Perfected by The Office and more recently Abbott Elementary, the mock-documentary workplace comedy is no longer a new or innovative format, and often begs the question of why those omnipresent camera crews never leave. But in the right hands, these shows offer amusing and endearing glimpses into the human condition when characters break the fourth wall, remove their public masks, and invite us into their inner worlds.
(It’s best, I’ve learned, not to take the presence of the cameras literally, preferring to think of the device as a version of those Shakespearean theatrical asides where characters can step out of a scene to let us know what they really think. And mock-doc sitcoms are great opportunities for actors who give good side-eye.)
All of which makes a hospital an inspired setting for these shenanigans, with overworked and underappreciated lifesavers venting or staring in wary disbelief into the camera as chaos reigns. In NBC’s St. Denis Medical, from Justin Spitzer and showrunner Eric Ledgin, whose collective credits include The Office, Superstore, and the too-short-lived American Auto, the heart and soul of the regional Oregon hospital’s emergency department is the wonderful Allison Tolman (who we’ve worshipped since the first season of Fargo) as the newly promoted supervising nurse Alex. She’s an oasis of sorely tested sanity amid a team of sizable egos, delusional leadership and occasional incompetence.
When we first meet Alex, in the first of two episodes launching the series, she’s juggling multiple crises with wry humor while maintaining an appearance of stoic calm. Not easy when the mercurial administrator Joyce (the sublime Wendi McLendon-Covey), who dreams of making St. Denis a “destination medical facility,” causes a power outage with a new piece of medical equipment they can’t afford, and the rest of the staff needs so much hand-holding that Alex once again stays way past her shift, sacrificing important family moments.
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Leading the supporting cast of (sometimes quite literal) cutups: comedy pro David Alan Grier as curmudgeonly ER doctor Ron, buoyed by fresh faces including Jury Duty‘s Mekki Leeper as Matt, an awkwardly fumbling yet stubbornly idealistic newbie nurse who escaped a medicine-denying religious community in Montana, and Kahyun Kim as the snarkier and more experienced nurse Serena. As cocky trauma surgeon Bruce, whose ego may outshine his talent, Josh Lawson sometimes pushes the broad comedy too hard, but a future episode where he freaks out at a needle stick during a blood drive is belly-laugh gold. Superstore alum Kaliko Kauahi as long-suffering nurse Val gives a master class in understated double-takes.
Considering the life-and-death stakes of these jobs, St. Denis manages skillfully to thread poignant moments amid the gallows-humor farce. Guess what? Laughter really can be the best medicine.
St. Denis Medical, Series Premiere (two episodes), Tuesday, November 12, 8/7c, NBC
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