St. Denis Medical is set in a hospital, but the new mockumentary series is more of a workplace comedy than a medical show.
The NBC sitcom follows an eclectic group of staff members, including nurses and doctors, at an understaffed hospital in rural Oregon. It’s in stark contrast to other medical shows currently on network TV 9-1-1 (which follows first responders in Los Angeles) and Doctor Odyssey (which is about the medical staff on a cruise ship). The long-term Grey’s anatomy And Chicago Med, both are set in hospitals and deal with a lot more drama involving patients.
Allison Tolman, who plays the head nurse at the emergency department St. Denis Medicalwas a big fan of ERwhich ran from 1994 to 2009. She told Yahoo Entertainment that it makes sense that hospitals are such a popular setting for TV shows because of the opportunity for “high drama.”
Allison Tolman in ‘St. Denis Medical.’ (Ron Batzdorff/NBC)
“Audiences like it because they know every episode is full of life and death situations,” Tolman said. “I think the reason why a show like ours works is because we’re… like, ‘What if you worked in a place where it was the worst day of people’s lives, but you also just work there and it was lunch time?’”
Wendi McLendon-Covey plays the hospital director – one of the crazier characters in the series who is always trying to cut costs while making St. Denis a “destination.” McLendon-Covey told Yahoo Entertainment that the character is “a little off, but she tries really hard.”
“Maybe they’re still using Windows 95 and they want to build a koi pond,” she said.
Wendi Mclendon-Covey in ‘St. Denis Medical.’ (Ron Batzdorff/NBC)
McLendon-Covey said the funniest thing about the show is the dynamic between colleagues.
“Sometimes they clash, but they always come back together because they … have to get to work and get through the day,” she said. “You’re not supposed to laugh [in a hospital] …it’s like laughing in church. You’re not supposed to do it. That’s why you do it ten times more often.”
St. Denis Medical is far from the only series about medical professionals on network TV, but its funny, awkward moments make it more comparable to The office And Super store than Grey’s anatomy.
McLendon-Covey grew up watching “overwrought” doctor shows Emergency! And General Hospital. Grey’s anatomy constantly puts its characters in mortal and interpersonal danger, perhaps most famously in the season 8 plane crash episode. About the high-octane series ERa doctor is killed when a helicopter crashes into him. Even 9-1-1 ups the ante on chaos with at least one massive disaster per season, from tsunamis to blackouts — most recently with a three-episode arc about the consequences of a bee swarm known as “bee-nado.” Doctor Odyssey recently went viral for airing a threesome between the three stars in the same episode as a suicide — just as theories that the entire series is a COVID-induced hallucination were reaching fever pitch.
Josh Lawson and David Alan Grier in “St. Denis Medical.” (Ron Batzdorff/NBC)
While other medical TV shows go off the rails, St. Denis Medical finds humor and heart in everyday moments, from Tolman’s character’s struggle to leave work on time to the persistent social ineptitude of a nurse (Mekki Leeper) who grew up in a cult.
“Hospital shows will never go away because everyone will always be sick. That’s just the way it is,” said McLendon-Covey, who grew up watching the drama Emergency! And General Hospital. “There is endless potential.”
St. Denis Medical airs Tuesdays at 8pm ET on NBC.
