Monday Mornings

We don't need a lot more comedy or what passes for comedy on network TV. There are not a lot of shows that take a serious subject and dramatize it so that people who do not just watch CNN and other news can be educated about what has usually been kept 'quiet'. Sanjay Gupta, MD has impressed me all through his CNN career and now he has written a book and collaborated on this TV series so that the general TV watching public can be educated without being 'lectured'. Its entertainment! I too miss ER but this promises to continue in the genre and its a sad statement on North Americans to see such negative responses. Maybe these people should mention the names of shows they DO think worth watching? what .. Survivor?? Anger Management?? Those of us who appreciate really intelligent scripts that for once are not from the BBC need to applaud the producers for serving up what I just told my husband I thought was now the best new thing on TV..and its not even about lawyers and cops! (we like those too). But Gray's Anatomy is more like a soap opera than a drama. Patients need this kind of wake-up lesson about not necessarily trusting the first doctor or opinion. I thought the acting was just fine and appropriate. Please please don't pan this promising new series!!

I should clarify that this review is written at the very beginning of the series. So far, only the pilot has been released, so this will be obsolete soon. However, I saw that the show is already getting more negative reviews than it deserves, so I thought I should do my best to do it some justice.

Now, if you're a David E. Kelley Fan, you'll soon find familiar elements in this show, the easiest to spot being the abnormally high number of main characters with different personalities. You will probably come to love some of them and hate others. Personally, I love this aspect of Mr. Kelley's writing. Sure, shows with all insanely cool characters fighting insanely unlikeable villains are...cool. But, through creating an array of very different characters, the writer has you constantly questioning values, and as a result, gets you more emotionally involved.

One of the most disappointing things about the Pilot was the lack of Comedy. Now, obviously this is meant to be a drama, but again, Mr. Kelley has shown a lot of strength in intertwining drama and comedy in various dosages: The practice had lots of Drama and some comedy. Boston Legal had both equally. Harry's Law had perhaps the most comedy of all. But so far, I've seen lots of Drama and no Comedy, which can get boring, preachy, and resembling shows like Grey's Anatomy.

In short, this show does have a bit of promise, but some flaws too. However, being a David E. Kelley fan, one should know that all his shows start slow and work their way up. One should also know that the cast may change without notice, and one should also be sure of the fact that a lot of strength is bound to arise from the guest appearances.

In conclusion, if you are the kind of person who follows a show a week-by-week (as opposed to those who'd rather wait for the DVD to come out), then it's only fair to have some patience, and let the show grow. Granted, I won't lie and say it's the best pilot ever, but I see some promise in this show, enough to give it a chance to properly impress me.

This show is about shedding some light on a process that is hitherto unknown or little known to public. As Sanjay Gupta, the author of the original novel by the same name (and a NYT bestseller) pointed out in one of his interviews, "As surgeons, we spend a lot of our time educating patients. If the show is authentic, then people may learn stuff from it and become more empowered patients. They may see what happens after something goes wrong and how the hospital and the doctors deal with it. It can be very humanizing. Often times when something goes awry in a hospital, the communication completely breaks down. (Read @: http://entertainment.time.com/2013/02/04/

We all visit doctors at one time or another in our lives, and most of the time, do not know what questions to raise. At least I did not. In the past 30 years, I have seen lot of changes in the medical profession. Now we have doctor's assistants, nurses, nurse's assistants and a host of others to whom we keep repeating our medical history before we actually sit down with the doctor. Dr. Wilson says the boy's father is out of the picture, which indicates that he has spoken to the mother about him. Between the two of them, the question of his medical records got lost. The point here is it is a slip up and it can happen. That is what the story is about. We need to know what all matters.

Dr. Gupta said that he originally intended it to be nonfiction, but later changed it to fiction. Naturally, fiction means creating tension, some drama. This is serious stuff. I have seen comments on other sites that seem to agree with me. I for one am looking forward to other episodes. One thing I could say is the length of commercials. The breaks are too long and hurt the flow of storyline. Cutting it to half will certainly improve the flow.

This program has become my new Sopranos... that's the one I eagerly looked forward to the new episode all week long! I did some Google searching on the series only to find out that it has begun with sort of a "ho-hum" from viewers and critics.

I think the chemistry between the characters is in line with the likes of Seinfeld or, again, the Sopranos... and it hasn't really even had the chance to mature yet. The casting is great and the varied personalities and 'ethics' of the characters captivating. The M&M sessions (Morbidity and Mortality) are well done and I find myself thinking what I would do in the situation.

When I listen to what most Americans are talking about on TV (Idol, Housewives, etc) I realize this isn't going to appeal to the masses. I hope it can survive!!

This is a thoroughly entertaining medical drama. I don't know what the negative posters expected. I suspect they are just negative people who like to find fault with everything.

The character development is superb. Stand out performances by VingRhames, Keoung Sim and Alfred Molina. There's really not a weak cast member. Story lines are good. It's not frenetic like ER, nor as bizarre as House. It's closer to Grey's anatomy with a strong focus on the medical issues and less on the soap opera aspects.

My family members in the health field agree this show is pretty much on target.

Check it out.