It's Grant Showtime on Private Practice ... and Melrose 2.0?

This week on ABC's Private Practice (Wednesdays at 9 pm/ET), Addison feels the brotherly love when Grant Show begins a stint as her studly sib. In this TVGuide.com Q&A, Show previews Archer Montgomery's first Oceanside Wellness hook-up, ponders why Swingtown couldn't keep it up, and reveals whether Jake Hanson might turn up on the CW's "new" Melrose Place.

TVGuide.com: What brings about this surprise visit from Archer?
Grant Show: I come into town because I miss Addison. When she was living in New York we were real tight, so I try to get her to come back to New York with me. In the meantime, I start a little somethin'-somethin' with Naomi — just to piss off my sister, I think! [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: What is the dynamic between Addison and Archer?
Show: I don't know if you've ever hung out with rich siblings, but they have very strange relationships. Almost incestuous. "No one is good enough for my sister" and that kind of thing. I think I'm very jealous of her and the time that other people have with her, and I want her all for myself. It's not sexual, but.... We push each other around, we're very physical with each other, and there's bickering, but we love each other very, very much. 

TVGuide.com: Does he have an opinion on the SWAT guy she's dating?
Show: [Scoffs] He's a cop! C'mon.... [Laughs] He thinks it's kind of funny and kind of pathetic.

TVGuide.com: Do any of the other ladies take a shine to Archer?
Show: I do quite a few episodes — I have this one, I go away for a while, and then I'm back midseason — so yeah, I think so. I get kind of serious with Naomi, but there might be some more women after that.

TVGuide.com: Is Archer safeguarding any secrets?
Show: Absolutely. There's a whole reason that brought this all about right now, and it's pretty big, pretty dynamic.

TVGuide.com: You're making me think that he's dying.
Show: I don't know, I can't tell ya!

TVGuide.com: Was it liberating to shave your Swingtown mustache?
Show: I did that right away, man. Once we wrapped the 13th episode, I went into the makeup trailer and shaved it off. It was fun and all, but a year-and-a-half of that thing was a little much. 

TVGuide.com: Is it safe to say that Swingtown is all swung out?
Show: Yeah, unfortunately. I mean, they haven't released me and they haven't made any official statements yet, but our contracts are all up in December. They'd have to have us back working before then, and I don't think it's possible to do that.

TVGuide.com: At the end of the day, was the show too racy or not racy enough?
Show: Yes to both of those. Our numbers were not that bad, especially for the summertime. We dipped in the middle, but then we were moving up, until they changed us to Friday night. I think someone in programming got scared. I think CBS wanted to bring in a younger, different kind of audience.

TVGuide.com: Or at least they thought they wanted to.
Show: Yeah, and I think they realized that by doing that they might alienate some of their regular audience. So they got cold feet.

TVGuide.com: When you and I did that Swingtown video Q&A months ago, I joked — joked — about the CW pulling a 90210 and "rebooting" Melrose Place....
Show: [Laughs] And here it is! It all makes sense, though, doesn't it?

TVGuide.com: I even suggested Jake as "the sage pool cleaner." Have any exploratory phone calls come your way yet?
Show: No. I play golf with one of the executives at the CW, and I was on the 18th green and he was on the 9th. He goes, "Hey! Do you want to come on Melrose Place?" I said, "Hey, do you have $150,000 an episode?" He said no, so I go, "There's your answer!" 

TVGuide.com: The original 90210 cast seemed to be of two minds: "Count me in!" or, "Not on a bet." Where do you fall with the new Melrose?
Show: Kind of neither. I don't think I want to do it. I don't think they need me. I'd just be "the old guy" on the show, and that's not the kind of thing I want to do. If it was something other than that, maybe I would. 

TVGuide.com: See, I don't think the CW thought they'd ever need the "old" 90210 people. But once they saw that's what got the buzz, they had to realize, "This is our bread-and-butter, not the kids."
Show: As far as selling the show, yeah, it would help to have some of the original cast. But as far as work on a day-to-day basis, I wouldn't want my character to be there to support a bunch of kids. That said, if there was no contract and I could go off and do anything else I wanted to do.... 

TVGuide.com: And maybe if Heather Locklear also came back....
Show: Yeah. [Laughs] It's a possibility, but right now I'd have to say no. I absolutely love working with the Private Practice cast — they're all really good actors, the writing's fun, and I get to play this rakish cad — so I'm looking forward to doing more of that.