Audra going into Private Practice

ABC has announced that will play Kate Walsh's med school friend and colleague Naomi on the Grey's Anatomy spinoff, Private Practice. She'll be playing the role that we first saw played by Merrin Dungey.

I say good for Audra! I'm a little tired by the idea of her doing the classic musical theater roles, and look forward to seeing her in a contemporary, sexy setting. She's a versatile, fun actress whose career (though obviously incredibly successful) has always felt a little heavy and serious to me.

The pilot of Private Practice was tiresome and irritating, but I still think the show has potential, and could at least be silly and diverting. I see it as having a vibe of Ally McBeal meets Wings or Cheers, if its good. The talking elevator has got to go, though.

Sayonara, Dr. McDouchebag!

I'm a little late on this news, but it seems that the powers that be at ABC have come to their senses, and Isaiah Washington has been given the axe from Grey's Anatomy. Get a load of this, via People:

Howard Bragman, Washington's publicist, says Washington's option was not renewed, and released this statement from the actor: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more."

Yikes!!! I'm hoping, for his sake, that the statement is nothing more than a really ill-considered joke. Could he possibly be serious??

Officials at ABC television studios have declined to comment, probably not wanting to admit that he was fired because of the homophobia/anger disaster earlier this season. At this point, they could always use the old "the story was going in a different direction, etc etc" BS, though it would be nice to hear the network give an honest, decisive answer that homophobia and hatred simply cannot be tolerated.

This news comes only a few weeks after Washington's PSA aired during episodes of Grey's. In case you missed it, his speech went something like, "Words have power. The power to express love, happiness and joy. They also have the power to heal." Uh huh. Watch the PSA here.

T.R. Knight probably not calling it quits

For all y'all who are landing here by searching for "is T.R. Knight leaving Grey's Anatomy," I did a bit of sleuthing, and my crystal ball is telling me that he's sticking with the show. Isaiah "Dr. McDouchebag" Washington's status on the show remains to be seen.

Above is a picture of T.R. in Amadeus, to remind us all that he can do a lot more than look cute in scrubs.

Hey, maybe McDouchebag will become available just in time for the Debbie Allen Cat On A Hot Tin Roof revival! That is, if 50 Cent isn't available.

Mary-Louise Parker's better, hotter boyfriend

A friend of mine spotted Mary-Louise Parker "canoodling" (the only way to make out when you're famous) with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a.k.a. Denny Duquette from Grey's Anatomy. Apparently the two were sucking face at Vertical Hour - at least two audience members were enjoying themselves. Morgan also played ML Parker's dead hubby on Weeds, seen in flashbacks and old camcorder tapes.

She's one crazy lady, but this could be one of the hottest celebrity couples ever. Just imagine their beautiful, three-named children.


UPDATE: Well, the pair arrived at the opening of Curtains last night (which I was at, more on that later), so I guess that confirms it. But check out this picture:

Mary Louise looks like she's in pain, while Jeffrey Dean Morgan is about to burst into song: "Hello world! Isn't life beautiful? We're so happy together! Like, really, really really happy!!! Tra, la la..." Yikes.

More Bad Ideas: ABC to create spinoff of Grey's Anatomy

Cynopsis, the tv business daily email, is reporting today that ABC is considering creating a spin off show about Kate Walsh's character.

Grey's Anatomy creators are looking to spin off one of the show's characters into a second drama project, according to The Wall Street Journal. Heading out on her own would be Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, who is played by Kate Walsh. An upcoming two hour episode will serve as the pilot of the new series, which will be written by show creator Shonda Rhimes.

What a crappy idea! Shonda Rhimes needs to spend more time focusing on bringing the humor and quirkyness back to Grey's Anatomy, not creating more nighttime soapy fluff. I do love Addison as a character, but I hardly want to watch a whole show about her. It also doesn't help that Kate Walsh comes off as a dithering idiot in every television interview I've ever seen. I'm sure she's a smart woman, she certainly plays Addison as one, but she really needs to get a coach before she does the next round of press.

Update: Cynopsis reports today that Taye Diggs will also be in the cast. So now we KNOW it'll be cancelled.

T.R. Knight to leave Gray's Anatomy - Whaaaa????

Oh no. Oh, no no no. Rumors are swirling that T.R. Knight will leave Gray's Anatomy, due to the continuing shitstorm brought on by Isaiah "no-he-did-NOT-just-say-it-again" Washington, a.k.a. Dr. McDouchebag.

An anonymous source told The Scoop that T.R. "is so upset about the situation and so disgusted by how it was all handled." Of course he's upset about Dr. Douche dropping the F-bomb all over his career, but why was he upset about how it was handled? "He was told not to say anything about the whole incident," says the source. So, essentially this means that after McDouche called him a you-know-what, and then denied ever saying it, Knight was asked to not talk about it, which feels a lot like confirming by silence that the whole thing never happened.

So several months passed, but then McDouche brought up the whole thing again at the Golden Globes, proclaiming out of nowhere, "And I never called T.R. Knight a [the word]." So then what? "[T.R. Knight] kept his word, but then the whole thing blew up again at the Golden Globes, and when he was asked about it, he basically called Isaiah a liar... He feels that the atmosphere there is so toxic and unhealthy. I suppose things could change and we would stay, but for now, he’s planning to leave the show." So he went on Ellen and confirmed what was said. Washington is in some kind of anger management therapy center (along with Michael Richards, Donald Trump, and Naomi Campbell, I hope), and now T.R. Knight might leave the show.

Meanwhile, when Chandra Wilson won a SAG award for her work on the show, she thanked all "10 cast members... and the other one in rehab."

Don't leave us, Georgie!

Ellen Burstyn Puts U.S. Acting On Notice

Ellen Burstyn thinks acting in the U.S. has seen better times. She recently told Reuters, "Acting? I think it needs some help... TV has lowered the bar. With quicker schedules everything is rushed, so the quality gets lowered."

Right on! Moxie used to be a superfan of Grey's Anatomy, but can barely even endure an episode nowadays. It's so disheartening to watch fabulous actors like Sandra Oh, T.R. Knight, and Chandra Wilson hurried through scenes, doing the best they can with what is essentially soap-opera material. Their transformative abilities keep the show at the top of the ratings, but it's too bad we can't see them onstage. T.R. Knight wasn't even available for theater for much of last summer because of press for Grey's in Europe.

About the state of Broadway, Burstyn said, "I am appalled. (I saw) a couple of things that were billed as good, but they were shockingly bad. I can't recommend anything on Broadway." Moxie wonders what she saw that was "billed as good," something that got raves, but may well be getting a bit stif and rusty, like Jersey Boys? Or one of Broadway's current best offerings, like Grey Gardens? Moxie's looking for an example of a straight play performance that's quite good, but... ehrm... well aside from Julie White, not much happening in that arena right now, is there? Perhaps later in the season Burstyn can find something she likes, with offerings like The Coast of Utopia, The Year of Magical Thinking, Translations, and The Vertical Hour. There's got to be SOMETHING transcendent this year. Better yet, maybe Ellen Burstyn will come back to the stage sometime soon.

Dr. McDouchebag

Moxie would like to present the first-ever Golden Douchebag Award to Isaiah Washington. Dr. McDouchebag showed his true colors on-set at Grey's Anatomy, when he went fisticuffs with Patrick Dempsey. Most everybody knows the infamous slur he exclaimed, which outed T.R. Knight to the world. Apparently he has anger management issues (no!) especially in regard to "time" [gays] and "keeping the production going" [keeping away the gays].

Moxie thinks everybody should just calm down, since Dr. McDouchebag has a perfectly reasonable explanation for his actions. "We were like two baseball players . . . nose-to-nose." The issue, he says, was "time and (keeping) the production going. The communication was lost in translation." Oh, cool. So it no punches were thrown, or anything like that? "Our faces are too beautiful for that!," he says. Ah yes, well these things happen. So did you learn anything from this experience, Dr. McDouchbag? "I've never been that close to (Patrick) before," he says. "He has really pretty blue eyes." Aww... so sweet!

Too bad for him, ABC has already started looking for his replacement. NY Metro reports they're auditioning Bill Bellamy (c'mon now), Boris Kodjoe, and Eriq La Salle.

Moxie can see it all unfolding before her eyes: Dr. McDouchebag slowly realizes that his hand isn't recovering. Adamant to be the top-dog surgeon he's always been, he resists, and attempts surgery, killing a patient (or many!). Faced with his failure (and a lot of raised eyebrows at the next M&M), he eats his own revolver in sweeps week, and Isaiah Washington joins the ranks of the "what the hell happened to him?" tv actors.