Not to be outdone by his fictional small screen son David Gallagher, who will be swooping into Metropolis this Friday as one half of “The Wonder Twins” comes Stephen Collins. Yes, the artist formerly known as Reverend Camden will be descending upon Santa Monica for an unwelcome face-to-face with daughter Addison on the November 19 episode of PRIVATE PRACTICE entitled “Sins of the Father.” More first look photos of the man Addison lovingly refers to as “The Captain” can be seen after the jump.

Apparently we’re not the only ones who are obsessed with THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. Turns out, when she’s not busy acting, singing and promoting her hit show GLEE, star Lea Michele is hooked. “Getting ready to pick Mr Groff up from the airport! Let the week of fun begin!!! But first Vampire Diaries. Why is this show SO good!” Now all that’s left is for @msleamichele to publicly proclaim her loyalty: Team Damon or Team Stefan?

Did actress Leven Rambin (TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES) just spill the beans on yet another GREY’S ANATOMY/PRIVATE PRACTICE crossover? Maybe, maybe not, but one thing’s for sure: According to this tweet, the actress, who is on the set of GREY’S ANATOMY as we tweet speak is poised to be hitting up both shows in the not-to-distant-future, “The Lord answered all your prayers! Thank you all so much! I’m going to be on Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice this season, y’all!” Hmmmm, perhaps @shondarhimes would care to shed a little light on this?

We have a feeling that life just got a little less UneXpected for the the CW’s new heroine-to-be Lux. Who, according to LIFE UNEXPECTED showrunner Liz Tigelaar will soon be joined by what we are going to go ahead and irresponsibly speculate is a love interest. Tweeted Tigelaar, “some of the cast to portland. one new member of the cast soon on his way to the couve. welcome, austin butler. our jones.”

This week’s awkward tweet of the week goes to VAMPIRE DIARIES star Nina Dobrev who tweeted her addiction to time-slot competitor FLASHFORWARD, “@kevwilliamson LOVE FLASHFORWARD. I’m addicted. We shouldn’t be though…lol conflict of interest, don’t you agree?”

And finally, while this doesn’t exactly come as a surprise considering his Canadian pedigree, BONES showrunner Hart Hanson has a sense of humour pertaining to what some (certainly not us!) might call eerily similarities between his show and that other procedural. Tweeted @HartHanson, “@geekiskhan I don’t have to watch “Castle”. I see “Bones” so I can watch the original. Oh, snap! That’s right.I said it! I do like Fillion.” Snap indeed.

Hey, we love Sarah Drew as much as the next EVERWOOD Addict, but after casting her in PRIVATE PRACTICE, INSIDE THE BOX (which for those not in the know was Rhimes ABC pilot that wasn’t picked up this season) and now GREY’S ANATOMY, we can’t help but wonder, where your infatuation stems from?

Do you think it was fair to loyal fans of GREY’S ANATOMY that you dropped a fairly large bombshell about Bailey’s personal life during last week’s crossover episode of PRIVATE PRACTICE?! With a difference of around four million viewers, that’s a whole lot of GREY’S ANATOMY fans who just missed out on the fact that Bailey’s husband Tucker was ‘emotionally’ cheating on her.

Where is Del?

Whose not-so-bright idea was it to name Seattle Grace’s merging hospital after NBC’s freshman medical drama MERCY?

And speaking of mergers (a story-line which by the way we’re loving!) (a) Does it disappoint you as much as it does us that all the suspense was removed from which doctor was getting the axe thanks to the the public way in which Katherine Heigl likes to deal with her off-screen issues. And (b) If Heigl is so enamoured with leaving the show that put her on the map for a shot at big screen stardom, would you ever consider not bringing her back and replacing her with one of the hundreds of Seattle Grace Docs who are so desperately trying to keep their job (both on screen and off!)

If there is a silver-lining to be taken away from the horrific happening in last May’s PRIVATE PRACTICE season finale. You know, where Dr. Violet Turner (Amy Brenneman) was left for dead, bleeding out and unconscious after falling victim to an unthinkable crime courtesy of her former psychiatric patient Katie (Amanda Foreman) who ran off with Violet’s baby she so desperately believed was hers (hence, the crazy). Is that for the first time in a long time, audiences spent the summer talking about a Shonda Rhimes series for what happened on camera, rather than off.

Whether you fell into the ‘loved it’ camp, or the ‘loathed it’ one, there is no denying the fact that you talked about it. A LOT!

Which is why, this TV Addict was thrilled to recently be given the opportunity to to check into Oceanside Wellness in person for an exclusive Q&A with the topic of conversation herself: Amy Brenneman. Who shares her thoughts on the controversial finale and what fans can expect from tonight’s season premiere. Spoilerphobes, you’ve been warned.

How shocked were you that [PRIVATE PRACTICE showrunner] Shonda Rhimes put Violet in such a horrific situation?
Amy Brenneman: Well, Shonda took a big old risk and recently said something to me that really made an impression on me. When she was pitching the idea to the [ABC] studio execs, they said, “That’s terrible, that’s so upsetting, you can’t do that!” And Shonda said, “Wait a minute, this very studio produces CRIMINAL MINDS where every week there’s a woman mutilated, raped and killed.” And the studio said, “The difference is that’s not a character we know and love.” And Shonda said, “Well, that’s the point. Violet is someone you know and love, she’s not a guest player you’re never going to see it again.”

Did the tonal shift surprise you?
Actually, I was really excited because I knew Katie was going to come back and the actress Amanda [Foreman] is just brilliant. I also loved the idea that dramatically, when ambivalent Violet seems to finally have this moment of peaceful clarity, it’s snatched away.

Are we going to find out who the daddy of Violet’s baby is?
I guess so, you tell me.

Will Violet choose between Pete and Sheldon?
There’s a lot with Pete and Sheldon continues as well.

What are your thoughts on this love triangle?
I like it, although I feel like it’s a love quadrangle, because I always feel like Cooper is her husband and these other guys are her lovers. But you know, the Cooper/Violet thing that starts out this season is so poignant with him not having saved her. Shonda just writes to that beautifully, it’s great. I don’t know how my husband would feel me saying this but I do think we get our emotional needs met in different areas and you know Shonda writes that in a more explicit ways. You have your friendship over here and sensual life over here. The first episode has a beautiful series of flashbacks, mostly with Violet and Pete that takes the audience back to his arrival at the practice.

DId you find yourself frustrated by Violet’s inability to make a decision between Pete and Sheldon last season?
I thought it was unrealistic. I had writers come up to me one day and ask, “Would you want to know [who the baby-daddy is]?” And I’m like of course, Violet’s a mother over 40, she’d definitely get genetic testing. So yeah, I did find the fact that we skipped over genetic testing a little… well, whatever. But what really helped, at least for me, was Violet’s monologue, where she said to the guys, “I need to do this in my own quirky way.” Plus, as soon as Cooper moved in she didn’t need the baby-daddy to go with her to appointments, which of course infuriated them.

Will Violet continue living with Cooper this season?
Cooper is not my roommate anymore. Actually, I haven’t seen Cooper for a while at the beginning of the season, there is a serious emotional fallout for him.

So Cooper really doesn’t’ come back to save Violet? Even though, as the finale faded to black, there was definitely a little part of me that was sort of hoping that maybe he forgot his keys or something!
Oh no, Violet gets hurt big time. She is saved, she survives, but she gets hurt. It’s ugly.

How much time has passed between the season finale and the season premiere?
We pick up 20 minutes after, second episode is a month.

PRIVATE PRACTICE airs on Thursdays at 10PM on ABC (’A’ Channel in Canada)

2. Thursday’s season premiere of that other Shonda Rhimes medical drama opens with a not-so private funeral.

3. Get ready to Dial M… for Mode, when a loved one of a Mode employee finds themselves under investigation for murder.

4. Expect the unemployment rate of Metropolis to shrink this week when a familiar face finds themselves returning to work at The Daily Planet.

5. Gossip Guy Dan Humphrey will soon himself wishing he’d spent a little less time buried in his books and a little more time renting movies. Particularly the one about the girl, who stands in front of a boy, asking him to love her.

Getting to the question that has been on every fan’s mind since the moment last season’s credits rolled — Yes, Violet is alive. Picking up a mere twenty minutes after what turned out to be last Spring’s most buzzed about season finale, actress Amy Brennenman (Violet) promises that, “You’re going to see me again.” Yet the question remains, in what condition? Teased PRIVATE PRACTICE creator Shonda Rhimes on this TV Addict’s recent visit to the set, “Obviously Amy is here on set. But the interesting thing is how she lives and whether or not there will be a baby.” ‘Whether or not there will be a baby?’ WhatchutalkinboutShonda! Unfortunately Rhimes, a notorious spoilerphobe isn’t talking — and we should add — has the uncanny ability for saying a lot without saying, well absolutely anything. Thankfully, what she will confirm is that what happened to Violet, in addition to Addison’s choice to walk away from Noah and Naomi’s decision to leave the Practice are going to reverberate for a while. And, rest assured, things won’t be all doom and gloom at Oceanside Wellness. “Last season there was a synthesis of both the dark and light stories that we were really happy with,” reassures co-executive producer Betsey Beers. “And we certainly want to restore that sense of balance that these characters are neurotic and can have fun.” Hey, we’re up for anything as long as it doesn’t involve a talking elevator. Shot back Rhimes, “I liked it, but we were the only ones.” Amen sister!

PRIVATE PRACTICE returns on Thursday October 1st on ABC at 10PM ['A' in Canada]

Question: For quite some time now you’ve been kind enough to provide your fellow TV Addicts with an incredibly useful calendar highlighting the month’s big TV events. Seriously, my cubicle at work is practically wallpapered with them and I really can’t thank you enough for your hard work. The only problem is that you totally dropped the ball when it came to August. Please explain yourself? — HookedonTVA
The TV Addict: Truthfully, the TV Addict was on strike. And by that I mean, if the networks aren’t going to bother to program quality television in August, I certainly am not going to take time away from my FREAKS AND GEEKS marathon busy schedule to help promote the return of MILLIONAIRE on ABC. Plus, between Comic Con, my much-deserved vacation and the Television Critics Association Press Tour, I simply ran out of time. That said — here in a nutshell is everything you need to know for August: MONK and PSYCH returned to USA on August 7, MAD MEN returns to AMC on August 16, PROJECT RUNWAY makes it’s Lifetime premiere on August 20, TOP CHEF returns to Bravo on August 19, while GREEK picks up exactly where it left off on ABC Family on August 31.

Question: GMMR has got me totally hooked on GREEK. Got any spoilers? — Cappietastic
The TV Addict: Are you sitting down? Because I’m about to drop an honest-to-goodness GREEK game-changer on you. A spoiler so big, it may-or-may-not rock Greek row forever. Ready for it? When the hit ABC Family series returns from hiatus on August 31 [Please take a moment to ensure that there are no spill-able liquids within your computer's proximity!] expect to see hear a proposal from a series regular.

Question: Loved your sneak peek at FRINGE’s second season premiere, but found myself wondering as to why it was completely William Bell free? — TheOtherSider
The TV Addict: Unfortunately, there is a very good reason that my little tease was completely William Bell free —because that’s exactly what the episode was. Leonard Nimoy was MIA. That said, FRINGE executive producer Jeff Pinkner did confirm at last week’s TCA panel for the show that Nimoy has already filmed one episode for season two and “is welcome back as much as he wants.”

Question: Since you missed the boat on an August TV Calendar, can you at least let us know when we can we expect to see one for September? With the new fall season just around the corner, it’s somewhat of a big deal, No?
The TV Addict: Does October work for you? But seriously folks, I assure you that I’m already strategizing ways in which I’ll be able to fit 423 season premieres on one page of 8.5 x 11″ paper. Stay tuned.

Question: As much as I’m loving the previews for V, I’m really hoping the new series won’t preclude Elizabeth Mitchell from returning to LOST. Heard anything as to when we can expect to see Juliet again? — JulietismyConstant
The TV Addict: Lucky for LOST fans, the producers of V are with you. And by ‘with you’ I mean huge fans of the the series as well. Which is why Mitchell was able to confirm at Saturday’s TCA panel for her new ABC series V that she will be heading back to Hawaii, possibly more than once. “I will be back on LOST,” teased the actress. “I can’t say whether I’m dead or not and as with all things on LOST, it will be fairly tricky.”

Question: Over the weekend, Nathan Fillion tweeted a first look at the Richard Castle manuscript for his upcoming thriller Heat Wave. I understand you were on the set. Got any scoop? — OhCaptainMyCaptainMal
The TV Addict: Taking a page from Richard Castle’s on-screen sleuthing abilities, your very own TV Addict did in fact use his spy camera iPhone to snag this exclusive photo (above) of Castle’s new book. Which, by the way will be hitting shelves on September 29th. Can’t wait that long? Click here to download the first chapter for free.

I couldn’t help but notice that you had the chance to catch FASTFORWARD over the weekend, is it all it’s cracked up to be? And more to the point, do we have ourselves a frontrunner for a LOST replacement come next season? — FFFanatic
The TV Addict: Indeed you do, and in more ways than one. Not only is the David S. Goyer  (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) produced FLASHFORWARD a top notch production across the board. Like LOST, it offers up a ridiculously good looking cast (including Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger, John Cho among others) — who through glimpses into the future must piece together what happened to them after the world blacks our for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, characters you’ll very quickly become emotionally invested in, and most importantly, an ending that will have you wishing you could flash forward to next week’s episode. Not to mention, continued employment for LOST alum Dominic Monaghan, who will be joining the cast in what the actor promises to be a drastically different character than Charlie.

With FOX premiering THE CLEVELAND HOW, how long until the inevitable FAMILY GUY crossover? — FamilyGuyFan42
The TV Addict: Although the production team promises that they’re trying to keep the two shows somewhat separate, Seth MacFarlane did concede at last week’s TCA event highlighting THE CLEVELAND SHOW that, “the whole Brown family shows up on FAMILY GUY for an episode in the spring.” With co-creator Mike Henry adding that “Quagmire comes to town for a very relevant-to-the-story reason — and then he refers to something that happened in Quahog — so we see Peter. But I think that’s the only time.”

Question: I’m still reeling from the PRIVATE PRACTICE season finale. Please tell me Amy Brenneman’s Violet is going to be okay. — Patient31
The TV Addict: Not only was the former JUDGING AMY star alive and well on my recent set visit (interview coming soon), she tweets!

Well that about wraps it up folks for this edition of “Ask the Addict.” if you’ve got a question for the TV Addict, you can email me directly at ask@thetvaddict.com or follow me on twitter at twitter.com/thetvaddict.

PARKS AND RECREATION (8PM ABC, City in Canada)
Andy (Chris Pratt) plans a surprise for Ann (Rashida Jones). One which probably doesn’t involve picking up and moving to a small Colorado town called Everwood. But hey, a TV Addict can dream, can’t he?

THE OFFICE (9PM NBC, Global in Canada)
While we’re not really sure what to expect from the denizens of Dunder Mifflin on “Casual Friday,” we’re kinda hoping it involves Dwight Schrute and some sort of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Raptor uniform. So say we all?

GREY’S ANATOMY (9PM ABC, CTV in Canada)
Sharon Lawrence continues to corner the market on unstable TV moms (see: PRIVILEGED, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and HIDDEN PALMS) by dropping by Seattle Grace to check up on her daughter Izzie.

30 ROCK (9:30PM NBC, City in Canada)
Do you really need to know anything else outside of the fact that tonight’s episode has Jenna adopting a monkey? If so here are two more reasons why tonight’s 30 ROCK is the very definition of must see TV: Elaine Stritch returns with nasty memories of Jack’s father and Steve Buscemi guest stars.

PRIVATE PRACTICE (10PM ABC, “A” in Canada)
PRIVATE PRACTICE’s much improved second season concludes with so many questions up in the air (Will Naomi leave Oceanside? Will Violet choose Pete or Sheldon? Will Addison sort our her feelings for Noah?) that we’re already cleaning our floor in anticipation of our jaw dropping down to it.

NEW & NOTABLE:
BONES (8PM ABC, City in Canada)
Even though Frannie does tend to get somewhat extreme, we’re going to go ahead and file this under plots you’ll never see on ABC Family’s GREEK when Booth and Brennan investigate the body of a fraternity member that is found inside the costume of a rival university mascot.

CSI (9PM CBS, 8PM CTV in Canada)
Eerily spooky coincidence or just really bad timing? You be the judge when the CSI team investigates random deaths throughout the city that may-or-may-not be linked to a mysterious outbreak of swine flu.

SUPERNATURAL (9PM CW)
Castiel visits Dean in a dream. Which is just what those SUPERNATURAL fan fiction writers need… more material!

PRIVATE PRACTICE’s Amy Brenneman is a reporter’s worst nightmare.

Oh sure, she’s as nice as she is beautiful and came armed with a seemingly-endless array of thoughtful answers and entertaining anecdotes for this TV Addict’s one-on-one interview. But just try and ask one teensy little question about the identity of Violet’s babydaddy or what fans can expect on tonight’s PRIVATE PRACTICE season finale and her portrayer, Amy Brenneman, suddenly gives you the silent treatment.

“I’ll tell you a funny story that I don’t even think [PRACTICE creator] Shonda [Rhimes] knows,” shares Brennerman when asked if she ever gets nervous working for the notoriously spoiler-free writer. “I was up in Regina Saskatchewan [Canada] and it was 30 below when I got the offer to do PRIVATE PRACTICE. I was told that when I come back to Los Angeles, I could meet with Shonda. So I said, ‘Great, but I have to read the pilot.’ Which meant my lawyer had to review this huge confidentiality agreement because ‘Camp Shonda’ is so hyper about spoilers. So I get the script that is watermarked with my name on it. Long story short, I return to my hotel room after a day of shooting and half the script is gone! I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ Luckily, one of the prop guys found it and swore he didn’t read it, even though his wife was a huge GREY’S ANATOMY fan.”

Turns out the prop guy’s wife isn’t the only one with a thing for the dysfunctional docs of Seattle Grace hospital.

Once production wrapped on Brenneman’s CBS hit JUDGING AMY and she’d given birth to her second child, the stay-at-home mom got hooked on the show whose spin-off she’d one day headline. “I got really sucked into the whole Izzie/Denny thing,” she admits, adding that it made her decision to sign on for PRACTICE that much easier. “I just knew that this would be a really fun thing to do.”

Watching ANATOMY also clued the actress into the fact that she wouldn’t be trapped playing a bland, one-note character if she accepted the PRACTICE role. “If you have a long to term commitment on a series, you better make sure you have room for all those colors, otherwise you’re going to get completely bored,” she says. “I remember turning to [husband] Brad [Silberling] and saying, ‘these actors, they get to do all that.’ On a dime, Shonda can turn it from funny and romantic to super dramatic.”

Speaking of dramatic… what can fans expect of tonight’s finale? Seeing as it coincides with Violet’s due date and the return of the mentally-unstable patient who lost her own baby a few weeks back, we suspect big things will be afoot. “The nature of a season-finale cliffhanger is that a lot of things are left hanging in the balance,” Brenneman teases elusively. Having already consulted with Rhimes, the actress does finally let slip at least a bit of info: “In terms of Violet’s storyline, something happens that makes the babydaddy thing secondary,” she reveals. “It’s big.” And given the level of secrecy surrounding Rhimes’ creative offspring, that’s practically a major spoiler.

Don’t miss the PRIVATE PRACTICE season finale airing tonight at 10PM on ABC, “A” Channel in Canada