Three Rivers

Oh, I like this show very much. I am a fan of hospital shows and like to see how modern medicine can cure people. I like it that it that it does not revolve around the animal sex drives of the doctors and hospital staff like Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.

I do however disagree with how they represent the way organs are procured.

First of all, organs are very rarely every procured as fast as they portray and also the donor and recipient NEVER know each other.

How do I know this? I had cornea transplants in 1980 and 1982. I had to wait 6 months for a donor on the 1st eye and 5 months on the 2nd almost loosing my eyesight both times.

I was NEVER told who my donors were. A party to introduce donor families and recipients??? No way! Simply unheard of and illegal, at least in my state.

I have been president of the board of directors for my state eye bank and on that board for 4 years. I even do on Pony Express runs getting donated eyes to people who need them in a hurry and they will not even let ME find out who my donors were, even after all these years.

I have NO access to the list. Today, I see 20/30 and 20/25 thanks to my donors.

Love the show, just not entirely realistic in some areas.

In Pittsburgh, Three Rivers is the best transplant hospital. Dr. Andy Yablonski (Alex O'Loughlin) is the leader of the transplant team. Dr. Miranda Foster (Katherine Moennig) has daddy issues who is a legend at the hospital. Dr. David Lee (Daniel Henney) is the ladies' man. Ryan Abbott (Christopher J. Hanke) is the new assistant transplant coordinator. Dr. Sophia Jordan (Alfre Woodard) is the head of the department. Pam Acosta (Justina Machado) is Andy's assistant. Dr. Lisa Reed (Amber Clayton) is also a member of the team.

This CBS medical show didn't last long and really didn't have a chance to develop their characters. O'Loughlin plays a very similar note over and over again. He's the only one that I do remember from the cast. The most memorable aspect that I remember from its first airing is the overuse of CGI in a desperate attempt to modernize the show ER which went off the air the previous season. It's a lot of high-tech flash and noise which distracts from the characters themselves. The premise has potential but it is a more specific medical procedural which limits the scope of the stories being told.

I'm writing this post-mortem...the last original episode ran last weekend. The idea of a medical series about organ transplantation told from different viewpoints (doctors, patients, organ donors, etc.) really appealed to me because I've willed my body for medical research. After I go, my body gets turned over to a medical school! Originally I had signed for organ donation but some technical difficulties (a positive diagnosis for hepatitis B that later turned out to be false) forced me to change plans to whole body donation. This is something I have recommended to everybody who, for one reason or another, can't donate organs. Back to the series...this was a great series with great story lines (dedicated doctors, a person designated to get the organ/organs to be donated, the hospital administration, etc.) and a great cast(Alex O'Loughlin, Alfre Woodard, Katherine Moennig, etc...it deserved more of a chance than it got!! There seem to be indications in other reviews that CBS has been trying to create a series just for Alex O'Loughlin and/or that he can't act...he's just a handsome face!! What I seem to see is that he is from the Tom Selleck/James Garner/Gary Cooper acting school...he's just being himself! The running subplot of how Dr. Yablonski got through medical school (his uncle paid for college with what appeared to be "dirty" money) was also interesting. CBS should've tried this series on another night to see if it could build an audience or stuck with it on Sundays. CBS did that before with other series (Cold Case, also R.I.P.) but couldn't with this one...???!!!

What a turkey! I adore Alex O'Loughlin. Loved him in Moonlight as Mick St. John. But this show is so dull and lackluster. I don't expect it last more than few weeks at best. Sorry Alex. Its pretty bad IMO.

Its not the right format for him. Maybe a vampire surgeon would be more interesting? CBS, don't try to steal House M.D.'s thunder.

Alex could be a major breakout star with the right vehicle, but this isn't it! So far, the biggest drawback to both his series, is they try to be too flashy and stylish in their production values. Go back to the drawing board please. Alex deserves better than being given this crap to star in!

Ahh yes it's review time and everyone's a buzzing. To start off getting Katherine Moennig to do this drama was brilliant, because in case every other series missed the memo the L word only did as good as they did because of her, also the love for Daniel Helley is self apparent.

Now onto the show, yes it's medical drama and of course as soon as that's said all the other shows spring to mind but wait! It really is different I promise... in this show we have the patients dying, people fighting over their organs, and of course a very young and eager intern running around hoping to deliver the organs first, sooo its kind of like a tom and jerry cartoon but instead a TV drama. Overall with this kind of cast makeup and the direction of the show I can see it going places.

Until next review, where we show how baby kittens can kill you in your sleep.. just kidding, nice job CBS. 10/10