Is There a Doctor in the House?

Is There a Doctor in the House?

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her, Doctor. She just started coughing and passed out. I called 911 and we came here to the ER. You gotta help her Doctor. She’s only 9 years old, and…..”

And so might start an episode of next year's new hospital drama. Personally, I can’t wait. I’ve been a fan of medical drama since before television, and TV has just improved on the genre. Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, St. Elsewhere, Scrubs, House, Grey’s Anatomy--I’ve suffered the travails, heart breaks, heart transplants, medical miracles, loves, jealousies, and broken limbs and broken promises of them all.

If you too have enjoyed being immersed in the blood and drama of hospital care and the emotional ups and downs of the personal and professional lives of the staff and patients of Grey’s Anatomy and the others, then you are going to love “New Amsterdam”. Set, where else, New York City, which once was New Amsterdam, thus the title.

Bingers are in luck. There are three seasons available for streaming. I am still in season one streaming free on Peacock, but Google tells me it can also be found on NBC.com. It is based on “Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital”, by Eric Manheimer, though far more than twelve patients make up the patient load at New Amsterdam.

You gotta like Dr. Max Goodwin, the lead character, a guy gutsy enough to fire all his doctors of coronary care en masse on his first day on the job as the new Medical Director of the hospital. He was hired to resuscitate the old, apparently failing, public hospital. He asks, “What can I do for you?” to a wary staff, who are amazed and pleased when they discover he means it. The psychologist asks for better food in the hospital, and he turns the hospital lobby into essentially a fruit market.

Of course, he has problems of his own. His pregnant wife, a high powered successful professional in her own right, is unhappy that her competition, the hospital, appears to warrant more of his attention than does she. And his boss, the guy who hired him, would like him to spend more time catering to potential donors. He even has his own medical secret that everyone is going to have to deal with, but I’ll let you discover what it is for yourself.

There's plenty of sexual tension between staff, surprising relationships and motivations, extraordinary diagnostic leaps, budget problems, patient problems, staff problems, you know, like five years of life compressed into a single episode. But because it is streaming, if you can stay awake for just one or two more episodes, you can see how they resolve all these problems.

Casting is excellent with good acting and direction. All together a well produced engaging production that you will not regret getting caught up in. The show features many likeable characters, both on the staff and the never ending deluge of patients deserving of your empathy and sympathy, and with whom you may identify. You will definitely be introduced to characters that remind you of people you know or have known or would like to know.

If there are any places where it drags, I have yet to encounter them. There are lots of stories, and stories within stories. Lots of medical conundrums that you, as an engaged viewer, will have to help the cast unravel and resolve. Medical care has never been in better hands. And our role in this is to get comfortable on the couch, have snacks and a drink within reach, and fresh batteries in the remote.

I can handle that. You can too!