‘Practice’ dodges spinoff pitfalls

Let’s not sugarcoat this: Spinoffs usually suck.

So as much as I love “Grey’s Anatomy,” I wasn’t all that excited about the prospect of “Private Practice” (9 tonight on ABC), in which Addison Montgomery Shepherd (Kate Walsh) moves to Los Angeles to work at Oceanside Wellness Group, owned by her best pal, Naomi (Audra McDonald).

As with “Grey’s,” series creator Shonda Rhimes has loaded “Practice” with neurotic characters and sexual tension. However, said characters – played by Taye Diggs, Tim Daly, McDonald and Amy Brenneman – seem like adults by comparison. Well, if phone-stalking and making out in a stairwell qualify as mature.

This isn’t rocket science. And it doesn’t yet have the same zing that made “Grey’s” an overnight sensation. But “Practice” just feels right.

It could be the fact that Walsh has that perfect blend of elegance, goofiness and vulnerability. Maybe it’s the fact that Tim Daly’s alt-medicine guru Pete makes McSteamy look McCheesy. Or maybe it’s just Amy Brenneman, who can do no wrong.

I shouldn’t love “Private Practice,” but I do. As spinoffs go, it could be better – “Frasier.” “The Jeffersons.” But it could be way, way worse.

Um, “Saved by the Bell: The College Years,” anyone?

-Kristen Andresen

Tonight is a busy night for new network programming. At 9, in addition to a spinoff in “Private Practice,” there’s also a reinvention.

David Eick took a lame 1970s sci-fi show and resurrected it as Sci Fi’s critically acclaimed “Battlestar Galactica.” Now the producer has done the same thing for the equally cheesy “Bionic Woman,” with his new version on NBC.

Jaime Sommers (played by Michelle Ryan) is a bartender and surrogate mom to her rebellious teen sister Becca (Kate Hale). Then she becomes the victim of a terrible car accident and her scientist boyfriend Will Anthros (Chris Bowers) ends up rebuilding her as part of a top-secret project on which he has been working.

Jaime is naturally a little freaked out about getting bionic legs, arm, ear and eye. Also, her boyfriend’s employers expect her to start going on missions for them. To make matters worse, there’s the first bionic woman, who turned bad, out there gunning for her.

“Bionic Woman” is, not surprisingly, set in the same dark, morally ambiguous universe as Eick’s “Galactica.” It shows much more promise than one would expect given its dubious source material.

One of the best new shows of the season is “Dirty Sexy Money,” at 10 on ABC. Peter Krause (“Six Feet Under”) stars as Nick George, who reluctantly becomes the lawyer for the filthy rich Darling family after his father, their former lawyer, dies in a plane crash.

The Darlings, headed by patriarch Tripp (Donald Sutherland) and matriarch Letitia (Jill Clayburgh), are the Kennedys without any sense of public service. Patrick (William Baldwin) is the New York attorney general who is about to run for the U.S. Senate, despite having a transsexual lover. Karen, who still has a crush on Nick, is about to get married for the fourth time, to a golf pro. Quick-tempered Brian, who hates Nick, is a married Episcopalian priest with an illegitimate son. Then there’s twins Juliet and Jeremy. The former is a petulant celebutante-wannabe actress, while the latter is often drunk and in a jam.

Nick is cleaning up the Darlings’ messes, much to his and his wife’s chagrin, for $10 million a year to help out those in need. Also, he’s trying to figure out how and why his father was killed.

“Dirty Sexy Money” is a little bit mystery and a lot of melodrama, as Nick George looks through the looking glass at how the other half lives.

The odd man out at 10 p.m. promises to be “Life,” on NBC. This quirky character study is the story of Detective Charlie Crews, who spent 12 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. He’s exonerated by DNA evidence, and even though he’s newly rich thanks to a financial settlement he receives, Charlie goes back on the force, despite skepticism of those all around him.

“Life” is about how Charlie attempts to rebuild his, well, life while solving cases. It’s different, but not interesting enough to wrest many viewers away from “CSI: NY” or “Dirty Sexy Money.”

-DALE MCGARRIGLE