'Grey's Anatomy' spinoff to air Wednesdays

Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice has been picked up and given the 9pm timeslot on Wednesdays by ABC.

The series follows Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery (Kate Walsh) as she leaves the home of Grey's, Seattle Grace Hospital, for a co-op medical facility in Los Angeles. There, she works alongside an all-star cast of doctors including Dr. Peter Finch (Tim Daly, The Nine), Dr. Sam Bennett (Taye Diggs, Day Break), Dr. Cooper Freedman (Paul Adelstein, Prison Break), Dr. Naomi Bennett (Merrin Dungey, The King of Queens), and Dr. Violet Turner (Amy Brenneman, Judging Amy). Chris Lowell of Veronica Mars fame provides young male hotness in the shape of William "Dell" Cooper, who works on reception and is routinely gawped at by the female doctors as he heads out for a daily surf.

A backdoor pilot for the show aired as part of a 2 hour Grey's Anatomy in early May and averaged close to 18m viewers. ABC will be hoping that star power combined with the buzz of Grey's will help it build an audience on Wednesday nights, where Private Practice will be sandwiched between two other new dramas: Pushing Daisies, a blend of romance, crime procedural and fantasy from Heroes executive producer Bryan Fuller, and Dirty Sexy Money, which stars Six Feet Under's Peter Krause as an idealistic lawyer confronted with "dubious doings".