Overview: From the creators of Grey’s Anatomy, comes the fifth season of ABC’s sexy, medical drama, Private Practice. Addison and her Oceanside Wellness family are faced with new challenges as unexpected people enter and complicate their lives.

DVD Verdict: In truth, spin-offs of TV series are rarely as good as the original, and 'Private Practice' is a perfect example. Some people have cautioned us not to try to compare this to 'Grey's Anatomy,' but that is impossible - for me, at least. 'Grey's Anatomy' was about the journey of five young interns on their way to becoming surgeons. The first two or three seasons were fascinating, but then it faded, and out of that fade was born 'Private Practice.'

Set in Los Angeles it is about doctors who treat people with holistic medicine, acupuncture, psychiatry, doctors who do not dress like doctors, doctors who drink white wine and look as if they just dropped in the office from the beach. The story lines are most often about people problems, rather than medical problems.

And so here we now are some five seasons later and we're still going strong for Addison and her Oceanside Wellness family. Sure they once again face new challenges. And sure unexpected people enter and complicate their lives. But like any half decent soap opera, they deal with all these things in their collective stride.

One of those unexpected people to enter would be a sexy new doctor to an illegitimate son, where the lives and loves of these doctors are put to the test almost immediately! Addison also continued her struggle between the men in her life. Her heart and head are never in the same place. She keeps giving Sam a chance there's no depth to it. Sam and Addison don't want the same things. Addison's journey to have a baby was beautiful and she finally got what she wanted. Perhaps she should choose Jake and be happy with him and baby Henry?

Indeed, Sam should just leave the practice and find happiness elsewhere. His character has become irritating. His story arc with his bipolar sister was excellently written and acted, but the finale once again made me dislike Sam. Sheldon once again was hugely underused, Brian Benben is a terrific actor. Hopefully he is well used next season. CharCoop: The most loveable characters on the show. As opposite of what I initially thought, I grew to love Erica and Mason as characters. Shonda really knows how play with heart strings.

In the season opener, "God Laughs," Cooper, Sam, Amelia and Charlotte try to save Pete's life. As we progress we get storylines such as a woman without a uterus asking Jake and Addison to help her have a baby; Amelia's addiction accelerates as she begins writing herself prescriptions; after an Intervention, Amelia bonds with an 18-year-old as they endure drug detox in rehab; Sam finds his estranged sister in jail; and come the end the Seaside doctors go to Amelia's side as she begins labor. These are all Widescreen Presentations (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs is packed with Special Features such as:

“The Practice of Parenthood” Featurette
Deleted Scenes - from ten episodes of the episodes
Blooper Reel