St. Denis Medical: Paging Dr. Mediocre—Stat!
I walked in hoping for a perfect sitcom chimera—Scrubs’ heart sutured to The Office’s snark. Instead, creator-duo Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin wheel out a mockumentary that flat-lines on arrival, proving that adding talking head confessionals to a hospital doesn’t automatically resuscitate the laughs.
The Paper-Thin Plot
Two sentences? Boom: A cash-strapped rural Oregon hospital scrambles to survive while its oddball staff poke cameras… and each other… in every corridor.
That’s really it. No crashing patient drama, no JD daydreams, just mild workplace chaos you’ve seen a hundred times.
MVP vs. Airlock Material
Super-Nurse Alex (Allison Tolman) is the sturdy heartbeat of the show solid, sympathetic, but starved of real development or charisma spikes. Think Leslie Knope minus the caffeine.
Joyce (Wendi McLendon-Covey), meanwhile, is a Michael Scott cosplay gone wrong; every gag lands with the grace of a bedpan drop.
Themes & Big Flaws
Yes, the writers try to pitch “health-care workers are heroes” and “small town grit,” but every heartfelt beat is under-cut by recycled mock-doc gags. Biggest flaw? It mistakes self-awareness for humor—there’s a reason even the L.A. Times called it “isn’t The Office, at least not yet.” latimes.com
Rewatch Prognosis & Season-Two Shock
Rewatch value? Lower than NBC’s Thursday-night ratings circa 2015. Yet—in the great sitcom irony—a second season’s already on the books because network execs just can’t quit the mockumentary cash cow. nbc.com
Final Verdict
Overall, this show is like a placebo pill—packaged to cure your comedy cravings but delivering nada. If you’re desperate for workplace chuckles, re-stream Superstore or hit that Scrubs rewatch. Otherwise, leave St. Denis Medical in the waiting room and page me when the real laughs show up.
—Slav, probably doom-scrolling while the credits rolled
