Diagnostics: New Amsterdam in the Media & Ratings

[cam3150]

I…I just cannot believe it. Helen was my favorite character. Yes, last season was a sh!t show, especially the end, but I figured they would wrap it up in a nice Max & Helen HEA-sized bow during the final season. I haven’t seen a show crash this hard in a long time.

It seems like the actress is leaving of her own accord but the writer’s treatment of this fan favorite couple is Shonda Rhimes levels of disrespectful.

I never do this but I may just call it quits on this show. I don’t want to see Max go through more heartbreak. 

Edited July 21, 2022 by cam3150

[LexieLily]

9 minutes ago, cam3150 said:

Yes, last season was a sh!t show, especially the end, but I figured they would wrap it up in a nice Max & Helen HEA-sized bow during the final season. I haven’t seen a show crash this hard in a long time.

I'm undecided whether it would be more cruel to Max to kill Helen off or leave it as her abandoning him on their apparent wedding day for reasons unknown.

[bros402]

8 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

Helen (Freema Agyeman) will not be returning for the fifth season.  Guess that helps explain last season's sudden calling off of the wedding. 

Huh, well that's just odd, leaving in the final stretch. Now we're down a doctor for Worst Doctor of the Week!

I'm guessing they are going to resolve it through text messages - maybe Helen stays in London because reasons and they don't kill her off just in case the actress wants to appear in the finale?

this final season is going to be bonkers in the funniest way

Edited July 21, 2022 by bros402

[Featherhat]

Wow, I knew she had another role but I assumed she was able to do both, especially with so few episodes left. I wonder if it's possible that they'll be able to get her back for the last episode, sort of like ER and others to show them reuniting to work on their relationship? Although there's not much there after last season. 

There's very little reason to stick around and watch the end of this but I'm actually curious about how low it sinks. 

[Brian Cronin]

Obviously, if the actor wants to leave, what are you going to do? But wow, what a shit shoe.

There is no time for a new Max romance, so we just have to hope she returns and marries Max in the finale.

[LexieLily]

1 hour ago, Brian Cronin said:

There is no time for a new Max romance, so we just have to hope she returns and marries Max in the finale.

Sandra Mae Frank (Dr. Wilder) was bumped up to series regular. They wouldn't try to push a Max/Wilder romance, would they? 

[bros402]

8 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Sandra Mae Frank (Dr. Wilder) was bumped up to series regular. They wouldn't try to push a Max/Wilder romance, would they? 

She's too awesome for Max IMO

Max should end the series as a single parent because he has so many issues to work out.

[christie]

1 hour ago, bros402 said:

She's too awesome for Max IMO

Max should end the series as a single parent because he has so many issues to work out.

I agree with you (especially about Dr Wilder being too awesome for Max) but I don't think they're gonna leave him single. Please God, not Max and Dr Wilder; the writers completely ruined Helen when she was with Max, I don't want the same to happen to Dr Wilder.

[Brian Cronin]

19 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Sandra Mae Frank (Dr. Wilder) was bumped up to series regular. They wouldn't try to push a Max/Wilder romance, would they? 

I'll admit, I considered it, but there's just no time for it, RIGHT after he breaks up with Helen. 

[bros402]

22 hours ago, christie said:

I agree with you (especially about Dr Wilder being too awesome for Max) but I don't think they're gonna leave him single. Please God, not Max and Dr Wilder; the writers completely ruined Helen when she was with Max, I don't want the same to happen to Dr Wilder.

maybe Max will start dating... uhhh... a single mom who has a kid in the hospital daycare

can we just have a Dr. Wilder spinoff and just have it totally forget everything about New Amsterdam other than the character of Dr. Wilder and her ASL translator

[Brian Cronin]

58 minutes ago, bros402 said:

maybe Max will start dating... uhhh... a single mom who has a kid in the hospital daycare

The one vague possibility is if they brought back his former girlfriend, the single mom who was perfect that they wrote off for no reason. 

But realistically, it's just going to be no romance until he gets back with Sharpe in the series finale (probably moves to England to be with her). Heck, I bet that happens even if the actor doesn't return, just have them get back together off screen. Think the ending of the film, Once (granted, the actor's voice was used there, but it wasn't necessary). 

[LexieLily]

Apparently the writers knew before they wrote/filmed the last few episodes of season four (including that clusterfuck of a finale) that Freema was leaving - and they STILL wrote the finale that way. It makes no sense to me at all.

[bros402]

8 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Apparently the writers knew before they wrote/filmed the last few episodes of season four (including that clusterfuck of a finale) that Freema was leaving - and they STILL wrote the finale that way. It makes no sense to me at all.

They should've just gotten married and then done "oh she was called by doctors without borders because they had a super urgent need for oncologists" to send her off screen for the final season

[LexieLily]

3 minutes ago, bros402 said:

They should've just gotten married and then done "oh she was called by doctors without borders because they had a super urgent need for oncologists" to send her off screen for the final season

Exactly. How hard would it have been for the writers to have Max/Helen get married and the series finale is either her coming back (if they can get Freema) or have Max move permanently to London?

[Featherhat]

18 hours ago, bros402 said:

They should've just gotten married and then done "oh she was called by doctors without borders because they had a super urgent need for oncologists" to send her off screen for the final season

Yep, it's obviously not an ideal scenario but they could have even filmed a brief reunion scene for the series finale if FA couldn't guarantee that she would come back for it, plenty of shows have done it. With 13 guaranteed eps and then an end you don't *need* your lead character to have an on screen love interest and you definitely don't have time do write a compelling new love story without it seeming like having one for the sake of having one. Might as well have them married off screen and use phonecalls and texts. Now they might do the "I'm flying to London to be with her" ending but it will be much more of a mess beforehand. 

[NJRadioGuy]

One more example of how the showrunners' chutzpah has gotten the better of their common sense. This was, to me, a show that needed far more network script oversight. Why exactly are people supposed to watch this mess now? Oh, we're going to see twice as much Iggy and his dysfunctional relationship, or Dr. Threesome, or Max Doing Stupid Shit, blah blah blah. They lost the plot after Season 1, and by S3 they needed to have the proverbial whip cracked over the writers' room.

[bros402]

5 hours ago, NJRadioGuy said:

One more example of how the showrunners' chutzpah has gotten the better of their common sense. This was, to me, a show that needed far more network script oversight. Why exactly are people supposed to watch this mess now? Oh, we're going to see twice as much Iggy and his dysfunctional relationship, or Dr. Threesome, or Max Doing Stupid Shit, blah blah blah. They lost the plot after Season 1, and by S3 they needed to have the proverbial whip cracked over the writers' room.

It's been an amazing slow motion trainwreck, especially with how they just totally dropped one character due to COVID - they didn't air the episode he was introduced, just the second episode he was in, then he was never seen again

[LexieLily]

20 hours ago, bros402 said:

It's been an amazing slow motion trainwreck, especially with how they just totally dropped one character due to COVID - they didn't air the episode he was introduced, just the second episode he was in, then he was never seen again

Which was incredibly stupid considering he was dating Helen, Max was jealous, and I'm guessing that was supposed to be the impetus for Max deciding to do something about his feelings for Helen.

[bros402]

3 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Which was incredibly stupid considering he was dating Helen, Max was jealous, and I'm guessing that was supposed to be the impetus for Max deciding to do something about his feelings for Helen.

yuuuuup, they should've just aired the episode with a content warning - or dropped the two episodes and left them for another time. They could've aired them that summer/fall before the season premiere with a recorded message beforehand like "We were going to air this back in April, but that was when lockdown started and we didn't want to air something so close to life, so this takes place before the season finale"

[LexieLily]

13 minutes ago, bros402 said:

yuuuuup, they should've just aired the episode with a content warning - or dropped the two episodes and left them for another time. They could've aired them that summer/fall before the season premiere with a recorded message beforehand like "We were going to air this back in April, but that was when lockdown started and we didn't want to air something so close to life, so this takes place before the season finale"

Also, the episode that never aired? Kapoor was scheduled to be sick in that one so apparently they just lifted the footage and that is what they used in the premiere to say he got Covid. Which is nice for the producers, I guess, but it was evidently dropped from the face of New Amsterdam-canon that Kapoor has a grandchild and on his deathbed Iggy promised Kapoor he'd take care of Ella/the baby. 

[bros402]

23 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Also, the episode that never aired? Kapoor was scheduled to be sick in that one so apparently they just lifted the footage and that is what they used in the premiere to say he got Covid. Which is nice for the producers, I guess, but it was evidently dropped from the face of New Amsterdam-canon that Kapoor has a grandchild and on his deathbed Iggy promised Kapoor he'd take care of Ella/the baby. 

This show is a masterclass in how to mess up a show.

Also, to show everyone to never to pick up a show for three seasons when you are in the second season of the show.

[LexieLily]

19 minutes ago, bros402 said:

This show is a masterclass in how to mess up a show.

It's remarkable, honestly. I was telling a friend that it takes TALENT (the type of talent is debatable) to create a finale (S4) that the entire fandom universally hated. Not just Max/Sharpe fans, or Leyla/Lauren, or even Iggy/Martin, but the entire fanbase. 

And then they proceed to top themselves by blowing up the leading romance of the show knowing that the female half of the couple won't return, and it was known she wouldn't return before the finale was written.

[Sweet-n-Snarky]

On 7/23/2022 at 4:48 PM, LexieLily said:

Apparently the writers knew before they wrote/filmed the last few episodes of season four (including that clusterfuck of a finale) that Freema was leaving - and they STILL wrote the finale that way. It makes no sense to me at all.

I'm sorry... WHAT?! They knew Freema was leaving and THAT'S what they came up with? My blood is boiling all over again. What the f**k!

Welp... I don't have anything else to say.

https://www.tvfanatic.com/2022/07/the-rise-and-fall-of-new-amsterdam-freema-agyemans-shocking-depa/

Edited July 27, 2022 by Sweet-n-Snarky

[Featherhat]

It was also announced in March that S5 would be the end and decided before that. I'm not sure when the finale was filmed but surely there was enough time to give them a "happy ending" where they got married but arranged for Helen to be off screen in ep 5. They knew that they didn't have to completely blow them up because the lead needed to be romantically available for potentially several more seasons, other shows have done that. Or they could have actually made use of the time they had left and actually dealt with Helen's actual baggage and problems and not gone for artificial drama that was copy pasted from any of 1000 shows. Because a certain type female character must always have exactly the same commitment and relationship issues even if it makes no sense. It's like no matter how interesting the set up the industry has just 3 ways of handling female characters in relationships. 

This show had so much good will, even after S3 and I can't believe they messed that up so badly, for literally every character. For instance I assumed they must be writing Iggy as a hypocritical asshole who blames Martin for what he himself has done and makes disasters all about being all about him proving himself on purpose but it doesn't seem to be what they were actually going for. 

[LexieLily]

1 hour ago, Featherhat said:

Or they could have actually made use of the time they had left and actually dealt with Helen's actual baggage and problems and not gone for artificial drama that was copy pasted from any of 1000 shows.

Helen's entire reasoning for going to London was to confront her mother about her childhood and why Mum pushed her father away. That never got resolved. Helen was drugged at karaoke, had a stroke that led to her being unable to speak, and she was miraculously healed and working in London an episode later. Both of those things, if used properly, could create a multitude of reasons why Helen had to stay in London.

[bros402]

23 hours ago, LexieLily said:

It's remarkable, honestly. I was telling a friend that it takes TALENT (the type of talent is debatable) to create a finale (S4) that the entire fandom universally hated. Not just Max/Sharpe fans, or Leyla/Lauren, or even Iggy/Martin, but the entire fanbase. 

And then they proceed to top themselves by blowing up the leading romance of the show knowing that the female half of the couple won't return, and it was known she wouldn't return before the finale was written.

Like even shows that became hated had some decent parts - Game of Thrones had a few decent things in the final season, Dexter was still semi-interesting, Lost was much better than people give it credit for, but New Amsterdam? The only reason I am still watching it is for the high quality hatewatch! I almost stopped watching it early in the season because of how boring it was

[LexieLily]

27 minutes ago, bros402 said:

Like even shows that became hated had some decent parts - Game of Thrones had a few decent things in the final season, Dexter was still semi-interesting, Lost was much better than people give it credit for, but New Amsterdam? The only reason I am still watching it is for the high quality hatewatch! I almost stopped watching it early in the season because of how boring it was

The non-Sharpwin stories might be annoying (Leyla/Lauren) or maddening (Iggy/Martin) but say what you will about them, at least their storylines had plot and movement one way or the other. I have no idea what's happening with Reynolds and his married girlfriend that might have been in an open marriage but was probably simply cheating on Claude. Lyn got pregnant and Reynolds is the father, but he's...giving away his rights and Lyn/Claude are moving to Denver. So what exactly was the point of the last two seasons for him?

[bros402]

23 hours ago, LexieLily said:

The non-Sharpwin stories might be annoying (Leyla/Lauren) or maddening (Iggy/Martin) but say what you will about them, at least their storylines had plot and movement one way or the other. I have no idea what's happening with Reynolds and his married girlfriend that might have been in an open marriage but was probably simply cheating on Claude. Lyn got pregnant and Reynolds is the father, but he's...giving away his rights and Lyn/Claude are moving to Denver. So what exactly was the point of the last two seasons for him?

Yeah, the non Sharpwin stories have stuff going on, but for the most part, the early episodes of this season were just boring - not even the medical issue of the week stuff was gripping since normally they have at least something that could draw someone in.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Somehow, NA got nominated for a best broadcast drama award. Yes, this year (scroll all the way down to the bottom left):

https://hollywoodcriticsassociation.com/hca-tv-awards/2022-hca-tv-awards/

I wonder what show the nominating committee watched. Did they put on S1 or S2 by mistake? 

[bros402]

56 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Somehow, NA got nominated for a best broadcast drama award. Yes, this year (scroll all the way down to the bottom left):

https://hollywoodcriticsassociation.com/hca-tv-awards/2022-hca-tv-awards/

I wonder what show the nominating committee watched. Did they put on S1 or S2 by mistake? 

.............what

they also nominated Kung Fu

who bribed them

[Featherhat]

This is an advance preview of 5.01 from SpoilerTV. There are few specifics but there are spoiler teases. Safe to say it sounds like it will end up upsetting as many people as the finale did and not just Sharpwin fans either. 

https://www.spoilertv.com/2022/09/new-amsterdam-season-5-episode-1-title.html

[LexieLily]

10 hours ago, Featherhat said:

This is an advance preview of 5.01 from SpoilerTV. There are few specifics but there are spoiler teases. Safe to say it sounds like it will end up upsetting as many people as the finale did and not just Sharpwin fans either. 

https://www.spoilertv.com/2022/09/new-amsterdam-season-5-episode-1-title.html

Luna is turning five?! So we are doing a two/three year time-jump? Lauren's allowed Leyla to stay in her apartment all that time? Martin and Iggy aren't divorced yet? Reynolds is STILL trying to have a relationship with his father?

If the end of that article means what I think it means and they are even going to try to set up a new Max romance on the rooftop of all places...I'm done.

[DanaK]

Whenever the show goes on its Fall hiatus, it returns January 3 and has its 2 hour series finale on January 17 http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2022/11/07/nbc-delivers-the-goods-for-midseason-with-returning-favorites-a-new-judge-on-the-comedy-case-and-dramas-that-inspire-and-charm-152115/20221107nbc01/

Edited November 7, 2022 by DanaK

[bros402]

6 hours ago, DanaK said:

Whenever the show goes on its Fall hiatus, it returns January 3 and has its 2 hour series finale on January 17 http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2022/11/07/nbc-delivers-the-goods-for-midseason-with-returning-favorites-a-new-judge-on-the-comedy-case-and-dramas-that-inspire-and-charm-152115/20221107nbc01/

Wow, they sure are burning the show off

We just had episode 7

2 hour finale will be 12 & 13

so 10 will be Jan 3, 11 will be Jan 10

episode 8 is tomorrow, so maybe 9 on nov 15 or 22?

Edited November 8, 2022 by bros402

[DanaK]

5 hours ago, bros402 said:

Wow, they sure are burning the show off

We just had episode 7

2 hour finale will be 12 & 13

so 10 will be Jan 3, 11 will be Jan 10

episode 8 is tomorrow, so maybe 9 on nov 15 or 22?

Not surprising given they had given it a 3 year renewal and then the ratings cratered, so they gave the final season a shortened 13 episodes

[DanaK]

10 hours ago, bros402 said:

Wow, they sure are burning the show off

We just had episode 7

2 hour finale will be 12 & 13

so 10 will be Jan 3, 11 will be Jan 10

episode 8 is tomorrow, so maybe 9 on nov 15 or 22?

Per the Futon Critic, the Fall finale is Nov 22 and 2 episodes (episodes 9 and 10). #11 is Jan 3, then the show is pre-empted on January 10 for the Golden Globe Awards, then #12 and #13 for the series finale on the 17th

http://thefutoncritic.com/showatch/new-amsterdam-nbc/listings/

[secnarf]

19 hours ago, bros402 said:

Wow, they sure are burning the show off

We just had episode 7

2 hour finale will be 12 & 13

so 10 will be Jan 3, 11 will be Jan 10

episode 8 is tomorrow, so maybe 9 on nov 15 or 22?

There is no new episode tonight - episode 8 will be Nov 15.

[bros402]

13 hours ago, DanaK said:

Per the Futon Critic, the Fall finale is Nov 22 and 2 episodes (episodes 9 and 10). #11 is Jan 3, then the show is pre-empted on January 10 for the Golden Globe Awards, then #12 and #13 for the series finale on the 17th

http://thefutoncritic.com/showatch/new-amsterdam-nbc/listings/

4 hours ago, secnarf said:

There is no new episode tonight - episode 8 will be Nov 15.

Hey, I was almost right with my guessing :D

18 hours ago, DanaK said:

Not surprising given they had given it a 3 year renewal and then the ratings cratered, so they gave the final season a shortened 13 episodes

I have no idea why NBC gave this show a three season renewal. I can understand them doing the three season renewal for This Is Us, since NBC ran on tears because of that show - but New Amsterdam made no sense at all. However, it did provide some amazing stuff like "Reynolds in an open elevator shaft" and "Killing off Kapoor" and "the start of season 4 being so interminably boring that I almost stopped hatewatching it"

[DanaK]

I saw a promo for the next episode and it’s only an hour at 10 and the promo didn’t say it was the Fall finale, though The Futon Critic is still listing it as a 2 hour Fall finale. I wonder if the week after will be the Fall finale or they will just have it return on Jan 3 or something?

[DanaK]

2 hours ago, DanaK said:

I saw a promo for the next episode and it’s only an hour at 10 and the promo didn’t say it was the Fall finale, though The Futon Critic is still listing it as a 2 hour Fall finale. I wonder if the week after will be the Fall finale or they will just have it return on Jan 3 or something?

Never mind, the 2 hour Fall finale is right; my DVR finally caught up with the listings

[circumvent]

Not really media news but since the show is ending, it is a mourning for the show it never was. The idea is good - I never read the book it is based on but the idea of a public hospital that is a city in itself serving the biggest city in the country is enticing - but they gave up on the unique and made the director into an idealist dreamer who doesn't really know how to run a place, surrounded by incompetent doctors. It became a mess.

All the themes they explored, then destroyed by having Max trying to fix the word are good themes. They could have done it in the context of the functioning of the hospital. 

I blame the writing but I also blame the majority of viewers who only want sugary stories, and/or rallies of resistance to something that is affecting the country - even when they are valid, the whole thing was just a virtue signaling plot to serve part of the viewers. I mostly blame the TV executives that have no vision, blurred by the dollar signs.

I say that because the one medical show that depicted well the works of a public hospital was cancelled after 3 seasons (Code Black). And before it was cancelled, TPTB decided to throw Rob Lowe as a hero to save the whole planet, fight terrorists and solve mysteries, all the while combing his hair. It destroyed itself a (on the second season) before the network dumped it

RIP New Amsterdam. The idea of you will be forever grieved but you will not be missed

[bros402]

11 hours ago, circumvent said:

Not really media news but since the show is ending, it is a mourning for the show it never was. The idea is good - I never read the book it is based on but the idea of a public hospital that is a city in itself serving the biggest city in the country is enticing - but they gave up on the unique and made the director into an idealist dreamer who doesn't really know how to run a place, surrounded by incompetent doctors. It became a mess.

All the themes they explored, then destroyed by having Max trying to fix the word are good themes. They could have done it in the context of the functioning of the hospital. 

I blame the writing but I also blame the majority of viewers who only want sugary stories, and/or rallies of resistance to something that is affecting the country - even when they are valid, the whole thing was just a virtue signaling plot to serve part of the viewers. I mostly blame the TV executives that have no vision, blurred by the dollar signs.

I say that because the one medical show that depicted well the works of a public hospital was cancelled after 3 seasons (Code Black). And before it was cancelled, TPTB decided to throw Rob Lowe as a hero to save the whole planet, fight terrorists and solve mysteries, all the while combing his hair. It destroyed itself a (on the second season) before the network dumped it

RIP New Amsterdam. The idea of you will be forever grieved but you will not be missed

Yeah - this show could've been a new ER. Instead it was.... decidedly not. If they had at least made it little story arcs of Max trying to reform stuff (Maybe 1-3 things a season?) that would've been more palatable!

[meeeechiganman]

Here is Ryan's next project 

https://deadline.com/2022/11/ryan-eggold-isaiah-mustafa-cast-amazon-alex-cross-series-1235183635/

[ChristiC]

Why did new Amsterdam end? the other shows that apparently beat out new Amsterdam for the new season, are shows that I don’t watch! I watch new Amsterdam! Please bring it back

Edited May 30, 2023 by ChristiC

[bros402]

After season 2, it was given a three season pickup (so, through season 5) - NBC decided to end it with season 5 (so the creators could end it on their own terms and not wonder the entire season if they were going to be picked up or not).

[Garold]

hi all. I am new mamber.Nice trailer! Have a nice day everyone😉

[TooMuchRealityTV]

Possibly spinoff in the works following Max's daughter.

Quote

New Amsterdam fans who were left wanting more when the NBC series concluded its run after 5 seasons last year, may have something new to look forward to.

Series creator, executive producer and showrunner David Schulner is developing a spinoff series at NBC set 30 years after the events of the original series. Tentatively titled New Amsterdam: Tomorrow, it follows Dr. Max Goodwin’s (Ryan Eggold) daughter, Luna Goodwin, who steps into her father’s role as Medical Director of New Amsterdam Hospital.

The potential sequel, which is expected to explore the ways artificial intelligence would help advance the medical industry in the future, was set up in the New Amsterdam series finale. It introduced a young and enthusiastic new medical director, played by Molly Griggs, at the beginning of the episode who was revealed at the end to be Max’s daughter, Luna Goodwin, as an adult in flash-forwards.

https://deadline.com/2024/03/new-amsterdam-sequel-series-max-daughter-1235862496/

[KaveDweller]

On 3/20/2024 at 1:59 PM, TooMuchRealityTV said:

Possibly spinoff in the works following Max's daughter.

https://deadline.com/2024/03/new-amsterdam-sequel-series-max-daughter-1235862496/

I saw that and just thought, why? New Amsterdam wasn't such a big hit that a spin off is a selling point, if NBC wants a new hospital show, just make a new hospital show that is totally fresh.

Plus, being set 30 years in the future will either make it scifi-ish or just stupid.

[bros402]

6 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I saw that and just thought, why? New Amsterdam wasn't such a big hit that a spin off is a selling point, if NBC wants a new hospital show, just make a new hospital show that is totally fresh.

Plus, being set 30 years in the future will either make it scifi-ish or just stupid.

I believe it's done *really* good on Netflix.