N.I.H. - alertes médicales

I just saw the pilot and the Case of the Blue Men (used as the Pilot) was a retelling of a 60-year old WWII era mystery. For those who want to read the original case that they recycled check out a book by Berton Roueche called "Eleven Blue Men". The story was also included in his "The Medical Detectives".

The story was gripping and showed how the step-by-step procedure of this type of investigation proceeds. The fact that I already had read the book years ago, spoiled the ability for me to solve the mystery before they did as did the fact that they did not go into their databases and locate the 60-year old case. Of course since this is TV (and they were recycling the WWII era case) this meant that they could not use their Databases to find the report due to them setting it in current time and pretending that the WWII case never occurred. Also the episode would be over if they had found the report in their Database.

We are nearly at the end of the season in New Zealand and I have really enjoyed this show. It is so watchable and I like to try and guess the commonality before the cast. It's a shame the show is not being renewed for a second season as I would like to see more character development. I am a fan of Neal and Kelli too and think their characters work well together bringing just enough professionalism combined with a more personal note. I think it's good there is a new storyline each episode while the casts' lives carry on in the background. Each episode concludes and we can wait for the next outbreak. I wish the cast luck for future projects and will have to wait for repeats I guess.

This is not an abysmal show, though it doesn't take a whole lot of motivation to get me to look for something else at 8:00 on Friday evenings. I tend to agree with people on the message boards for this show who are critical of the dialogue, writing and acting.

However, the same approach was done much better nearly ten years ago, in "The Burning Zone". That show had more drama, more tension, better suspense and less predictability. To add to the mix, there were hints of an overall hidden agenda a la "X-Files". Alas, since that show was good and it was on UPN, it only ran for one season. (A rule of thumb - if you have a bad show, pitch it to UPN and it'll get on the air; if you have a good show, pitch it to UPN and it'll be canceled after one season or less.) In any case, give Medical Investigation another season to settle in and it might mature into a show that can draw viewers from alternatives. If not, I don't give it a favorable prognosis.

Whilst this series can be fast pace and interesting, the format for each episode is very predictable. It starts off with a larger than normal number of deaths from an unknown cause, then more deaths or instances. Then "commonalities" are tracked down and then the disease is treated. The lead character is always on the phone walking somewhere - whether it is on a beach when treating an outbreak on an island, or up and down hospital corridors. I think the concept is good for a one-off movie, but not a TV series. Then the concept of emergency and the lack of time is fairly loose as in a recent episode where there was no time to obtain a court order, but then they found time to get one, and also perform a DNA test.

Always enjoy the great acting talents of Neal McDonough,(Dr. Stephen Connor),"Boomtown,TV Series,'02, who never seems to stop for a breath of fresh air trying to solve the reason for an illness that causes patients to get BLUE! Kelli Williams,(Dr. Natalie Durant),"It's a Shame About Ray,",2000, who gives a great supporting role. This new series looks like a great success and should give plenty of entertainment, this hour show simply flew BYE! I found out that a mixture of Salt Peter and regular salt can cause plenty of trouble. There was lots of fast action with a gal with very sexy legs and a news reporter who got in the wrong place at the right time.