Getting On

All around, excellent. The writing and the amazing Laurie Metcalf, Alex Borstein, Mel Rodriguez and Niecy Nash combine their talents to make this this dark, often hilarious HBO comedy succeed. It takes place in a dysfunctional seniors ward at a big city hospital. The supporting cast is also great (look for Ann Guilbert and June Squibb as two of the many beleaguered patients). Molly Shannon and Jean Smart also make funny cameos.

I'm not sure why this series, which was adapted from an English program, only ran three seasons. Too bad. We wanted more.

Intelligent , insightful , character-driven comedy. Reno 911 veteran Neicy Nash plays a down-to-earth nurse who just started a new job at an elderly skilled nursing wing of a hospital. Alex Borstein (MadTV's "Mrs Swan") is brilliant as her romantically and professionally insecure mentor. And then there's Lori Metcalf, sinking her teeth into a juicy comic role deserving of her talents. She plays a high strung doctor who feels slighted at having to spend part of her work week assigned to the ward. On the bright side, it does give her access to many feces samples, which she collects obsessively, to be used in her ground-breaking poop-categorizing research study. The script is brilliant, chock full of outrageously funny lines that slip by if you don't pay close attention, but also smartly slowing down for a few moments of genuine emotion (Nash is especially nifty in these.) The laughs come so fast and frequent that you're not quite sure how serious to take the dramatic passages. But that tension is handled deftly, both in the writing and the performances. I've only seen the first two episodes, and I am counting the minutes til episode 3. This is going to be a fun ride.

If you are looking for Glitz and Glam, forget it.

If you appreciate the absurdity of every day living, you have found your home.

I adore Nurse Jackie, as the former poster noted that she liked, however if you can polish off that sheen you might find something that at least looks like real life here.

Easy to make exciting traumatic moments; it's a bit harder to convey the strength of emotion that stretches out when someone takes more than an episode to die.

I am believer of reality vs. fiction, and as quirky "Getting On" is, it is heads and shoulders above Nurse Jackie in realism. What a fantastic balance "Getting On" has struck.

It has a quiet "emergency"!

I rarely contribute reviews. I felt compelled to add to the (mere!) 11 reviews posted.

This show is such a gem. It is genuinely funny, the cast is spot-on stellar, and it has a a heartfelt center (without being sentimental). Niecy Nash is a stand-out. She steels many of her scenes. I only know Alex Borstein from MadTV and family guy; she surprises here with really great acting chops. Her dead-pan delivery takes the humor up a level. Laurie Metcald is a hoot as the neurotic doctor. Her characterization is eerily cemented in reality (unfortunately).

I can't recommend this enough. I hope it gets a strong following and continues for a few more seasons.

This show is a hit and it is clever and subtle enough for you to laugh and learn at the same time. The actors do a great job and the main doctor, Laurie Metcalf, is pure funny in a way that makes you unsure whether to laugh or go hmm. I love her comedic movement and timing. This show is a sleeper hit and outdoes other shows on HBO. Clever writing disguised as simple lines of conversation always gets me laughing because it doesn't dumb down the audience and makes us feel as if we are in on the inside joke. The cast is fine tuned and believable in their roles. I hop this show gets the credit it deserves. Adapted from a British comedy it is a touch above.