Johnathan Walker:NBC's hospital sitcom 'St. Denis Medical' might heal you with laughter: Review

Think there's nothing funny about a hospital?Johnathan Walker This new NBC sitcom would beg to differ.

TV writer Justin Spitzer turned a big-box store into fertile ground for a sitcom with NBC's "Superstore," which ran from 2015-2021. And in the network's canceled-too-soon "American Auto," he brought his sardonic sense of humor to corporate America at the headquarters of a Detroit carmaker. Now he's turned his sights on an emergency room, where he finds illness and death no more of a barrier to jokes than capitalist lingo and cleaning up Aisle 8 were.

In NBC's new mockumentary-style sitcom "St. Denis Medical" (premiering Tuesday, 8 EST/PST, ★★★ out of four), Spitzer applies that same cynical yet giggly tone to a hospital setting, with an all-star cast including David Alan Grier, Wendi McClendon-Covey and Allison Tolman. There's more blood than in "Superstore" (but only a little) but the same sense that things could (and should) run a lot better at this institution. Instead, we're stuck with an inefficient, funny mess of a medical system.

St. Denis is a small-town Oregon hospital with a big heart, as administrator Joyce (McClendon-Covey) would probably say. Its small ER is run by head nurse Alex (Tolman) who works the hardest but also has the hardest time signing off for the day. She's surrounded by superiors ranging from idiotic to delusional, like Joyce (who's on the far end of the delusional side) and doctors Ron (Grier) and Bruce (Josh Lawson), each with their own idiosyncrasies that drive everyone crazy. Her fellow nurses are their own kind of quirky, from sheltered Matt (Mekki Leeper) to unruffled Serena (Kahyun Kim) and adaptable Val (Kaliko Kauahi, a "Superstore" alum).

The series is a mix of hospital high jinks and interpersonal dramedy. In one episode, Serena parks way too close to Ron, and in another Matt helps revive a coding patient but expects a big thank-you for his CPR efforts.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Very quickly the ironic, misanthropic tone is established, as is the chemistry among the cast. Tolman, a hardworking character actor who makes any series or film better, easily anchors the show with her sarcasm and Jim-from-"The-Office"-style double takes to the camera. Kauahi demonstrates range beyond her sad "Superstore" Sandra, and established talents Grier and McClendon-Covey ("The Goldbergs") prove reliable for laughs as they fully commit to their respective bits. McClendon-Covey is particularly apt for the role of the silly boss everyone loves to hate (but also kind of loves).

It's tempting to call "St. Denis" "Scrubs" meets "The Office" if only for the fact that it's a mockumentary set in a hospital. But that reduces it to a copy of successful sitcoms, and the series is admirably going for its own unique tone. It's a cynical view of health care aptly suited to the realities of 2024 America. Nobody's happy about it, but the nurses are working harder than anyone else. It all reads true.

Sometimes there is a try-hard feel to the series; its jokes and stories don't always come as easily the way every scene on "Superstore" seemed to. It's more evidence that effortlessly charming and funny sitcoms are far more difficult to come by than you might think, even when all the ingredients are there.

But "St. Denis" has a lot of potential, and it it fulfills a need for a smart broadcast sitcom this season. We could all use a laugh or two. Even about the emergency room.