Color me somewhat impressed that the 2024 TV schedule will soon feature both a brand new found-footage horror TV show in Shudder’s The Creep Tapes and a brand new network mockumentary comedy in St. Denis Medical. The latter, from Superstore’s creator Justin Spitzer and writer/producer Eric Ledgin, takes viewers into the hectic and hyperbolic daily life of the the titular establishment’s staff, as led by The Goldbergs vet Wendi McLendon-Covey’s ambition-driven executive director Joyce.
St. Denis Medical initial production and debut plans were thwarted by the 2023 Hollywood strikes, and so I’m all the more pleased to see that the show has already proven itself to be worth the wait. It boasts one of the small screen’s most impressive ensembles, including Fargo alum Allison Tolman as Alex, arguably the most grounded person within the hospital chaos, and Sex Lives of College Girls’ Mekki Leeper as new RN recruit Matt, who’s been heavily sheltered due to a hyper-religious background.
While it admittedly took half of the pilot’s runtime for me to fully suspend my disbelief enough to watch St. Denis Medical without questioning the logistics of literally everything that happens, it was off to the (leg b)races after that. After just two episodes, the freshman comedy obviously isn’t up to the par set by modern TV classics like The Office, Parks & Rec or What We Do in the Shadows, but there are definitely two elements about St. Denis that will keep me watching each and every week.
David Alan Grier, Who's Hilariously Perfect As The Skillful But Uninspired Dr. Ron
Like many comedy fans, I’ve been laughing my ass off at David Alan Grier since the glory days of In Living Color, one of the best sketch series of all time. He’s the kind of talent who gives every project an extra spark, whether he’s popping up in A Black Lady Sketch Show for wacky cameos or helping guide the story in The Patient or sharing the screen with other comedy legends in The Cool Kids.
To be expected, Grier brings all that experience and skill to the role of Dr. Ron, an emergency physician who’s lost a bit of his inspirational mojo due to the repetitive daily grind, and is largely just going through the motions. Thankfully, his curmudgeonly ways don’t overwhelm his benevolent nature and turn him into a crappy doctor or anything, and he also isn’t so surly that he can’t serve as a pillar of support for his colleagues.
Not that he’s altogether perfect, with Episode 2 shining a light on what some may see are archaic views about dating older women, but Ron’s minor evolution in that sense hints that we could see legitimate growth from these characters even as they’re making us laugh. I’d be fine with watching David Alan Grier just sitting at a desk and responding to things with ample and perfectly delivered snark, so anything more is bonus.
Josh Lawson, Whose Dr. Bruce Earned At Least A Chuckle With Every Single Scene
While Grier’s Dr. Ron comes across as one of the more relatable staff members at St. Denis Medical that could feasibly exist in real life, Josh Lawson’s trauma surgeon Dr. Bruce is unmistakably cut from TV character cloth. Right down to the idea that he sets himself up to be something of the biggest hero and savior within the hospital, all under the guise of selflessness and passion for the job. It’d be so easy for this dude to be the WORST, and yet…
Josh Lawson has been excellent in plenty of projects at this point, perhaps most notably in Superstore and House of Lies, but Dr. Bruce seems like it was fated for him since the beginning of scripted storytelling. His bright-eyed smile is warm and welcoming, and if one doesn’t actually listen to what he’s saying, the character does indeed seem to be oozing good-guy charm. But as soon as he opens his mouth and makes his intention evident, all that perceived goodwill hilariously flies back in his face.
It’s the same oblivious pride and bravado that helped make characters like Steve Carell’s Michael Scott and the It’s Always Sunny gang endlessly rewatchable, though Bruce himself isn’t quite so self-sabotaging as those others, at least not yet. But his arrogance does provide some superbly insipid anecdotes and seemingly every attempt to impress others is botched by a lack of general awareness. And it all just slides right off his back as he grins and moves on to his next side-splitting failure.
St. Denis Medical airs Tuesday nights on NBC at 8:00 p.m., and will be the lead-in for Melissa Rauch’s Night Court, which changed timeslots for Season 3.New episodes will also be available to stream the next day with a Peacock subscription.
