Nurse Jackie: Another Hit for Showtime?
Or will this new medical drama quickly be put on life support?
It’s not TV or HBO. It’s Showtime.
The battle between HBO and Showtime seemed like a David vs. Goliath affair for years, with the latter’s slingshot perpetually empty.
Now, it is Showtime’s turn to capture the zeitgeist with original offerings like Weeds, Dexter, and The Tudors. All the while HBO trots out noble attempts like The Comeback and John From Cincinnati, two shows which couldn’t hold a candle to the pay channel’s iconic hits like Sex and the City and The Sopranos.
Showtime’s latest salvo hits HBO where it hurts, since it stars Carmela Soprano herself, Emmy winner Edie Falco.
Nurse Jackie, which debuts tonight at 10:30 on Showtime, follows a no-nonsense nurse trying to heal the sick, right the wrongs, and pull off any other noble gesture she can during her endless stream of double shifts. Yes, the world hardly needs another medical drama, but casting someone like Falco as a complicated nurse is enough to chase away most cynical thoughts.
Falco is an unconventional beauty, the kind of actress whose talent somehow can’t transition to the big screen. Or maybe it’s that few screenwriters write the kind of rewarding roles for which she’s uniquely qualified. Like Holly Hunter and Kyra Sedgwick, Falco has decided to make her way via small screen projects. It’s the film industry’s loss, but today’s studios too often look askance at actresses over 40 who aren’t named Streep or Sarandon.
Falco sports a boy-like hairdo in Nurse Jackie, a style completely removed from the New Jersey coif we’ve come to know and love. The series opens with Jackie rationalizing her need to pop pills to make it through another day. From there she correctly diagnoses a patient who comes into the ER with a seemingly minor leg injury. Naturally, the doctor on call (Peter Facinelli of Twilight fame) is too arrogant to consider her opinion, setting the stage for the first episode’s big moral crisis.
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Christian Toto is a freelance writer and film critic for The Washington Times. His work has appeared in People magazine, MovieMaker Magazine, The Denver Post, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and Scripps Howard News Service. He also contributes movie radio commentary to three stations as well as the nationally syndicated Dennis Miller Show and runs the blog What Would Toto Watch?
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13 Comments
1. RandyChandler:Good review, good first episode.
Looks like Showtime has the makings of another fine series, while the best HBO can do these days is a funky soap opera featuring vampires and shape-shifters. It isn’t that “True Blood” is all that bad, but it may be a barometer of where things stand in the premium-channel rivalry — Showtime is brimming with life while HBO is merely undead.
Jun 8, 2009 - 5:08 am 2. keebs:Meh. I’m a nurse. I was a bit turned off by the show opening with her snorting narcotics. It plays into stereo-types. However, even though a day in the life of an ER nurse is certainly interesting, it probably doesn’t carry enough excitement to hold audience attention. Gotta juice it up a bit, as it were.
Jun 8, 2009 - 6:20 am 3. C. Siegel:Keebs is right. I’m a surgical nurse, and I don’t see how Nurse Jackie has time, energy, or noney for those drugs, let alone the concentration and focus to cover her tracks (no pun intended).
But aside from that, the show looks like a lot of fun. I’m sick of medical shows where the doctors do everything everywhere, all the time. Nurses have to manage crisis situations by themselves a lot of the time, and a smart nurse with an attitude may actually do something to improve the image of the profession.
Jun 8, 2009 - 7:23 am 4. Sebastian Shaw:Marvel Comics years ago published a comic book called Night Nurse; is this the unofficial updated television version?
Jun 8, 2009 - 7:56 am 5. Well Educated Cad:Another “Nurse good- Doctor BAD!” show?
Jun 8, 2009 - 11:14 am 6. C. Siegel:Who said “nurse good-doctor bad”? It’s usually “nurse invisible/sexy/servant”.
Jun 8, 2009 - 7:51 pm 7. Well Educated Cad:No shows about male nurses?
Jun 9, 2009 - 2:45 pm 8. C. Siegel:Didn’t see it yet, but I think “Nurse Jackie” has a male nurse. He’s gay. Is this Good For The Profession or not? Depends on how he’s portrayed.
When I was in nursing school, the faculty was REALLY upset about Nurse Ratched. They felt she damaged our Professional Image. We students felt it was kinda Ratched-like to take her so seriously, and used to play “Charmaine” at all our parties.
Jun 9, 2009 - 3:27 pm 9. Derek:Weeds jumped the shark last season but I can’t stop watching it because it’s still so damn funny.
Nurse Jackie had that same cruel wit to it, but I don’t know if I can take watching 2 shows back to back where I hate the main characters. Although Jackie at least has a duality about her that gives her redeeming qualities (something none of the weeds characters, even the kids, have). I dunno, I’ll watch the second episode and see where they go with it.
Jun 9, 2009 - 7:46 pm 10. Tristan Yates:I thought the show definitely had clever writing, but its always hard to draw any conclusions about a series from the first episode.
Jun 10, 2009 - 12:59 pm 11. National Nurses Movement:Nurses are watching this series pretty closely. Is it fair? Accurate? Free of gross clinical errors? Entertaining?
America’s RN union is collecting reviews and opinions by nurses about the show, which we’ll share with the executive producers. If you’re a nurse, drop by RNVoices.net to add your thoughts—we’re running a commercial on HawthoRNe to let RNs know. You can also learn about the national nurses movement and our new legislation for national safe RN-to-patient ratios….
Jun 16, 2009 - 4:20 pm 12. Nanette Hayakawa:Showtime is my favorite and I love the series Nurse Jackie, mostly because its very well written. The acting is next to perfect from each & every one of the actors. I’m not a nurse but I can honestly say that this show is a keeper! I’ll keep watching it until it drops off the planet. Love it! I like to laugh but I also like the seriousness of the series – hats off to everyone involved including the screenwriters! A + keep on going.
Jul 10, 2009 - 1:46 pm 13. nurse humor, nurse jokes, jokes for nurses, humor for nurses:nice article. but are you aware that there is also many nurses humors and jokes? want to know about it? its interesting and fun to read. i hope you will post an article regarding this.
Sep 27, 2009 - 10:14 pm