New 'Grey's Anatomy' spin-off

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LOS ANGELES, April 28 (UPI) -- The ABC hit medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" may be spun off into another show based in Los Angeles starring Kate Walsh and possibly called "Private Practice."

The show's creators are using a new method of introducing the spin-off. They are embedding the first episode of the new show into an episode of "Grey's," the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The pilot of the spin-off, starring Walsh as the popular character Addison Montgomery, also will introduce new cast members Taye Diggs, Amy Brenneman, Merrin Dungey and Tim Daly.

Half of Thursday's episode of "Grey's Anatomy" will be a regular episode and the other half will establish the new show by sending Addison away from the show's Seattle hospital backdrop into Los Angeles.

Not much is known about the new show since the creator, Shonda Rhimes, has let very few plot details leak.

Stephen McPherson, the entertainment president at ABC, said when Rhimes and executive producer Betsy Beers pitched him the spin-off idea he "immediately kissed them."

"I flipped for it," he laughed.