Private Practice The Complete Second Season Review

• Release Date: September 15th, 2009
• Publisher: ABC Home Video
• Price: $38.99 on Amazon
• Run Time: 902 Minutes
• Special Features: Extended Episodes, Deleted Scenes and Bloopers, Patient Confidentiality, Life Through the Lens
• Starring: Kate Walsh, Taye Diggs, Amy Brenneman, Audra McDonald, Tim Daly, Paul Adelstein, Kadee Strickland, Chris Lowell
• Genre: Character Drama

Almost two years ago Private Practice began as a spinoff of the very successful Grey’s Anatomy. At first I thought it would actually be a pretty good idea for a show. Then I saw the first couple of episodes of Private Practice and I was starting to think that it was a huge mistake since Private Practice was far from a great show. I actually almost gave up on the show.

Then towards the end of the first season things started to get better. The second season rolled along last year and things continued to improve. While Private Practice is still not as good as Grey’s Anatomy, the show has improved to the point that I think people need to give the show a second chance if they gave up on in it early in season one.

For those of you who have never seen the show before it follows a group a doctors who work at Oceanside Wellness Center. There is Addison Montgomery who left Seattle Grace (Grey’s Anatomy) in order to try and get her life in order which hits quite a few snags this season. Joining her are Naomi, Sam, Pete, Violet, Cooper, and Charlotte. This year the practice faces financial struggles and even a rival medical practice.

Private Practice did not start out great but I believe it has started to redeem itself. What I didn’t like about the beginning of the first season is that the characters for some reason acted like children instead of grown adults. The storylines were stupid and none of the characters were that entertaining. The show felt rushed and seemed like a cheap spinoff that tried to feed off the success of Grey’s Anatomy. The improvement in the show came when work was actually done to improve the characters while also providing some interesting storylines. Comparing the first and second seasons it is pretty obvious that progress has been made. The show still has some work to be done but it is now a very watchable show.

The second season DVD set of Private Practice contains all twenty two episodes of Private Practice’s second season. Most of the episodes are very solid with few bad or great episodes. What is missing though is the Grey’s Anatomy half of the crossover between the two shows. I am assuming most Private Practice fans are also Grey’s Anatomy fans but if there are some that aren’t they won’t get the conclussion to the crossover episode since it is on the Grey’s Anatomy fifth season DVD set.

I think fans are going to be disappointed by the special features. The quantity of special features isn’t terrible but the quality isn’t the greatest. I actually only found one of the special features to be really worth watching while the rest will probably only be really enjoyed by diehard fans. Here is a detailed look at what you can expect as far as special features:

• Extended Episodes-Extended episodes of “Crime and Punishment” (Episode 8) and “Nothing to Fear” (Episode 13).
• Deleted Scenes-23 deleted scenes are included. None of them are that particularly interesting.
• Bloopers-A four minute blooper reel which is pretty average.
• Patient Confidentiality: Examining Season Two-A thirteen minute look at the different cases of season two. The feature mostly focuses on the different issues the show brought up and how the show tries to be as neutral as possible in presenting various issues. Probably the best special feature even though it can get boring at times.
• Life Through the Lens: The Pictures of Chris Lowell-An eight minute look at Chris Lowell and his history of photography including some of the pictures he has taken on and off set. If you are interested in photography you will probably like this feature but others won’t get much out of it. I personally didn’t think it was that great.

Private Practice didn’t get out to the strongest start in its first season. In time though the show started to improve and has become a very solid show. While it still doesn’t compare with Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice started holding its own in season two. If you are already a fan of Private Practice the second season is a good purchase if you are planning on re-watching the episodes. If you are not a fan but like medical dramas I would recommend a purchase even if you didn’t like the first season since the second season does improve upon the first season.