BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Viewers got a sneak peek at ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff starring Kate Walsh's Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery when the back-door pilot aired as an "enhanced" episode of "Grey's Anatomy" this spring. Fan reaction was largely a mix of a shoulder shrug and outright disappointment.

ABC executives already promised that the spinoff, "Private Practice" (9 p.m. Wednesday, premiering Sept. 26), will be tweaked before it hits the air, but what exactly will the show be? Creator Shonda Rhimes said she hasn't decided if the talking elevator, which she said she loved at the time they were making the enhanced episode, will return.

This much we know: "Private Practice" is set at the Oceanside Wellness Center in Santa Monica, Calif. Taking this new program out of the hospital setting will open the writers to new stories beyond surgery, Rhimes said. "There is the world of alternative medicine. There's the world of psychiatry. There's the world of fertility. There are a lot of great areas of medicine and the way a wellness group works that allows us to really tell some new stories that we are excited about."

	Ron Tom, ABC Kate Walsh portrays Addison Forbes Montgomery in "Private Practice," which will debut Sept. 26. Click photo for larger image.

The first episode will open with Addison, still in Seattle, delivering her letter of resignation to Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.). Then it relocates Addison to sunny California, which may also reflect the sensibilities of "Private Practice."

"The tone is a little bit lighter, and there is a little bit more fun to be had," Rhimes said. "'Grey's' is, in the best way, sort of high school with scalpels. 'Private Practice,' to me, is more grown-up, and it's more like a squabbling family than it is a group of competitive interns."

"Family" members include Addison's old friend/fertility specialist Naomi (Audra McDonald replaces Merrin Dungey from the pilot) and Naomi's ex-husband/internist Sam Bennett (Taye Diggs). Dr. Cooper Freedman (Paul Adelstein, "Prison Break") is the resident pediatrician/serial dater who gets advice from a psychiatrist friend and co-worker, Dr. Violet Turner (Amy Brenneman, "Judging Amy"). Dr. Pete Wilder (Tim Daly, "The Nine") is the cocky alternative medicine specialist.

Rhimes will divide her time evenly between "Private Practice" and "Grey's," and she defends the most recent "Grey's" season even though fans were disappointed in some plot twists, particularly George (T.R. Knight) cheating on his wife with his best friend, Izzie (Katherine Heigel).

"I had a strong reaction to George and Izzie," she said. "I think, when Meredith and Cristina and Alex find out, they are going to have some pretty vitriolic reactions as well. ... The characters are flawed. The characters are really human. And I'm not necessarily saying that George and Izzie are the love story of the century. People make mistakes. And perhaps this is a mistake. Perhaps it isn't. But I think it's an interesting thing to explore when you decide that your best friend is your soul mate."

She wouldn't use the word "lighter" to describe the new season of "Grey's," but she wants the show to "get back to us enjoying it and having fun.

"I felt like season three is a darker season. It just is. I mean, Meredith's mother dies. George's father dies. Meredith's stepmother dies. It was a blood bath, and it was a necessary one."

It turned into a blood bath behind the scenes, too, after Isaiah Washington uttered an epithet for homosexuals in the vicinity of co-star T.R. Knight, who soon after announced he is gay. Washington repeated the slur after the Golden Globe Awards and was eventually let go from the series.

"It felt like the right decision for all of us," Rhimes said, noting that she agreed with the decision, and it was not imposed on her by ABC executives. She also said the season finale -- where Dr. Burke (Washington) apparently leaves town after his wedding to Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) is scotched -- was the one she had always planned, regardless of Washington's shaky status on the show.

Some fans were disappointed that Rhimes, an African-American woman who effortlessly created "Grey's" with a diverse cast that makes no big deal about its diversity, did not speak out immediately and denounce Washington's slur. Her only initial comments were to protest a rumor that she would re-cast Burke with another black actor. She called the notion "offensive" that "one black man was interchangeable with another."

On "Private Practice" Rhimes is replacing one African-American actress with another, a move she defends as different because it's not a role viewers have watched for three years. She rightly notes recasting is done all the time on pilots.

Rhimes said she understood that some saw her comments on re-casting rumors last year as injecting racial issues into what began as a homophobic slur, but defended it, saying the re-casting notion "was as disturbing to me as the entire incident that happened for T.R. with Isaiah."

Rhimes said she didn't speak out about Washington's use of an epithet because her instinct was to "close the door and hunker down with the people that are my family and protect them as much as possible. The outside world became far less important to me than those people I work with everyday and making sure those people I work with every day are OK."

'Haunting Hours' to Toon

At ABC's press tour party Thursday night, which included the stars of shows on Disney-owned cable networks, Emily Osment ("Hannah Montana") said Cartoon Network has bought the television rights to "R.L. Stine Presents: The Haunting Hours -- Don't Think About It," the movie that she filmed in Pittsburgh last fall.

Cartoon Network confirmed "The Haunting Hours" will air sometime in September on a date to be determined.

Sylar = Spock

Late Thursday afternoon before he was introduced at Comic-Con in San Diego, Pittsburgh native Zach Quinto e-mailed to say that what we've known for a week is official: He'll play Spock in J.J. Abrams' new "Star Trek" movie.

Quinto, who also plays the evil Sylar on NBC's "Heroes," e-mailed while waiting to be introduced. He was backstage with Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock, who will also appear in the film.

Quinto wrote that when he couldn't discuss the casting earlier in the week "a few points were still up in the ear ... I mean air. But it's official."

Channel surfing

TLC's "Meercat Manor" returns for a new season at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 10. ... Harold Perrineau will rejoin "Lost" as Michael in 2008. ... FX's "Damages" premiered with 3.7 million viewers watching Tuesday, a good draw, but Daily Variety reports the number of younger viewers was less than those who tuned in for the premiere of FX's "Dirt" and "The Riches." ... ABC Family's "Lincoln Heights" returns for its second season at 8 p.m. Sept. 4. ... Channel 53 will stage local auditions on several dates and at different locations in August for "Pittsburgh Idol," a gateway to "American Idol." One person auditioning locally will win an audition for the Fox competition. Details will be posted Monday at WPGH53.com.

TV Q&A

This week's TV Q&A column responds to questions about "Traveler," "Project Runway" and Logo. Read it online at post-gazette.com/tv.