Justin Spitzer has been specializing in workplace comedies over the past few years, starting with Superstore and then moving to American Auto. Now he has co-created a mockumentary sitcom about the people in an underfunded, overcrowded regional hospital.
Opening Shot: Scenes from the emergency department of St. Denis Medical.
The Gist: Alex (Allison Tolman), the supervising nurse, is shown giving a frequent visitor, an addict, some food from the vending machine. He promises to get sober, but when she says that if he does need to take drugs, she has access to great stuff, he jumps at it. Of course, that was a test, because Alex wouldn’t do that kind of thing.
Alex has recently been promoted, and she’s finding it hard to find the proper work-life balance. Today, for instance, she’s supposed to leave at the end of her shift and go see her daughter in a school presentation of Mamma Mia, but she can’t seem to let go and trust that the most senior RN, Serena (Kahyun Kim), has things covered. ER doc Ron (David Alan Grier) tells her that she’s a workaholic and that it’s going to be hard for her to leave on time. Ron is ordering milkshakes for everyone because he uses Postmates so much, he got a gift card from the service; he tells everyone to not even share their shake with Alex.
Joyce (Wendi McLendon-Covey) , the hospital’s administrator, extolls the virtues of St. Denis to the filmmakers who have been making a documentary about the hospital. She has ambitions for the regional hospital, starting with a state-of-the-art, $300k mammogram machine that she thinks will make St. Denis a destination in the Northwest for women because “we have the best breast test… in the West.”
One problem: The outdated wifi can’t handle the software download when the machine is installed and the entire network goes down. Of course, it happens right as Alex is supposed to leave. Alex being Alex, though, she stays to make sure the patients are being taken care of.
The same day, a new nurse named Matt (Mekki Leeper) starts; he’s from a family in Montana that didn’t believe in doctors or modern medicine. Also, the hospital’s star trauma surgeon, Bruce (Josh Lawson), makes his presence known on the floor, as he likes to tell people how many lives he’s saved.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Scrubs crossed with American Auto, The Office, Parks and Rec and Abbott Elementary.
Our Take: Created by Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin (American Auto, Superstore), St. Denis Medical has a lot of potential, despite utilizing the now-tired mockumentary format. The first two episodes did a good job of establishing the main characters and the workplace vibe in the perpetually-underfunded St. Denis. The cast, led by Tolman and McLendon-Covey, is stellar. We just wish the show was funnier.
The patterns and archetypes of the modern workplace comedy are all in place here, where it seems like the work at hand is secondary to staff banter, one character (Matt) has a crush on another (Serena), and all the craziness gets pushed aside when the real reason why they all do the work they do becomes apparent. That comes in the person of a patient played by Mindy Sterling, who keeps complaining to front desk nurse Val (Kaliko Kauahi) that she’s been waiting too long, only for Alex to find her passing out in the parking lot as she tries to finally leave for the day.
It’s certainly a well-worn formula by now, and it would feel tiresome if it weren’t for Tolman and McLendon-Covey. Tolman brings her usual brand of everywoman humanity to Alex, and you can tell that she’s going to be the moral and grounded center of the show, with her major flaw being that she cares too much. McLendon-Covey’s Joyce starts off as an ambitious and somewhat delusional “pointy-haired boss” type, but by the second episode we see evidence of what kind of character she’s really going to be, as she deals with the death of a friend.
The rest of the cast is a little more of a mixed bag. Grier, whom we normally enjoy, doesn’t feel fully integrated with the rest of the cast, given how cynical and burnt out Ron is. We also don’t have a full grasp on Matt, Bruce and Serena, but we know Spitzer and Ledgin will deepen those characters over time.
What we hope, though, is that as the writers get more comfortable with these characters, the show will get funnier. Right now, it’s a pleasant watch with some nice performances. But it certainly isn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as it could be.
Sex and Skin: None, beyond a patient who wears his robe with the opening in the front because “I don’t want you to see my tushy.”
Parting Shot: After ultimately returning the mammography machine to use the funds elsewhere, Joyce gets an email telling here that there’s a 10% restocking fee.
Sleeper Star: Kahyun Kim’s Selena has the potential to be more of a DGAF counterpoint to Alex as the show goes forward.
Most Pilot-y Line: Joyce tries to rally the troops after the hospital’s network goes down by doing a bad cartwheel and screaming, “Let’s go out there and heal some people! Come on!”
Our Call: STREAM IT. St. Denis Medical is pleasant enough to watch, and the cast is one we like to spend time with. Let’s hope the show gets funnier as the characters are explored more.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.