new pals in Santa Monica, Calif., drew over 21 million viewers.
But from a critical standpoint, it's, well, a Grey area.
The spinoff was greeted less-than-enthusiastically by many Grey's Anatomy fans, who voiced their displeasure on online forums and message boards.
"It was the first time that Grey's has been on ABC that I went to bed before it was over," one fan wrote.
"Addison will never make it on her own show. The characters were not very good on the new show and it was annoying to watch."
"Awful is an understatement," replied another. "I had two phone calls from friends after the first hour and we all had the same opinion - it sucked."
ABC officials, so far, have been quiet regarding the spinoff, the fate of which will be clear Tuesday when ABC unveils its upcoming fall schedule at its "upfront" presentation.
One network insider yesterday described ABC officials as "thrilled" with the show's ratings and "very happy" with its content, which was supplied by show creator Shonda Rhimes (who wrote the two-hour episode).
It was, in effect, ABC's reward to Shonda Rhimes for creating a ratings powerhouse - but at the risk of alienating some Grey's Anatomy viewers.
"If they're going to do a spinoff, they should do it now while the iron is hot," analyst Marc Berman of Mediaweek tells the New York Post.
"The thing about taking Kate Walsh off Grey's Anatomy is that you're not losing a lot ... it's taking a secondary character and building a show around that person.
"As long as Shonda Rhimes doesn't stretch herself too thin it's a good idea - and I hear she has a whole new crew [for the spinoff] and a show runner."
And, to be fair, not every fan was put off by Addison's venture into new territory.
"I have to say I loved the show so much I have watched it 3 times already," writes one fan in a typical "loved it" posting.
"Their ploy worked - I will now be looking for this spinoff to start because I think it will be just a good as Grey's."
May 9th, 2007 10:07 AM
i am a HUGE fan of the show and i did not care for the potental spinoff at all. several of my friends and fmaily members felt the same way, i did like a few of the new cast members but i think addison is better off where she is !
May 9th, 2007 10:17 AM
First of all, the reason the rating were so great for last week's episode was because the 2 shows were combined - which was terribly annoying! The editing was horrible - which made both shows painful to watch. I am a devoted Grey's fan, and I love Kate Walsh's character - but if the 2 shows were shown separately, I would I have turned off Private Practice. And I wish they had been shown separately so I COULD turn off Private Practice!
The actors were good (some better than others) but the story line was boring, the plot was pointless, and I can see no real depth in most of the characters.
Addison Shepard is a great character, and I like the idea of getting deeper with her and showing more of her character - but I don't think this show (Private Practice) is the forum for it.
May 9th, 2007 10:22 AM
Hey -- we all know where to find the off button for the TV. I say give the thing a chance to sink or swim on its own. Just don't pull another stunt like last week -- hyping an all-new, two-hour Grey's then delivering something else entirely. The "fan anger" over that BAD decision will hurt a spin-off's prospect for success.
May 9th, 2007 4:08 PM
I download the episode and I saw that, and... believe, I'm a Grey's fan, for better and for worse, but, in the time of private practice... I just foward the episode, 'cause it was non-sense and god damn useless
May 9th, 2007 4:15 PM
I am the BIGGEST fan of Grey's, so i can say with confidence that I think the only reason that the show had 21 million viewers was because they wanted to watch GREY'S, and they put it in the middle and assumed it counted as someone wanting to watch the show. It was the first time I could not watch Grey's all the way through- ever. I don't really care if they decide to pick up the show or not, because i did not like it and I if they do air it in the fall, it will fail, since the majority of the viewers were already Grey's fans who lost interest. The show is not going to have enough support to survive, no matter what the statistics say.
May 9th, 2007 5:55 PM
Private Practice was awful, from the beginning to the very end. Senseless, boring, stupid, superficial,... The 2-hour mixed show was only a marketing thing, so that Rhonda could say "hey, there were 21 million watching the new show". False! She knew that she was taking a big risk with this new "spin-off" (I don't care that she doesn't call it this way, it IS a damned spin-off) and managed to include it in Grey's... She was caring about the critics if ever the new show didn't get enough audience... So she mixed it with Grey's. The 21 million were for Grey's, not for PP.
Personally, I'm not going to watch the new series, if they don't find anything else more interesting to say about Addison's new life in LA. I'm sick and tired of "khaliforniah" ambiented series and their superficiality. PP great disaster, in my opinion.
Greetings from Spain.
May 9th, 2007 6:31 PM
I've been reading a lot of the forums/ msg boards, etc....maybe the 'thumbs down' crowd is more vocal, but it seems to be overwhelmingly against PP.
And as y'all have already said (as I have on some of the other boards...) - intertwining it with the REAL GA scenes was the way to guarantee good ratings. I just hope ABC is getting feedback from the forums and boards...and not wasting time & $$ on continuing with that nonsense. I think our worst fears will be realized if they develop PP - Shonda will be distracted, Grey's writing will continue to deteriorate, and we'll have two lousy shows.....neither worth watching...
May 9th, 2007 6:31 PM
i think grey's on its own is great. private practice on its own could possibly also. i think it's big downfall is that the cutting back and forth between the 2 stories made it hard to care for either one. if it had been it's only stand alone pilot episode, i would have liked it a lot more and i would totally loved all the grey's anatomy stuff, but it was just hard jumping between both shows every five minutes.
May 9th, 2007 6:46 PM
I think the most annoying thing about this article and Shonda saying that "it's not a spinoff" is that everyone seems to think the audience are a bunch of idiots. First of all, it WAS the spinoff, there was not enough GA to even justify calling it an episode. Secondly, it is disingenuous of Shonda & Co. to claim such high ratings for Private Practice, when, as stated above by many others, viewers were clearly tuning in for what they THOUGHT was a 2 hr. Grey's. I absolutely HATED last week's episode and the intro of PP characters---I thought the writing was weak, silly, superficial and tried to hard to hit the right "demographic"---I also think they are messing with all the elements that have kept me glued to Grey's for all 3 seasons. Season 3 has been an absolute debacle since the silly drowning episode....the writing has deteriorated to such a low level and the entire show is depressing and contrived. The Izzie Incest arc (w/George--absolutely sick, NOT romantic in any way shape or form)--the continued abuse, emotional & even physical with her father's outburst last week, and the demasculination of McDreamy (more like McGirly with all his weeping and indecisiveness of this season) makes me want to scream. Shonda seems to be trying to see how low she can go. I am sick of the pandering to prurient interests---I simply don't believe that these talented and wonderful people (the characters, not necessarily the actors) cannot find anyone in Seattle to have a decent, adult relationship with, and must screw around with their friends and roommates and coworkers with complete abandon. Not to mention the run on penicillin with all the unprotected sex these supposedly educated and savvy adults are having.
Shonda asked us to "take a leap of faith" with her---sorry, I've been leaping higher than a skyscraper all season and I just can't stomach the show anymore. Used to love the characters Shonda, but I think the spell has been broken.
May 9th, 2007 9:55 PM
I think I would have had a better reaction if the Private Practice spinoff stuff didn't interrupt every 30 seconds of Greys/SGH.
SERIOUSLY.
May 10th, 2007 1:20 AM
High ratings my ass. The only way that garbage got high ratings wasy because it was in the way of Greys.
It really annoyed me to have to watch crap between very fleeting scenes of Greys.
I hope PP fails so Shonda gets to realizing she's not such a hot shot. Maybe then she'll get her act together and start writing good greys, like how it was in season 1 and 2.
I thhink we can all agree (with the exception of Gizzie fans) that season 3 was a dissapointment.
May 10th, 2007 3:45 AM
I'll save myself some typing and agree with 99.9% what everyone above said because that's howw I feel.
May 10th, 2007 6:17 AM
I felt disappointed with the Spin-off, it felt too much like a "G.A. WANNABE"
The girl with the husband who couldn't do it sounded so much like Izzie when she was complaining, it gave me a headache.
Bring back the good ol charm of Grey! (the one it had in the 2nd season, which, in my opinion, was the best of all 3.)
May 10th, 2007 8:28 AM
all i wanted to say is of course the new show got 21 million viewers...they embedded it within the real grey's episode. how many people were going to turn off the tv when a 5 second grey's scene was pending? however, this was a fantastic tool...they knew no one would turn it off, so they got the ratings they were looking for.
i wonder what would have happened if they had actually had two separate episodes (first, grey's; second, private practice) like they had originally advertised?
the show has potential. i think it will grow on me and other viewers (not like grey's but i may ocasionally watch it). but the name has got to go. its just stupid.
May 10th, 2007 10:46 AM
I also agree 100% to all that was said here.
I did not watch the PP parts in last week episodes for the first time in 50 something shows I used the >>FF>> button doesn't that say a lot.
May 10th, 2007 10:57 AM
Hooray for DVR!! I normally am putting my little girl to sleep during the normal air time of Grey's Anatomy, so after watching a few segments of Private Practice, I ultimately forwarded through each of the following segments. Something didn't catch with me...maybe b/c I'm not a big Addison fan?
May 11th, 2007 8:57 AM
I love Greys - I am a hardcore Greys Fan.. But Private Practice is a mistake, Addison rocks and she's funny but don't we have enough Medical shows on TV? Seriously.. Greys, Scrubs, ER, House, etc.
But maybe it can work.. Shonda is talented, but the plot was so horrible.. and all those 40 -somethings checking out the goofy surfer/receptionist? Puh-lease.
Maybe if.. they show PP when Greys is not on the air it can work.. all we'll have is Addision to hold us off until the next season.
September 19th, 2007 7:22 PM
ugh,,, 19 minutes into tonights show and i can see that private practice is going to be a flop. they killed us with that episode in may and now this?
PP will never make it.. we're only here for greys. period.