The sitcom writer Justin Spitzer had his first script credit on “Scrubs,” the archetypal workplace comedy set in a hospital. Twenty years later, Spitzer returns to the genre with NBC’s “St. Denis Medical,” co-created with Eric Ledgin (“Rutherford Falls”). In between, Spitzer has developed a trademark approach that translates seamlessly to health care. A graduate of “The Office,” he makes shows set on the front lines of the modern economy: the sales floor of a big-box retailer (“Superstore”) or the headquarters of a flailing car manufacturer (“American Auto”). (Ledgin worked on both.) Spitzer characters don’t debate issues at length like Norman Lear ones did, but their everyday lives are unmistakably downstream of larger social and political forces.
“St. Denis Medical” is a worthy entrant in this larger project — and, therefore, a sharp break from the bro-y bonhomie of “Scrubs.” Our introduction to the namesake setting, a “safety-net hospital” in Oregon, is supervising nurse Alex (the wonderful Allison Tolman) attending to a patient recovering from the latest of several opioid overdoses. Alex’s overwhelmed colleague Val (Kaliko Kauahi, familiar as Sandra to fans of “Superstore”) cites a staffing shortage to a restless crowd of treatment seekers; executive director Joyce (Wendi McClendon-Covey), a former oncologist, is more concerned with securing flashy new equipment than upgrading software from the Clinton era.
This is not a series about glamorous hero-doctors who swoop in to save the day and never ask about insurance status. In fact, one character, trauma surgeon Bruce (Josh Lawson), is a clear send-up of that trope. Other shows would make Bruce their protagonist; “St. Denis Medical” rolls its eyes at how he asks overworked nurses to fetch his coffee. (“Nurses really provide the care part of health care,” Alex says, which explains why they form the core of the “St. Denis Medical” team.) As jaded emergency doctor Ron, David Alan Grier gives a grumbly, world-weary performance that speaks to the true spirit of the show, though he has a foil in earnest do-gooder Alex. “St. Denis Medical” adopts the now-classic mockumentary style of “The Office” and “Abbott Elementary,” interspersing handheld camerawork from pilot director Ruben Fleischer (“Venom”) with faux testimonials. This realist style reflects the show’s substance.
Unlike other medical shows to debut in recent years, like the flashy Ryan Murphy cruise procedural “Doctor Odyssey,” “St. Denis Medical” makes only a passing mention of the COVID-19 pandemic and its heavy toll on the health care system. Instead, it’s rooted in the preexisting inequities the pandemic made more visible to the rest of us. “St. Denis Medical” is clear-eyed about what its characters face, but also about how those obstacles provide ample fodder for comedy. McClendon-Covey is a standout as the pathologically optimistic Joyce, who encourages her staff to overcome structural problems with the power of positive thinking. Patients serve a similar role as the customers on “Superstore” did: They’re an endlessly refreshing pool of chaos agents and quick jokes.
Over the three episodes provided to critics, “St. Denis Medical” quickly coheres into an ensemble that’s a likable lens through which to view some grim, intractable dysfunction. Supporting players like Matt (Mekki Leeper), a new nurse who grew up in a Christian cult, add a specificity that keeps the show from broadening into a generic parable about the pitfalls of privatized medicine. When a patient demands her favorite, supersize cross as a pre-surgery good-luck charm, Val drags the wooden behemoth around in a sublimely silly bit of slapstick. In the Spitzer playbook, political awareness enhances the humor, but plenty of laughs exist for their own sake.
The first two episodes of “St. Denis Medical” will premiere Nov. 12 on NBC at 8pm ET, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Tuesdays and available the next day on Peacock.
