tim daly

(S02E16) "I'm not pathetic. I'm a man. A man with asthma." - Sam

The second hour of the Private Practice/Grey's Anatomy crossover was as action-packed as the first hour (read the review here)! Was Archer going to make it? Why was Jen having troubles breathing? Was Sam having asthma attacks because he couldn't let go of Naomi? What were Pete, Violet, Dell, and Cooper up to back at Oceanside?

Answers and my two cents about the episode coming up!

Where are all the Coach fanatics? Let me hear it for my Becker obsessives! Who's got at least five syndicated repeats of Dharma and Greg in their DVR queue at all times? Anybody?

Cue the crickets.

Arthur Smith, a researcher with The Paley Center For Media, defines the aforementioned sitcoms as "middlin," or shows widely considered to be "forgettable ... programming [the] equivalent of end tables. They look fine in the room, but if they disappeared, you might not notice for a while."

Not that Coach or Becker or Dharma and Greg (or, for that matter, The King of Queens, Still Standing, or Yes, Dear) are necessarily awful shows. Granted, none of them could step foot in the shadow of the quality boasted by reruns of Arrested Development, The Office, or syndication staple Seinfeld, but obviously someone had to be watching them, right? ... Right?

I've been a fan of Tyne Daly going back to her Cagney & Lacey days. I loved that show! It kind of made me want to be a cop - for about three minutes anyway.

So I was ultra excited when I heard she would be playing McDreamy's mom on Grey's Anatomy. Isabelle posted a spoiler about it last week. Apparently, Tyne will be playing Derek's mom, Carolyn, who travels to Seattle to meet Meredith for the first time. You know, I can really see her as Derek's mom. That's good casting.

I've got a little clip below from Access Hollywood, but first, let me sing Tyne's praises for a minute. Here's a woman who never really fit into the Hollywood "mold" (i.e. blonde and/or thin and/or a party animal), and that's probably why she's been working steadily in the entertainment industry for some 50 years. Yes, on her IMDB page, her first credit was "girl" in a TV show called Foreign Intrigue in 1954. She went on to do bit parts in dozens of TV shows until landing the role of Detective Mary Beth Lacey in Cagney & Lacey from 1982 to 1988.

Mainly because I watch Pushing Daisies at 8, but also because I can't find much else to watch at 9, I've tuned into the first two episodes of Private Practice's second season. During last year's aborted first season, I tuned in and out, curious to see how the Grey's Anatomy spin-off was progressing. What I found was a) a show that was too busy making its thirty- and forty-something doctors act as immaturely as the twenty-something residents at Seattle Grace and b) that Kate Walsh's character of Addison Montgomery went from strong and funny to whimpering and lovelorn.

The second development was especially disheartening, since Addison had become my favorite Grey's character by far, mainly because through sheer force of her acting ability, Walsh was able to turn Addison from a one-dimensional enemy of the Meredith-Derek relationship to the surgeon we rooted for the hardest.

But in the first two episodes, most of what I liked about Addison has returned. And what isn't there is on the way to coming back.

My first true TV crush was probably Jordan Catalano on My So-Called Life. Dreamy, troubled, with eyes like pools of water -- and he sure leaned great, didn't he? And then there was Casey McCall on Sports Night, Josh Lyman on the The West Wing ... OK, so maybe I have an overactive fantasy life.

Celebrities are no different from you and me. On AOL TV's new video interview series Outside the Box -- in which TV actors interview each other -- 'Private Practice' stars Kate Walsh, Taye Diggs, Tim Daly and Audra McDonald sit down and rap about stuff like Addison and Pete's "carnal destiny" and Taye's "tiny little dog" (not a euphemism ... I don't think).

"I thought, if I could feather my hair like Shaun Cassidy, he'd love me." -- Audra McDonald

Oh, Audra, millions of young girls were right there with you.

The stars of 'Private Practice' revealed their first TV crushes and more when they sat down for our inaugural Outside the Box interview, where they answered questions submitted by fans.

Check out Kate Walsh, Audra McDonald, Taye Diggs and Tim Daly talk about "carnal destiny," shiny heads and men giving birth. Plus, someone laughs hard enough to fall off the couch.

The photo to the right is of Dirty Sexy Money (and Eli Stone and Brothers & Sisters) EP Greg Berlanti, from the ABC show-runner panel. The reason why I post it is because ABC doesn't have any web-ready photos of either the DSM or the Private Practice panels for download, many hours after both panels. This despite promises that they would have web-ready pictures from the press tour up quickly. OK, cranky rant over.

Anyway, the panels for the two sophomore Wednesday shows didn't reveal all that much in the way of new info. We found out a little about what both Berlanti and PP creator Shonda Rhimes have in store, and how they deal with returning from such a long break (ABC held back the two shows and Pushing Daisies after the strike, making plans to restart in the fall).

Outside the Box is an upcoming video interview series from AOL TV, where stars of your favorite shows sit down and answer questions from fans. This is your chance to (sort of) talk to celebrities!

We've already asked you to submit questions for the cast of Scrubs and the stars of Dirty Sexy Money, and next on deck are Kate Walsh, Tim Daly, Taye Diggs and Audra McDonald from Private Practice.

Practice has one of the sexiest casts on TV. Daly and Diggs and Paul Adelstein and Chris Lowell AND David Sutcliffe? Come on. That's not even fair. The show's first season was interrupted by the strike, but I'm hoping that the time off gave creator Shonda Rhimes space to refine the storylines, just like she did with Grey's Anatomy. When we left off, Addison had gotten her mojo back and asked police officer Kevin on a date. I'm hoping to see more of that (and "I don't get stood up. I'm Addison.") when season 2 starts.

If you've got a burning question for the four Practice stars, submit it in the comments below by Tuesday, July 15. Don't forget to include your first name and city/state. And try to come up with something other than "ur hot, will you marry me," OK?

"Deedee Chappel. Get ready to unzip your pants!" - Lowell

That's one of my favorite lines in TV history, and I'm happy to say it was uttered in a show I had the pleasure of being an extra in many years ago, NBC's Wings. A great friend of mine, Suzanne, worked on the show and, since I was going out to Los Angeles for a vacation, she got me on the set as an extra. The episode was titled "If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother" and guest-starred Debbie Reynolds. It was filmed in October of 1994 and aired on November 22.

I need a little help this week...

"There was an episode of Wings where it was kind of an homage to Casablanca or Dragnet. This was a very funny episode but I don't know what season or episode. Two lines that may help you out. In the episode they all talk in a monotone voice. Joe (Tim Daly) says at one point "Why the hell am I talking like this". Also, someone says to Antonio, "You Scrapachi?" mispronouncing his last name. If you can help please do. Regards, Ian McCurdy"

(S01E09) "He's fighting for her." - Dell about Sam

What could be the last Private Practice episode in a long while (this was the last episode completed before the writers' strike) finally gave Dell a good amount of screen time. However, it felt like it was too little too late.

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(S01E08) "If they talk about us, we should talk about them." - Sam to Pete and Cooper

I'm not sure I like the port Cooper found in his storm and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone thinking this (let your voice be heard in our poll). It's clear they are trying to make Charlotte more meaningful but for me, it's too little too late. The character was almost as poorly introduced and as useful as Nikki and Paulo were on Lost. Let's hope that the Private Practice writers know where they are going with this because it could ruin the show's best character: Cooper.
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(S01E06) "Don't wake the tiger." - Pete about Charlotte

And down the rabbit hole Charlotte went. (For those who didn't get the title twist, it refers to Alice in Wonderland in which Alice goes down a rabbit hole and ends up in a fantasy/dream world.) Per our poll in last week's review, out of the 306 people who voted by the time I typed this line only 1 said they liked Charlotte the best. I'm not sure that this somewhat Charlotte-centric Private Practice episode will have viewers relate more with the character.

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(S01E05) "You guys are so not friends. You are like a corporation." - Violet to Sam

In case you didn't know, Private Practice was picked up for a full 22-episode season. That means more Pete and Addison flirting, Cooper and Violet circling around one another, and, sadly, more of angry Naomi! Even if reviews of the first episodes were not stellar, the show has been improving. Most importantly, Private Practice has been strong in ratings, which led to its pick up.

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Kristin from E! Online reports that ABC has picked up Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice for a full season. Even if fan comments (including my own) about the first episodes were not all positive towards the writing and acting of the show, enough of viewers watched the series (that's 12 million viewers just last Wednesday) to grant the show a pick up.

Yep, that means we are stuck with angry Naomi for a complete season! It also means that Addison will not go back to Seattle Grace, something a good number of Grey's Anatomy fans wanted to see happen.