Blogging the TCA

“Private Practice” was a ratings hit during its first season. Critics, however, weren’t so enamored of the “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff.

Looks like ABC executives had some issues, too.

“I think when it just became kind of a soap opera about those people's lives, there was a lot of talking, a lot of time in the coffee room taking about the angst. That's not that show,” ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson told reporters. “It's not what [creator] Shonda [Rhimes] does well.”

So what’s Dr. McPherson’s prescription to get “Practice” to be more perfect?

Look for Kate Walsh’s lead character to get back to doing more surgery.

“I think (that) will be a big proponent for getting some more energy back, getting some medical drama,” Mr. McPherson said. "There's going to be more interaction with the hospital, because I think she does an unbelievable job of character, but it works best when it's laid over kind of a palette of these really great medical stories.

"We're hoping that that first episode kind of sets us up to really have engines that we didn't really have last year, because we spent a lot of time just kind of talking about the characters.”

—Josef Adalian