Get Well Soon, St. Denis Medical

In the pilot for St. Denis Medical, NBC’s newest mockumentary, hospital administrator Joyce (Wendi McLendon-Covey) reflects on leading the eponymous facility. “We have so much potential, so much untapped greatness,” she says. “My job is to tap it. Tap it ’til it’s dry.” 

If only the series had that clarity. Set in an underfunded hospital in Oregon, St. Denis stumbles through its first 10 episodes, offering a bland, uninspired take on the workplace sitcom. A shame, given the talent involved; the series comes from Justin Spitzer (The Office, Superstore, American Auto), Eric Ledgin (American Auto, Superstore), and a terrific cast that includes Superstore veterans. David Alan Grier (The Carmichael Show, In Living Color) plays Ron, a jaded senior ER doctor; Josh Lawson, the former Cloud 9 pharmacist, plays arrogant surgeon Bruce; Allison Tolman (Fargo) plays Alex, a supervising nurse reminiscent of Superstore’s Amy; McLendon-Covey’s Joyce feels like a cross between Leslie Knope and Michael Scott. 

But for all its promise, St. Denis Medical can’t seem to find its comedic pulse. The sitcom borrows from The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Superstore, but never reshapes the genre’s well-worn tropes. St. Denis (the hospital), a “safety net” facility that treats all patients, regardless of insurance, is a prime setup for critiquing U.S. healthcare, the way Superstore mined the absurdities of retail and corporate apathy. Instead, St. Denis (the show) defaults to broad, familiar plots: a boss desperate to be part of office gossip, a newly promoted employee struggling to fire someone. In episode 9 (“You Got to Have a Plan”) a surgeon’s existential crisis plays out almost beat for beat like a Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) subplot on Parks and Rec. 

The show also struggles to balance comedy with the weight of its medical drama. As head nurse Alex puts it: “This is not the type of job where, if you mess up, it’s like, oh gosh, we lost the big account, you know?” When the sitcom turns someone’s mistake into a punchline––like a nurse fumbling the intercom in an emergency, or a doctor pranking a colleague during surgery––it reads as jarring and flippant. This is life or death, people! To smooth over these tonal missteps, nearly every episode closes with a heavy-handed emotional beat, spurred by a sudden medical crisis, which brings the characters together and hands them a tidy lesson in teamwork, friendship, or heroism.