Private Practice Television Program

T.R. Knight, beware. Semi-public rumblings about one's desire to be freed from under the firm press of "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes' thumb have a way of not ending so well.

KATE WALSH'S Addison Forbes Montgomery (formerly Shepherd) wouldn't have been my first guess as to who would be the agent of a "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff, but she's a good choice, and I am glad for her sake that she is getting out of there. Of all the mopey players in that cramped, insular dating pool, superstar OB-GYN Addison seemed nearly alone in possessing some actual capacity for happiness.

To spend time with Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers, the executive producers who run "Grey's Anatomy" and its spinoff, "Private Practice," is to be introduced to their linguistic particularities. There is, for example, "Grey Co.," the term they've devised to describe the tonnage of work that goes into overseeing the production, merchandising and musical supervision of "Grey's Anatomy," the immensely successful ABC drama-soap.

"Private Practice," the "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off starring Kate Walsh, got off to a rocky start last season, with disappointing ratings and then a long absence due to the writers strike. But "Private Practice" has been on the mend since ABC moved the show to 10 p.m. Thursdays this season, right behind "Grey's." This week, the show zoomed to its best-ever ratings in the advertiser-friendly demographic of viewers aged 18 to 49, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research, dominating the slot against NBC's soon-to-end "ER" and a repeat of CBS' "Eleventh Hour."