Laughter is the best medicine, and NBC’s new sitcom, St. Denis Medical, clearly knows that. This series is right on time because we could all use a bit of laughter in our lives. Especially right now. The series is a mockumentary that follows an underfunded, understaffed hospital where the doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity. If you’re a fan of shows like The Office and Scrubs, this show feels like a combination of these. And it works.
If this still hasn’t convinced you to give the series, which just received a season 2 renewal, a try, we’ve got five reasons why you should be watching St. Denis Medical.
The Cast
Anytime a show with a big cast comes along, you hope that the chemistry will work with everyone. And the cast of St. Denis Medical has excellent chemistry. That may be a strange thing to say when it comes to comedy, but it shouldn’t be. Comedy is hard. There are beats you have to catch, or jokes will fall flat. The audience has to believe these people and their interactions, and watching the medical team in the Emergency Department at St. Denis is a lot of fun.
Starring in St. Denis Medical is Allison Tolman (Why Women Kill), who plays Supervising Nurse Alex; David Alan Grier, who plays Emergency Physician Dr. Ron Leonard; Kaliko Kauahi (Superstore), who plays Nurse Val; Josh Lawson (Superstore), who plays the cocky trauma surgeon Dr. Bruce Schweitz, Kahyun Kim (Cocaine Bear), who plays Nurse Serena; Mekki Leeper (The Sex Lives of College Girls), who plays new grad nurse Matt; and Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs), who plays the hospital’s administrator Joyce. Every single one of these people works well together, and you can genuinely believe they are a team who has seen it all.
A Series with Heart
Although St. Denis Medical is a comedy, it also finds a great way to balance out the comedy with the drama. Often, when we think of a comedy, especially one that centers on a hospital, we don’t think they will take the profound moments seriously, but St. Denis Medical does. That was evident in Season 1, Episode 1 ‘Welcome to St. Denis.’ Supervising Nurse Alex desperately wants to make a great impression because she’s only been in the new position for a few weeks. She’s also a mother with responsibilities as she vows to see her daughter in the production of Mamma Mia! at her school, work emergencies take precedence for her.
Though Ron tries to get her to leave, she feels the hospital won’t function without her. She stays over just a little when the entire computer system goes down. And once that crisis is handled, as she prepares to drive off, she witnesses a woman suffering a medical emergency in the parking lot. She and her team save the woman’s life. Alex is bummed that she missed her daughter’s stage debut. But when the husband of the patient approaches her and tearfully thanks her for what she did, she realizes that no matter how bad the day, she was able to make an impact on someone’s life, and she’s reminded why she became a nurse.
The Special Guest Stars
You can’t have a show without a few guest stars popping in. And St. Denis Medical is starting right with them. Those we have seen so far have us excited for who else may visit the halls of St. Denis. So far, we’ve seen Mindy Sterling (The Goldbergs), who played Laurie, the patient Alex saved in the parking lot. Nico Santos (Superstore) played “Mean Girl” Rene in episode 4 ‘Salamat you Too’ which was hilarious, by the way, and my favorite guest star, the beautiful Lynn Whitfield (Greenleaf), who played Barb, a grandmother whom Dr. Ron tried and failed to charm when her granddaughter came into the ER in episode 2 ‘A Very Robust Personal Life.’
The Relatability
St. Denis Medical is such a great show because it is incredibly relatable. I’m a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), so I get the jokes and drama in every episode. I laugh to the point of tears because of just how accurate and funny something on the show is.
For instance, I could not stop laughing watching episode two when Dr. Schweitz walked into the room of a white male patient who said, and I quote, “Finally a white (expletive) doctor.” Listen, you may be thinking, “How is that funny?” Well, because it’s something that happens. Sometimes in healthcare, we encounter situations just like this. And all we can do is laugh it off because we still have to do our jobs.
Then there was the conversation about superstitions on St. Denis Medical episode 3, ‘Weird Stuff You Can’t Explain.’ Serena and Alex list all the ways that nurses are superstitious, like the rule that we never say the “Q” word, which is quiet because once we do, all hades break loose. And when it’s a full moon, things get wild. Trust me, it’s real. Dr. Ron was skeptical about all of these things and hexed the hospital not once but THREE times. If you’re wondering if it came back to bite him, it did. But he ultimately learned in the end.
The Laughter
I know that I already talked a bit about St. Denis Medical being so funny. I laugh till I cry, but it bears repeating. St. Denis Medical is hilarious. It’s a feel-good comedy; every episode is more comical than the last. Episode 5, ‘A Peanut and Carmel-Filled Miracle,’ was thirty minutes of Ron and Bruce fighting over a Nutrageous candy bar. That seems silly to some, but working as a medical professional, there are a lot of stress-filled days, and even the simplest of pleasures can brighten it up. Ron takes a break every day at 2 pm to enjoy a solitary moment in the hospital stairwell and eats a Nutrageous bar. It’s the only time he has peace, and no one is bugging him.
When that peace is disrupted by Bruce buying the last one out of the vending machine, he does whatever he can to try and get that chocolatey treat back. The battle between Bruce and Ron over candy was pure comedy and highlighted the rivalry between doctors from different medical services. Ron and Bruce have a love-hate-love relationship because though they butt heads, they are a great team and can get things done when they aren’t beefing over chocolate.
Everyone on the show is hilarious, but David Alan Grier is the one who takes it for me every time. It’s no surprise, though. He is a comedy legend. If you didn’t know, he was one of the comedians on The Wayans siblings’ comedy sketch show In Living Color, which aired from 1990 to1994. He has an impressive resume as well that doesn’t just include comedy.
St. Denis Medical is a joy to watch; there is never a dull moment. We highly recommend giving this show a go because you won’t be disappointed. Whether or not you work in the medical field, you can still enjoy it. And if you have any family or friends in the medical field, they will more than likely enjoy it and explain every joke to you while doing so.
St. Denis Medical airs Tuesday nights at 8/7c on NBC.
