OK, it may be premature to consider this a new series - it's not been formally picked up, had its pilot mixed in as part of a larger Grey's event, and as far as I know doesn't even have a name yet. But I'm going to discuss it as if it's a new show, because I can't see ABC working this up and then deciding not to give it a go.
It starts with Addison taking a leave from Seattle Grace, which she uses to visit old married friends at one of those integrated holistic medical practices. She's not spoken to her best friend in over a year, thanks to her personal problems, and learns that her friend had her own problems, as she and her husband/medical partner have gotten divorced. They still work together and are friends, which seems to be the case. For now.
Addison has gone to see her friend for a reason - she's decided she wants to have a baby, and the friend is a fertility specialist. She does the work-up, but has to report to Addison that she's pretty much barren.
This is contrasted by the case of the week, a surrogate who, at the same time she was implanted with embryos, had sex with three men, leading to questions of both paternity and maternity. Addison also notes that the surrogate hasn't been getting a lot of pre-natal care. The surrogate has been neglecting this, but it also turns out that the practice's OB/GYN recently left the practice (driven out, apparently, by the advances of the practice's alternative medicine specialist). So Addison agrees to fill in, and discovers a problem with the pregnancy that may threaten mother and child. In the end, Addison manages to deliver the baby and save the mom, but not before she gets to berate all the possible moms and dads about how they care more about the child as property than they do about the baby or the surrogate's well-being.
Along the way we get to meet the other doctors in the practice, who are:
* The pediatrician who like to have sex with women he meets on the Internet, many of whom rob him;
* The therapist who can't get over her loser ex, especially after she runs into him at Whole Foods with his new, and very young, wife;
* The alternative medicine specialist, who is a "serial monogamist," which may explain why he and Addison have some sort of sexual tension.
There's also a B story about a couple that haven't had sex in 18 months. All the therapy isn't helping, but the actual doctoring uncovers a tumor that's likely to blame.
And that may be the problem with this show - there's a lot of talking, and not quite so much doing. Grey's could often benefit from less doing - especially between George and Izzie - but there's usually a decent balance between the soapiness and the medical drama. It is a pilot, so I suppose more talking may be needed as people are introduced.
The acting is good, and it's a pretty well-known cast that include Taye Diggs as the male half of the divorced couple, Amy Brennerman as the therapist, and Tim Daly as the alternative medicine guy. No complaints here.
I am curious as to whether or not this will be too much like Grey's in terms of inter-office romance. There's apparently a no-fraternization rule at the practice, but that hasn't stopped Daly's character from chasing off the OB/GYN, not to mention what'll happen when Addison moves in. Addison's best friend has a barely-unrequited thing for the front desk attendant, while the pediatrican made a pass at the therapist, which she was smart enough to rebuff given their friendship. I don't expect there to be no sexual tension - this is supposed to be soapy - but I think it'd be helpful if the show staked out a slightly different territory from Grey's, though I imagine it can't get too far away from the original, lest it lose too many carry-over viewers.
So I don't think this will be a slam-dunk, but it's got enough of the tone and content of Grey's to find its legs before the novelty wears off. Now ABC just has to find the right slot - and the right shows to put around it.
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