BC Tube: 'Practice' doesn't make perfect

rivate Practice has all the makings of a hit show. Likeable lead character? Check. Cute love interest for said lead character? Double check. Cast chemistry? Anyone? Anyone? That would be a no. Theoretically, spinning off mega-hit Grey's Anatomy was a fabulous move for ABC. Addison's character, just becoming a crowd favorite, lifted out of the big picture quite nicely. Theoretically, the idea was so attractive that it drew a cast of washed-up television actors to its set. Indeed, the medical co-op is filled with '90s has-beens such as Tim Daly, formerly of Wings fame, who plays the "charming" holistic doctor who will undoubtedly get Kate Walsh very well acquainted with Los Angeles. ABC owed Tony-winner Taye Diggs a favor after the quickly defunct cop dud Day Break, so they cast him as the eye-candy general practitioner of the co-op. Add Judging Amy's Amy Brenneman and we've got a VH1 Where Are They Now special.

Unlike its 10 p.m. counterpart, Dirty Sexy Money, which employed the same casting techniques, this mish-mash of thespians does not equal successful chemistry. Counter to its parent show Grey's, the audience is left wondering why this group of characters would be friends. Why would they open a medical practice together? The characters are also perplexing. Brenneman's character, Violet, is the psychologist of the show - one that has an unhealthy obsession with her former boyfriend, who is now married. Cooper is the resident pediatrician and sex addict. Doesn't anyone else find that creepy? Call me crazy, but I like my pediatricians to be free of kinky sexual habits.

But it's not just the new characters that leave something to be desired - it's our old friend Addison Montgomery. Armed with a snazzy new haircut and the loss of her signature red locks, Kate Walsh has been morphed into - gasp - Meredith Grey. She finds herself consumed by her adorable co-worker Pete, even though he does not hold a candle to a certain McSteamy she left behind. She tells this man that she cares nothing for him while doing dangerous surgery on her only patient of the day. She dances around her apartment naked! If there is one problem with Private Practice, it's Addison's transformation. She is no longer the sassy adulterer that pulled Alex Karev into a closet at Seattle Grace. She is now the tanner, more fashion-forward version of Meredith Grey, only more annoying. And I didn't think it was possible.