My, my, my... It looks as if ABC is thinking of spinning off Grey's Anatomy, and they're thinking of using my favorite actor on the show to star in it.Word from The Wall Street Journal (via Reuters) is that the network is looking to create a Grey's spin-off for Kate Walsh and her character of Dr. Addison Montgomery. The plan is to make a two-hour pilot and air it in May. According to an ABC spokeswoman, Shonda Rhimes is working on the spin-off but doesn't yet have a title.
As an unabashed fan of Ms. Walsh (if you've read my Grey's reviews, you'll see how much I've been enjoying her performance this season), this comes as really welcome news. She has both the comedic and dramatic acting skills to pull off her own show, and it seems like there are a lot of potential to have Addison involved in lots of neonatal surgical cases as well as fun romances with the doctors at whatever hospital they send her to. And Grey's needs a bit of a castectomy, anyway; currently, the ensemble is in the double-digits and getting hard to keep track of, story-wise. What do you folks think of this development? Let me know in the comments.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
2-21-2007 @ 1:01PM
Tucker said...
Ehhh.... as much as Kate Walsh is one of my TV crushes, and I love her work on Grey's, I just don't see what they'd do with Addison for an hour every week. Why don't they spend some of that brainpower working on making Grey's not suck? Or is it in the "plan" that they should run a half-season of good episodes and then kill it midway through? Seriously, this Ferry thing is turning into Denny, when things took a turn for the worse last season - are we going to end things with a wedding in the hospital instead of a prom this time around?
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2-21-2007 @ 1:04PM
George said...
Grey's has definitely developed a case of Whedoncastitis. Although there I think Grey's will suffer without Walsh around to give it extra class, this is probably a good move for her and the network. ABC is probably thrilled at the prospect of finally getting its own franchise. By 2010, we'll probably be watching "Grey's Anatomy: The Addison Files", "Grey's Anatomy: Callie's Way", and maybe even "Grey's Anatomy: Touched by Denny". They can also bump Izzy over to Ugly Betty and find a way to cross Preston Burke over to Lost, where they *know* how to handle actors who don't behave.
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2-21-2007 @ 1:18PM
Cat said...
LOL, George. Your spin-off ideas are hilarious. You should be writing to Shonda.
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2-21-2007 @ 1:21PM
Erika said...
Without Addison, Grey's will just be Meredith whining and complaining all the time.
I don't know if the Addison character can stand on her own...
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2-21-2007 @ 1:27PM
TomB said...
"...and find a way to cross Preston Burke over to Lost, where they *know* how to handle actors who don't behave."
lol. Good one George.
If they give Addison her own show they're going to have to figure out what she is. Is she an OB/GYN? Is she a neonatologist? Is she a pediatric surgeon? If she is all three she'd still be in her residency.
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2-21-2007 @ 1:31PM
MissPinkKate said...
Why fix what isn't broken? This is all about money. Viewers are not going to get excited about this. This is a mistake, and will be a costly one.
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2-21-2007 @ 1:44PM
George said...
Which viewers aren't going to get excited about this? The ones who die a little inside each time an inventive, original program is canceled after three episodes to make room for a "non-scripted" show? Or the other 99.993% of viewers?
Grey's Anatomy is a goose that lays golden eggs. You can bet your ass that ABC is investing heavily in goose-cloning technology.
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2-21-2007 @ 1:51PM
innamorata said...
My first thought was "unconceivable" , you know that show last season about some fertility clinic?
I'm no GA fan, just a casual unattached viewer, so I don't care if she stays or goes but I can say that a GA spin off about any the character does anything for me. *shrugs*
Time will tell.
For now I'd much rather follow a spin off around Tim Riggins in university. *goes to dreamland*
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2-21-2007 @ 1:55PM
e said...
I think it's a great opportunity for Kate Walsh, and I'll definitely watch it. I may even give up "GA" and just watch Walsh's show. I think she's strong enough to hold her own show, most def.
And I, too, love George's spinoff ideas.
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2-21-2007 @ 1:58PM
Rob Stevens said...
If they move Addison to California or Miami ... anyplace she can wear a bikini for half of the episode, I'm all on board. That woman is scrumptious. :)
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2-21-2007 @ 2:00PM
Heather said...
I will miss Kate Walsh on Grey's. I don't think a show based on an OBGYN is going to go very far, but I'll certainly give it a go for at least an episode because I like her.
I love her chemistry with the cast of Grey's, though. Addison's banter with the rest of the attendings (the scene outside of the chief's office, as well as the scene a few weeks back in the elevator are a few that come to mind) is highly amusing. Addison also brings a welcome female presence in the otherwise male-dominated group of attendings. "I intend to fight like a girl. I'll let them kill each other, and then I'll be the only one left standing."
I think her character development has come a long way in her time on the show, and I would have liked to have see it continue on THIS show. But they're going to do what they're going to do.
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2-21-2007 @ 2:04PM
Chuck said...
When i first read this... i was mildly perturbed.. i don't want GA to become law and order.. but as i thought about it.. you know.. i like L&O SVU and CI much more than the original series.. so yeah. i will give it a chance.. though i would hate to see addison leave before something happens between her and alex.
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2-21-2007 @ 2:12PM
Porchland said...
I don't know why networks don't do the horizontal spin-off more often. On the downside, if the show doesn't work, it could sully the image of the existing show. On the upside, though, you get to start a show with some familiarity already, and not knowing what you're going to see is one of the biggest obstacles in drawing viewers to a new show.
"West Wing" could have spun off a dozen different ways even while the show was on. Instead, Rob Lowe gets a show where he's not Sam Seaborn (which bombed) and NBC does "E-Ring" (which also bombed), a government show, without tying it back to "West Wing."
I think this is a shrewd move.
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2-21-2007 @ 2:39PM
Cat said...
I think I have to agree with Heather. I love KW on Grey's Anatomy-- I love her character, her chemistry with the rest of the cast, and if she leaves I'm going to miss her. I guess she's out of the running for Chief now, huh?
While I'll probably watch the pilot, I have a bad feeling that this show will crash and burn. Granted, with the popularity of Grey's behind it, you never know. But I think I'd prefer it if they just left her on Grey's.
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2-21-2007 @ 3:09PM
Jim Kosmicki said...
I guess this means Addison isn't going to be named the new Chief...
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2-21-2007 @ 3:24PM
Alex S. said...
Seeing as how Addison is one of two reasons why I watch Grey's, of course I'll watch the spin-off instead.
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2-21-2007 @ 3:48PM
Jon said...
Kate Walsh really is a fantastic actress. I think her popularity on GA was kind of a surprise to Shonda and Co., but her story arc has pretty much run its course.
Someone mentioned Whedon, so I must say it would be rather entertaining to see him direct her as "a one-woman army against yucky crotches and demon offspring." Her love interest could be a reformed serial womanizer with chlamydia.
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2-23-2007 @ 10:41AM
Nancy Lee said...
I have a question about why we have an OB/GYN doing surgery on a baby. Shouldn't it be a pediiatric surgeon? If they give KW her own show, she will be replaced by another female character, they always do.
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2-21-2007 @ 4:27PM
M. Reddick said...
Kate Walsh is one of the reasons that I watch Grey's Anatomy. I doubt that taking her away will be addition by subtraction. Spin-offs on television have a poor history and their survival rates reflect that. I would hate for her to be in a project that crashes and burns. Instead of franchises, how about some new ideas? Right now we just keep getting more of the same thing warmed over. As a TV viewer, I want more than this.
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2-21-2007 @ 5:55PM
Bebop said...
If they do make a spin off i hope she take Callie with her, that character is underused sometimes and Sara Ramirez is so talented!
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