Need a break from tough dramas? Give this goofy mockumentary a chance
ST. DENIS MEDICAL ★★★
I’m not saying good sitcoms are an endangered species, but it’s probably a fruitful idea to nurture the promising ones. Instead of safeguarding birthing grounds and stamping out imported predators, let’s give the next wave of 22-minute comedies an entire season to develop and some thoughtful marketing. The return on investment will be worth it, if shows such as St. Denis Medical, a goofy but good-hearted emergency room cross-section, can hit their stride. In this era of taxing dramas, we need every weekly laugh we can get.
Allison Tolman as Alex and David Alan Grier as Dr Ron in the promising comedy St. Denis Medical.
The NBC series is set at a regional Oregon hospital, so the mayhem (and the mawkishness) of The Pitt is not about to be duplicated. The underlying message is that the St. Denis Medical Centre is an underfunded – it’s an American public institution, what else can it be? – “safety net” hospital. They treat whoever comes through the doors, regardless of cost and health insurance coverage. But there’s also enough time for the entire shift to convene in the break room for, let’s see, a marimba-based memorial concert.
The format is a mockumentary, a beloved format since The Office triumphed on both sides of the Atlantic. The unseen, but occasionally heard, documentary crew trails the hospital staff from one job to the next, capturing questionable monologues and unexpected eventualities. The attraction is clear: the characters are, at first, performing for the documentary camera, which leaves them open to the truth emerging and moments of ludicrous revelation. It’s a built-in punchline.
Josh Lawson as the egotistical surgeon Dr Bruce in St Denis Medical.
The cross-section of regulars is solid, even if some have very pronounced outlines. Hospital boss and former oncologist Joyce (Wendi McLendon-Covey) comes on way too strong, per Steve Carell’s Michael Scott from The Office, while Alex (Allison Tolman) is too dedicated for her own good. The first episode has her trying, and failing, to actually leave when her shift ends instead of tackling another problem. Ron (David Alan Grier) is a gruff veteran doctor who rolls his eyes at the egocentric trauma surgeon, Bruce (Josh Lawson).
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St. Denis Medical was co-created by Justin Spitzer, who worked on the US Office before launching his own sitcoms with Superstore and the under-appreciated American Auto (find it on Stan*). He’s a workplace comedy specialist, who understands that sharing 10 hours of your days in a collaborative venture with wildly different people is a proposition that would vex both key Marxists (Karl and Groucho).
Spitzer and fellow creator Eric Ledgin blaze promising comic trails, whether it’s exploring the dynamic between different characters, starting with Joyce and Alex, or throwing out a wildcard such as rookie nurse Matt (Mekki Leeper), who grew up in a fundamentalist religious community and is still getting acquainted with the wider world: he hasn’t seen a horror film, just the poster for a Saw movie. The baby-faced health worker can’t help it with the self-incriminating slips.
