S01.E01: Welcome to St. Denis

[chitowngirl]

Premiere. Alex is torn between her daughter's school play and an "all-hands" situation in the Emergency Department; Joyce spends the hospital's limited funds on a fancy mammography machine; Matt's first day as a nurse isn't going as he'd hoped.

[AnimeMania]

Mindy Sterling as Laurie
Feodor Chin as Phil
Bella Ivory as Nurse Stella
Mike Nojun Park as Doctor #1
Minita Gandhi as Doctor #2
Betsy Sodaro as Female Patient
Robert Arce as Male Patient
Alan Barinholtz as Mr. Schroeder
Joe W. Keyes as Mr. Taylor
Lita Lopez as Nurse #1
Scott Subiono as Older Man
Michelle Haro as Swollen Patient
Lynn Whitfield as Barb
Kourtney Bell as Lisa

[Chit Chat]

I don't have much to say except that I liked both episodes.  Nothing will ever match Scrubs, but this was pretty good!  The only thing I don't like is how fast the camera moves around.  It messes with my vertigo way too much, but I'll pause it and take a break here and there!  

Yay for a new show to watch!

[possibilities]

I liked it, too.

[Bumblebee84047]

Thoroughly enjoyed this.  I'll be a repeat viewer.

[iMonrey]

This was cute. It sort of has a Superstore vibe to it. Not rolling around laughing my ass off but smiling through the whole thing. Does anyone know if there's a connection to Superstore, creatively? I haven't bothered to look it up yet. Kaliko Kauahi is in both. Nice to see her again. LOL on Mekki Leeper as Matt, he was so good in Jury Duty. I love Allison Tollman and Wendi McLendon-Covey too.

Good start. I would like to see them punch it up a bit, and I don't really need the feel-good lessons learned at the end, but otherwise it's definitely a keeper on series record.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

53 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

This was cute. It sort of has a Superstore vibe to it. Not rolling around laughing my ass off but smiling through the whole thing. Does anyone know if there's a connection to Superstore, creatively? I haven't bothered to look it up yet.

https://variety.com/2024/tv/tv-reviews/st-denis-medical-review-superstore-1236191260/

[shapeshifter]

Best new show pilot of the season, IMO. 
I am a fan of Allison Tolman. Her line delivery and pauses and subtle expressions and movements are always perfect. 
And David Alan Grier has a great character to play here. 
Nice throwaway backstory line from the hospital admin. that she was an oncology doctor for 20 years prior. 
The other 2 nurses were well-cast too.

I actually make it a rule not to watch medical shows, but I'm willing to give this a try.

[Shrek]

Only watched the first episode so far but thoroughly enjoyed it, as did Fiona who is a nurse & has seen some of it firsthand. She was laughing a fair bit & kept saying "seen that", especially the guy with his robe on the wrong way around & that the know-it-all doc is just like a few cardiologists she has known who tend to think they know everything about everything.

[kaygeeret]

Very enjoyable.

The characters seemed to be pretty spot on, esp the know-it-all surgeon.

Oh the stories that could be told regarding surgeons, esp heart surgeons.

I am glad the show has an RN as the main character.  The do a ton of grunt work but are also incredibly critical as the patient carer and reporting to the MD.

 

[Chit Chat]

24 minutes ago, kaygeeret said:

Oh the stories that could be told regarding surgeons, esp heart surgeons.

I especially liked the surgeon.  He has the swagger and attitude that I associate with them.  Not that I know any surgeons personally, but I've seen many of them meandering about in the pre-op area before outpatient surgery!  

[auntiemel]

I really liked the episode. I thought it did its job as a pilot quite well. But I couldn’t help but be heartbroken for the daughter who suddenly got to be the LEAD in her school play, and her mom couldn’t be bothered to show up. I mean, I know that’s not what the show wants you to think about the character, but I feel like that’s what the little girl’s perspective will be. 
 

it distracted me. Not enough to give up on the show, but I think it’s going to take me more than a few episodes to warm up to Allison Tohlman’s character now, and I don’t think that’s what they were trying to do!

[possibilities]

I was a little surprised by the statement that nursing doesn't pay well. I thought it was actually one of the better compensated roles?

Edited November 15 by possibilities

[Chit Chat]

14 hours ago, auntiemel said:

But I couldn’t help but be heartbroken for the daughter who suddenly got to be the LEAD in her school play, and her mom couldn’t be bothered to show up. I mean, I know that’s not what the show wants you to think about the character, but I feel like that’s what the little girl’s perspective will be. 

I think it shows the very real problem that parents face when trying to balance work and kids.  

[auntiemel]

8 hours ago, Chit Chat said:

I think it shows the very real problem that parents face when trying to balance work and kids.  

Except this wasn’t really about her trying to balance work and kids. The script mentioned several times that she was a control freak who thought she was the only one who could do things right. David Allen Grier’s character told her several times throughout that she needed to leave, and she agreed with him and never did. The nurse in the pink scrubs told her that they had things under control, she still didn’t leave. When she finally did ALMOST make her escape, after she knew her daughter was the lead, she didn’t leave the building - she went to the locker room and changed into street clothes first…and then of course got caught up on the way out. I feel like her daughter would have preferred her to be THERE, even in scrubs.

So this wasn’t really about balancing work and kids…this was about balancing her own need to control when weighed against one of the most special night in her daughter’s life. Control won. Her daughter lost. That’s probably pretty realistic, and I don’t hate her as a character…but it doesn’t endear her to me, either.

[Chit Chat]

21 minutes ago, auntiemel said:

When she finally did ALMOST make her escape, after she knew her daughter was the lead, she didn’t leave the building - she went to the locker room and changed into street clothes first…and then of course got caught up on the way out. I feel like her daughter would have preferred her to be THERE, even in scrubs.

She couldn't just ignore the lady who collapsed in the parking lot though, and because of the incompetence of the new nurse who didn't know how to call for help, she had to stay and help her once in the ER.  

Also, she's a person in authority, so I can understand her feeling torn about leaving when they had the computer issue.  There's always a chance that if she left at that moment and a patient died because of all the confusion, I'm sure her ass would be hauled in front of some committee and would be expected to explain why she left in a crisis!

I like her character and have empathy for the situation she's in.  I'm sure her daughter won't be scarred for life because she missed a performance.  All she can do is to explain what happened and let her know that she's the most important person in her life, but sometimes shit hits the fan at work (not in those words!) and she'll try to be there for the next play she's in.   

As far as changing into street clothes, it's best to get out of those scrubs and into something clean!  Lots of germs and cooties floating around those hospitals!  

[auntiemel]

1 hour ago, Chit Chat said:

She couldn't just ignore the lady who collapsed in the parking lot though, and because of the incompetence of the new nurse who didn't know how to call for help, she had to stay and help her once in the ER.  

Also, she's a person in authority, so I can understand her feeling torn about leaving when they had the computer issue.  There's always a chance that if she left at that moment and a patient died because of all the confusion, I'm sure her ass would be hauled in front of some committee and would be expected to explain why she left in a crisis!

I like her character and have empathy for the situation she's in.  I'm sure her daughter won't be scarred for life because she missed a performance.  All she can do is to explain what happened and let her know that she's the most important person in her life, but sometimes shit hits the fan at work (not in those words!) and she'll try to be there for the next play she's in.   

As far as changing into street clothes, it's best to get out of those scrubs and into something clean!  Lots of germs and cooties floating around those hospitals!  

I mean, I feel like we’re just not going to agree on this point. She had so many chances to leave before the lady in the parking lot, and even before the computers went down. She chose not to.

Will her daughter be scarred for life because the one time it was her turn to shine, to be celebrated, her mom  chose not to be there? Maybe, or maybe not. We don’t know enough about her character to know.

And she can TELL her daughter “you’re the most important person in the world to me” but…that’s not what her actions showed - they showed that almost every single other random person she came across that day was more important than her daughter.
 

We can SAY what things and people are important to us until we are blue in the face, but the truth of what our priorities actually are comes out in where we put our time and attention.

 

Again, I’m not trying to say I think she’s the worst person in the world, but I think the writing would have better served the character if they didn’t raise the stakes by creating a one-time only situation where the daughter gets to fill in as the star of the play because she was the understudy. Combined with giving her so many low-stakes opportunities to leave that she refused, before the shit hit the fan. I think that was too stark a contrast.
 

[Chit Chat]

7 hours ago, auntiemel said:

I mean, I feel like we’re just not going to agree on this point. She had so many chances to leave before the lady in the parking lot, and even before the computers went down. She chose not to.

Maybe it's a one-off situation for the character, but probably not.  This appears to be her character arc, and we'll see how she handles these situations going forward. 

For me, I'm not bothered by her decision in this episode.  She seems to be a caring person.  She didn't blow off the play because she's a jerk.  We'll see her journey as she learns to balance work and kids (hopefully!)   🙂 

[SnarkShark]

It's not bad and can certainly grow.

I will say the opening credits/opening theme/title sequence is bland and horrible (but doesn't reflect fully the rest of the show).

[Harvey]

The surgeon guy is the pharmacist from Superstore 🤯

And of course Sandra is there.

Overall a solid pilot, although I let out a loud groan when they did that super obvious planting of the seed for the workplace romance. Like really, must we do this again? 🙄It was exhausting enough to watch that play out on Abbott Elementary, but of course we can't have a show without it.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 11/14/2024 at 11:50 PM, auntiemel said:

She had so many chances to leave before the lady in the parking lot, and even before the computers went down. She chose not to.

Yes, her presence was not invaluable before then.  If it were, how would she ever be able to leave?

 

[EtheltoTillie]

I’m sorry to say that I could not finish this episode. Too bad because I like the other mockumentary shows. I disliked Parks and Rec at first. It had to find its footing. Wendy McClendon Covey was so annoying. I like Alison Tolman but didn’t like her here. 

[chediavolo]

Not loving this so far, but I’ll give it another chance. Yes it has superstore vibes but superstore it ain’t! 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

23 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I’m sorry to say that I could not finish this episode. Too bad because I like the other mockumentary shows. I disliked Parks and Rec at first. It had to find its footing. Wendy McClendon Covey was so annoying. I like Alison Tolman but didn’t like her here. 

I enjoyed the third episode.  I'm pretty sure you could skip to that one.

[EtheltoTillie]

35 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I enjoyed the third episode.  I'm pretty sure you could skip to that one.

So I just tried it, and I noped out in less than ten minutes. Such annoying people. 

[SnarkShark]

On 11/24/2024 at 8:16 PM, EtheltoTillie said:

I’m sorry to say that I could not finish this episode. Too bad because I like the other mockumentary shows. I disliked Parks and Rec at first. It had to find its footing. Wendy McClendon Covey was so annoying. I like Alison Tolman but didn’t like her here. 

They've got to Michael Scott Wendy's character.  She can only be annoying if she's also lovable.  Either that or they'd have to go to the other extreme and make her the antagonist.  

[EtheltoTillie]

10 minutes ago, SnarkShark said:

They've got to Michael Scott Wendy's character.  She can only be annoying if she's also lovable.  Either that or they'd have to go to the other extreme and make her the antagonist.  

Maybe impossible. I hated The Goldbergs because of her character. And because it was an awful show in general.