Ever since The U.S. remake of The Office, NBC has been airing some great mocumentary-style comedies. One of the latest is hospital-set sitcom St. Denis Medical. The series comes from creators Justin Spitzer (The Office, Superstore, American Auto) and Eric Ledgin (American Auto, Superstore, The Pete Holmes Show), and follows the doctors and nurses who work in the underfunded Emergency Department of the small Oregon-based regional hospital St. Denis Regional Medical Center.
Much like other mockumentary-style comedies, it’s not really stated who is filming this staff or why, but the characters know they are being recorded, and often break the fourth wall, speaking directly to the camera. However, unlike The Office, these comments aren’t done in a private confessional. They do so right on the job, from their workstations, offices or patient’s rooms.
The St. Denis Emergency Department is filled with all kinds of wacky and offbeat characters. In charge is Executive Director Joyce Henderson (Wendi McLendon-Covey, The Guldbergs). She was an oncologist for 20 years before becoming a hospital administrator. She is now constantly looking for validation and appreciation from her staff as she deals with budget issues, and comes up with wild ways to try to boost staff morale. Supervising Nurse Alex Mazurkian (Allison Tolman, Gaslit, Why Women Kill, Good Girls) was recently given a promotion to a supervising role, but now finds it even harder to maintain a work-life balance. She is married with a husband and kids at home, but is a bit of a workaholic and control freak—she doesn’t always trust the other nurses to do things the right way. Also part of the nursing staff is wild travel nurse Serena Jung (Kahyun Kim, Cocaine Bear, American Gods), who doesn’t seem to have any inhibitions or filters, and quirky admin Nurse Val (Kaliko Kauahi, Superstore), who works the front desk. The newest hire is RN Matt Pearson (Mekki Leeper, Jury Duty, The Sex Lives of College Girls), a wide-eyed and inexperienced young man who grew up in a sheltered religious community in Montana. He’s not the brightest or best when it comes to doing his job, but it’s not for lack of enthusiasm or effort. He is immediately smitten when he meets nurse Serena, and much of the first season finds him struggling to muster up the courage to tell her how he feels. The doctors in the ED include Emergency physician Dr. Ron Leonard (David Alan Grier, Joe Pickett, In Living Color), who has been at St. Denis for decades. This has left him grumpy, divorced and lonely, and a bit of a curmudgeon. Trauma surgeon Dr. Bruce Schweitz (Josh Lawson, Mortal Kombat, The Little Death) is the opposite. He’s cocky, overconfident, and full of himself. Though deep down, he may be overcompensating, still be trying to impress an absentee father.
St. Denis Medical is a hilarious ensemble comedy, with a talented cast that work so well together. You could pair up any of these actors/characters and it turns into comedy gold. The majority of these actors I’ve enjoyed on other shows, so it’s great to see them all working together. I just constantly have a smile while watching this series. The dialogue is great, the characters are put in hilarious situations, and there’s some wonderful physical humor. You can definitely feel the DNA of The Office and Superstore in this series, both in the quirky characters, the witty, rapid-fire writing, the character relationships, and the way it blends heart in with the humor. While there is an ongoing storyline and some episodes build off one another, this is also a series that someone can easily just jump right into and enjoy an episode on its own. Characters and situations can get a bit over-the-top, but ultimately still feel grounded. Several episodes end with some sort of emotional or inspirational speech by one of the characters that just uplifts the spirit of the viewer.
I originally watched the season as it aired on NBC, but it was a lot of fun to be able to binge the episodes again on this Blu-ray release. There are so many fun, laugh-out-loud moments throughout the season. This series easily lends itself to rewatching—it’s hilarious every time! Plus, I’m finding new things—I had totally forgotten that Nurse Brandon (Dan Leahy) appeared in an episode early in the first season—he returns as a regular character in the second season. Throughout the season, there are also some fun recurring characters, such as sarcastic nurse Keith (Dave Theune), Alex’s husband Tim (Kyle Bornheimer) and hospital chaplain Chaplain Steve (Stephen Schneider) and guest stars Mindy Sterling, David Paymer, Lynn Whitfield, Nico Santos, Erinn Hayes, Dee Dee Rescher & Rose Abdoo.
Some of the storylines in the first season include superstitions and a hex on the hospital, Alex encountering resistance from the “Filipino Mafia”, Bruce and Ron battling over a NutRageous candy bar, improving St. Denis’ social media presence, a forced blood drive among the staff, Joyce trying to get in on the office gossip, Joyce selecting an executor for her will, Bruce confronting his high school bully, Alex dealing with bad patient reviews, Joyce pushing the staff to upsell patients on unnecessary medical procedures, an emotional support cat gets loose in the hospital, Joyce hiring a popular internet singer to entertain the patients, Joyce launching a mammogram initiative, a pharmaceutical sales representative visiting the hospital, the annual fundraising gala, a major storm filling the emergency room with patients, and more.
Universal has released this first season of St. Denis Medical on Blu-ray & DVD. We were sent the Blu-ray release for review from AV Entertainment. The video looks stellar, with a crisp, clean picture that captures everything in tremendous detail. I can’t imagine the series looking any better. The audio track is also great, providing clear dialogue throughout, while also making use of the stereo and surround channels to capture the immersive ambiance of the hospital ER room setting. The 18 episodes of the first season are spread across 2 discs, which are placed on either side of a standard Blu-ray keepcase, with the inside of the cover insert listing the contents of each disc. The 20 minutes of bonus material, which is spread across both discs, consists of a set tour, a gag reel and a featurette with the cast. The release does not include any digital copy, and our review copy did not have a slipcover,
What’s Included:
Episodes: (408 min)
- All 18 episodes of season one:
Disc 1: “Welcome to St. Denis”, “A Very Robust Personal Life”, “Weird Stuff You Can’t Explain”, “Salamat You Too”, “A Peanut and Caramel-Filled Miracle”, “Ho-Ho-Hollo”, “50 cc’s of Kindness”, “Gimme the Scuttlebutt”, “You Got to Have a Plan”
Disc 2: “People Just Say Stuff Online”, “Nobody Even Mentions the Brownies!”, “Buffalo Bruce and Matty the Kid”, “Some Famous Internet Guy”, “Listen to Your Ladybugs”, “Sometimes It’s Good to Be Cautious”, “Anything to Push Zaluva”, “Bruce-ic and the Mus-ic”, “This Place Is Our Everything” - 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Subtitles: English SDH
Extras:
- Set Tour (11:34)
Star Mekki Leeper (“Matt”) gives viewers a fun tour of the set on Stage 26 on the Universal lot. He visits the elevator, various offices, the staff and patient rooms, the nurses’ station, and more. He points of what is fake and what is real, and is constantly cracking jokes and sharing fun behind-the-scenes anecdotes. - Gag Reel (6:47)
Laugh along with the cast as they flub and forget lines, make one another laugh, and just have fun on set. - Real Fake Medical Advice (2:31)
The cast give medical advice to problems like what to do for a hangover, for a rash on your foot, for an infected eyebrow piercing, for a stomach flu, and washing your hands.
Final Thoughts:
St. Denis Medical is a hilarious new mockumentary-style NBC comedy. It features a talented comedic cast that work so well together. This is just a really fun workplace comedy that will bring smilaes and make you laugh out loud, but also lift your spirits. They say laughter is the best medicine, and St. Denis Medical is prescribing it in droves. Universal’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, and includes 20 minutes of fun bonus material. This release is an easy recommendation for fans of the series and cast, or anyone just looking for a fun new workplace comedy.
