Whedon's World - Marti Noxon Interview from iF Magazine

Exclusive Interview: PRODUCER MARTI NOXON TALKS ABC'S 'PRIVATE PRACTICE' PLUS BRINGBACK TARA IN 'BUFFY SEASON EIGHT' COMICS

Noxon says 'PRACTICE' will have same tone as 'GREY'S ANATOMY'

By SEAN ELLIOT, Senior Editor

Marti Noxon has served as a consulting producer on the ABC hit GREY'S ANATOMY, and now is the executive producer on the new series, which spun off from GREY'S called PRIVATE PRACTICE. Of course, many genre fans would recognise her name from her many years spent on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL. iF MAGAZINE once again found themselves at the Television Critics Association event with the charming Noxon and got the inside scoop on what to expect from PRACTICE and just what she might do in writing a story for the new BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON EIGHT comic book for pal, Joss Whedon.

iF MAGAZINE: Now having been on GREY'S and captaining PRIVATE PRACTICE,, what can we expect to see on the new series that we might not have seen on GREY'S?

MARTI NOXON: I think the biggest difference between the two shows is one is hospital based and the other is private practice based. We're going to stay away from major surgeries much of the time and we're going to stay away from long term hospitalstays; so it's much more about relationships with patients. We're going to do a little bit more diagnostic medicine as opposed to people coming on and already knowing what's wrong with them; then we figure out how to fix it. The other difference is that there are people that are in a different stage in their life. They're not figuring out if being a doctor is right for them; they're doctors and their personal life is kind of a mess.

iF: With the charm and charisma of GREY'S, will we be seeing the same sort of tone on PRACTICE?

NOXON: I actually think that it will be funny in a slightly different way. One thing we are shooting for in the early episodes is to ground it more in the medicine and the drama than GREY'S does. The pilot was a little lighter and sillier but I think there will be a lot of humor and it will sway between the big emotional moments and the big emotional melodrama and the funny moments. We're writing things that we're really excited about.

iF: So do you have to focus more on the procedural elements of this show?

NOXON: I would say it is a procedural, but GREY'S manages to be so succesdul because it manages to combine the "soap" with the story drive energy. So we've had to work hard to figure out how that works in a private practive setting without betraying the premise. I think we're doing a good job. The first three episodes are very medical and interesting and they have very good cases, but you are also learning about these characters and they're funny, so soon someone is going to start having sex with somebody! [Laughs] It'll be a lot like GREY'S.

iF: Characters from GREY'S crossing over for guest appearances?

NOXON: I don't think we will see that early on, but maybe on down the road. Mostly we want to establish the show in it's own right. We want to establish Addison in her own right and then maybe we can have some crossovers.

If: So onto the BUFFY SEASON EIGHT comic book, if you write an arc, any ideas as to a story that you want to write?

NOXON: I would love to write for it. I love what Joss [Whedon] has donwwith it in the first few "episodes". I think it's just a matter of time because I have two small kids and I work full time; so usuallu me extracurricular time is not spent doing extracurricular stuff.

iF: Would you bring back Tara if you got the chance in comics?

NOXON: Yes. Absolutely. I loved her character. I loved Willow and Tara and because that was such a painful end it would be great to revive her some way in the comic series; and I'm sure people know that we wanted to do that in season seven but it just didn't work out in terms of timing and schedules. I would bring back Oz too! Big time!

iF: What about the ANGEL SEASON SIX comics?

NOXON: I would go back to BUFFY first, just because on ANGEL as a consultin producer I never delved too deeply into ANGEL except at the beginning we talked about it and then I was popping in and out. If I was definately going to do one, my heart is with BUFFY for sure.