This hospital should certainly count as a workplace comedy setting, because head nurse
Alex Mazurkian definitely works as hard as anyone. Yet, the toughest part of
her job is keeping her sanity. That’s a universal truth we can all relate to.
It also helps that the comedy is still actually funny in the second season of
co-creators Eric Ledgin & Justin Spitzer’s St. Denis Medical, which
premieres tonight with back-to-back episodes on NBC.
Mazurkian
finally got to enjoy a well-deserved break, so now she wants to keep those
vacation vibes going in “Aloha, Everyone.” Curmudgeonly Dr. Ron Leonard knows
that will never last, but good luck to her. That will be especially true when the
Steve Carell-esque hospital administrator Dr. Joyce Henderson starts drafting
the nursing staff to finish decorating their new birthing center for a major
donor.
Frankly,
this is a relatively laidback episode compared to some of the highlights from
season one, but it still has far more bite than the toothless The Paper.
There is no question St. Denis Medical is the true successor to The
Office. Regardless, it serves as a nice showcase for recurring cast-member David
Theune as Keith Finger, the deadpan sad sack orderly. It also offers Kahyun Kim
an opportunity to act a little nutty as the ordinarily too-cool-for-you Nurse
Serena Jung.
Regardless,
“Mama Bear Activated” is a prime example of the show’s edgy wit, especially
when Dr. Henderson calls a meeting to discuss a recent wave of physical attacks
on staff members. On a serious note, medical professionals really are five times
more likely to be victims of violent assaults. That is a legit problem, but
Henderson is not solving it with her self-defense seminar—in lieu of greater
spending on security systems, of course. Seriously, this compares favorably
with some of Carrel’s best Office scenes. Arguably, there is no funnier depiction
of an obnoxious boss currently on television than Wendi McClendon-Covey’s portrayal
of Henderson. That is meant as the highest praise. Yet, what really makes her
funny is her after-the-fact realizations of her infractions against current
heightened (wokish) sensitivities.
Nobody wants to be in the hospital around Christmastime. Evidently, that
includes the doctors and nurses, because all those sick people are so annoying.
This Christmas Eve, the camera crew documenting the titual Oregon hospital captures
two particularly sensitive cases in “Ho-Ho-Hollo,” the Christmas-themed episode
of St. Denis Medical, which airs tomorrow on NBC.
This
episode will make viewers grateful for pixelation, because of the patient who intended
to propose to his girlfriend by putting the ring in a rather private place, where
it got stuck. Normally, Dr. Bruce is insufferably cocky, but this case
maximizes his capacity for sympathy. Still, his katana sword still seems like
the wrong approach.
In
a way, Dr. Ron can also almost empathize with this week’s other problem patient,
Bob Klein. He was admitted after a nasty fall, but it turns out St. Denis also
cured his leukemia—because he never had it in the first place. However, he
asserts his patient-doctor confidentiality with Dr. Ron and Alex, the supervising
RN, because he so enjoys all the attention from his family.
Feeling somewhat abandoned
by his grown children, Dr. Ron almost sort of gets it, even though he still
finds it horribly slimy. Instead of his real-life namesake, this Robert Klein
is portrayed by the perfectly cast David Paymer, who makes a perfect foil for
series stars David Alan Grier and Allison Tolman.
