That’s right. I’m out baby! I have officially closed the book on Addison (Kate Walsh) and the gang at Oceanside Wellness Center (no offense, Jane). I feel good. A little sad that this time I’m leaving Taye Diggs instead of hanging on for dear life until the network sends him packing, but the truth is he’s kind of MIA these days anyway (and when he is around he’s mooning over his ex Naomi (Audra McDonald)? He’s Taye Diggs! At least give him someone half as good looking as he is!)
Anyway, my wife and I were sitting at home this weekend, scrambling to get our TiVo memory above thirty percent empty. Beyond the regular fare of sit-and-watch television, plus or minus some distraction, we’ve developed a tiered show system, whereby some are suitable as background noise while we cook or do dishes (like 24 and Grey’s Anatomy), some have us riveted to our seats (Lost, How I Met Your Mother), some I’d prefer not to even be in the apartment while she watches (ER, Heroes), and some that she feels the same way about for me (Californication, Law & Order: SVU). So, we’re bustling around, my son’s laughing his head off (he’s in a giggling stage), and it comes time for his lunch. We decide to roll Private Practice while we feed him, and alternately check out the ongoing March Madness scores.
We were two episodes behind, so were half-watching as Cooper (Paul Adelstein) fought with KaDee Strickland‘s Charlotte (shocking!) over a young girl’s life, Violet (Amy Brenneman) continued to refuse to try and identify her baby’s father (shocking!), and Addison fell for a married man (shocking! Wait, normally she’s the married one. Hey, new twist!) Overall, nothing original in a long time.
And then it hit us: neither one of us was interested. Neither one of us had missed this show since we last saw it (and FYI, Shonda Rhimes, neither one of us would miss Katherine Heigl if she simply never showed up for work on Grey’s Anatomy again. Really. Please feel free to test that theory.)
And that was it. We kept the show going until lunch was over, then deleted it and the following episode, and finally cleared it from our TiVo prioritize list. A serenity enveloped us, one that we hadn’t experienced since axing our last poor show choice. And then we went right back to work, clearing out the next block of memory, and the next.
You know what we discovered the difference was? We actually enjoyed the next show we watched. Novel concept, right?
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Mar 24, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
How about a litte bit more info on the why. This is a nice little tale about what you watch and everything and I agree with most of your show selections (I watch ER, you don’t) but why not shed a little light on why me not watching Private Practice from the get-go was a good decision instead of “we didn’t miss it”.
If I’d just said that about “Eli Stone” you would’ve tossed me under a bus ;-)
*POST AUTHOR*
Hey Sebastian, it’s been too long!
So, I wrote the piece, and I was concerned afterwards that it was too much fluff. But I realized that that in itself was a metaphor for what I found wrong with the show. There’s nothing in-depth to say, because there’s nothing about it in-depth to say.
No good?
The truth is that that’s it in a nutshell. Private Practice capitalized on a high in the Grey’s Anatomy story, and we followed Addison like a lot of fans did. When it went south after the premiere (or during the premiere), we figured we’d stick around, because we really do enjoy Taye Diggs as an actor. As the show progressed, the one additional enjoyment I got out of it was that Dell was developed really well, and the actor, Chris Lowell, is surprisingly talented. (I say surprising because he began the series as the male eye candy.) But, in the end, there was nothing new from week to week (as I did say), and with Taye Diggs fading into the background (also said!), what was left?
Good decision by you not to watch because you haven’t died a little inside, like me (just kidding … you watch Friday Night Lights!)
Yeah, I cut out before the episode you mentioned. But then, I had to watch that last one just because Amber Benson was in it.
Really just solidified why I won’t be back. The Charlotte/Cooper pairing is the only one I care about. Its a shame, really.
*POST AUTHOR*
Thank you Dorv! See, Sebastian, someone who gets me for me!
Maybe I should leave you two guys alone ;-)
Hey I didn’t say it was too much fluff I just wanted to get a little more specific. What you liked about the show in the first place and why you now dropped it. If it was just a tag-along thing I understand (kinda) because if you look at the numbers for this show when it is paired with Grey’s you’ll see that it has higher ratings than Eli Stone and I really had to justify myself to death for not liking it I just felt the extreme need to poke you a little bit about it :-D
Maybe I’m just jealous because you usually start your articles with “My wife and I” or something like that ;-)
*POST AUTHOR*
Fair enough (about your point in paragraph two and three). Did my response to give you a little more color?
I don’t know Sebastian, the knocks and complaints on the interwebs about Private Practice have been fairly prominent.
Let me write a script:
Sex Scene, Medically Moral Grey Area, Medically Moral Grey Area, Awkward Sex Situation, Medically Moral Grey Area, Sex Scene.
The writing and characterization have been bad. I mean, ‘My Mother the Car’ bad. They took what was a GREAT character in Addison Sheppard, and made her into a weak, whinney, shell of her former self.
They’ve squandered what is a pretty good cast: Walsh, Daly, Diggs, and Adelstien in particular.
They’ve embarrassed a great guest cast that includes some of my favorite actors. Amber Benson, Amy Acker, Denisof, Jayne Brooke, have all been wasted.
Specific enough? :)
Edit: Let me honest though… I love Marti Noxon, so I’m not knocking the staff, just saying the end product just hasn’t been good.
@Aryeh: yes you did and thank you for that. See I haven’t seen more than one episode of Private Practice so I didn’t really get your irony that’s all :-)
@Dorv: thanks, you underlined Aryeh’s point. I never read any PP reviews online and that’s why I really was curious why people who followed the show would drop it now. I simply didn’t know that it became repetitive and on the other hand why you would watch it in the first place since I didn’t like the character who was chosen for the spin-off in the first place :-)
The only thing I’m thinking about is whether I should check out Grey’s again because of McScottishguy. Any insight on that guys? :-)
Edit: gawd why did you mention all the Angel alums? I didn’t know they were on that show. Shame on you :-)
I did the same with American Idol this season after the ridiculous selections after Hollywood week (actually turned it off and deleted it when they kept Norman Gentle). Don’t miss it one bit!
*POST AUTHOR*
Ach, Idol. My wife keeps threatening to walk also. She was very pissed at the wild card choices, which really did negate the idea of “America’s chocie”. I think, like you, that the real injustice was Hollywood Week.
The last time there were only good singers left was season two, the week of Kimberley, Clay and (I guess) Ruben. I’m not sure why I’m still watching…
This is how I felt about Heroes. I’m still watching Private Practice, but its becoming noise. The beginning of the season was pretty good…then it all fell down. I’m not sure why. Oh well. Addy has better sparks with the folks over at Grey’s, and that’s where she should go.
Private Practice, Heroes– all shows that I haven’t enjoyed past the first seasons, yet I’m worried that once I stop watching they’ll get good. Grey’s is getting on that list, too– and Sebastion, Kevin McKidd is the only good thing about the show at this point, in my opinion. I did stick around for ER, and even though the past couple of seasons had their ups and lots of downs, I’m really glad I did– these last few episodes have been incredible. So sometimes it pays off, but for the most part, its just a lot of wasted time.
:-)
Yeah I stuck with ER until the end through all the Abby Lockheart BS and every damn guest starring of Sally Field *yuck* To me it really got better after it got worse but nothing compares to the first eight years. Nothing.
Anyway, I’m weary about McKidd ’cause I didn’t really like him in “Made of Honor” and every time I see the man my heart bleeds because it’s not “Journeyman” I’m watching *sob*
*POST AUTHOR*
He’s great, but I don’t think they’re utilizing his strengths. It might be worth just taking a look, as you could watch his scenes in all of five minutes, but I think they’re making him too dark and mysterious, you know, silent and brooding. He needs lines to act!
Yeah, I think the writers of the last 4+ years of ER needed to be reminded that not every episode had to be toted as “a very special” one. I liked Abby; it was everything John Stamos related that bothered me.
I didn’t know Kevin McKidd was in Made of Honor, but it just was TiVod over the weekend so I’ll check it out. Ah, Journeyman– great show, and when they cancelled it, we were just starting to find out answers.
As for your above comment re Addison: I also do not know why she was the one, of all characters, to get a spin-off. Even more boggling is that the name Addison rocketed up the list to be one of the most popular baby names in the US beginning in 2006, something that was attributed in part to the “popular TV character”.
Abigail: You can’t really blame the writers for what the NBC Promotions department does. In fact, ER’s promos have always been a bit ridiculous, dating back to Season One.
Fair point, Dorv, and in fact I avoid watching the promos whenever I can, because they are so outrageous and don’t give any real indication of the episode (and because in general I hate plot spoilers and like being completely surprised). However, the “very special episode”-ness is written into most scripts. Off the top of my head, Alex Taggart coming out of a coma on Christmas Eve and asking “Did I miss Christmas?” It’s not just the cheesiness; its the fact that there will always be a very special miracle.
Last week was my LAST private practice! I kept haning on, thinking it has to get better. I like just about every member of the cast, but I can no longer stand the characters! I really only like Dell. What really did it for me was Addison’s whole “husband of her patient in love with her” storyline. They had two very brief conversations (more like short sentences) a month apart while scrubbing in/out of surgery. They ran into eachother once in the hall way and he didn’t recognize her, and then—bam! he’s in love with her, she finds out he’s a patient’s husband, and Addison is agonizing over whether or not to be with this guy! Give me a break!
*POST AUTHOR*
Congrats! You, too, are a survivor!
The worst part about the Addison storyline was how unsurprising it was. My wife called it the first time they met in the scrub room.