TV Revivals: Can ‘Private Practice’ re-join ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ on the air?

When you look back at some of the great final seasons that have aired over the years, we’d be willing to throw “Private Practice” somewhere up on the list. Sure, the “Grey’s Anatomy” spin-off may not be a conventional choice, but we really like what the show did with the concept of time and some of its character-focused stories. We hope it gives us a good window into what Shonda Rhimes could someday do with “Grey’s Anatomy,” which does seem to have at least one more season (if not more) left given how it remains one of ABC’s most-popular drama series.

When you think about the need for more high-rated drama on the network, though, and also the recent decline of “Scandal” and “How to Get Away with Murder” in the numbers, it does beg the question: Do you try and bring “Private Practice” back now? Is there a way to tell more story here? That’s something at least worth investigating in our TV Revivals series…

How it ended – Addison and Jake were married, Naomi got pregnant, and Sam did everything he could to convince her to let him try to give their relationship another go. Sheldon, meanwhile, opted to spend the rest of Miranda’s life with her, even knowing that the cancer would take her sooner rather than later. Amelia was also happy with James, which is the one part of this story that is somewhat-invalidated thanks to her joining “Grey’s Anatomy.”

How to bring it back – There is always more to do at Seaside, and it of course would be nice to see how people like Addison, Violet, Jake, and Sam are doing. You could have some characters come back into town (there was quite a bit of movement in the finale) for a medical convention, or have them simply realize that they were all really good working together in some capacity / being near one another. These characters will have evolved; Shonda Rhimes is great at that.

Could it actually happen? – It’s super-unlikely, given that the majority of the cast is busy doing other stuff. Kate Walsh has showed a possible interest in playing Addison again, but not so much for a whole season. Meanwhile, Taye Diggs is always busy, Caterina Scorsone is on “Grey’s,” and Amy Brenneman has the upcoming final season of “The Leftovers.”

Also, many people have happy endings now, so why ruin that? We already learned with seeing Amelia again that sometimes, those happy endings fall apart.