LOS ANGELES 鈥� Medical dramas have been a part of television for decades, shining a light on the men and women who, on a daily basis, make life-and-death decisions. They might have personal lives that are in a state of shambles, but once they start dealing with the sick and dying, they are saviours and saints.
At least, that鈥檚 the way network TV programs have portrayed those in the medical profession 鈥� until now. New Fox drama The Resident reveals that not every doctor or nurse is a candidate for sainthood, mistakes happen that can lead to dire consequences and, sometimes, veteran doctors aren鈥檛 just valuable sources of knowledge, but can also be as deadly as any virus.
The Resident co-creator and executive producer, Amy Holden Jones, plus executive producers Antoine Fuqua and Todd Harthan, want the series to be about showing both sides of what happens in a hospital.
鈥淭his show has a balance, and I think what we are trying to do most of all is do something no other medical show does,鈥� Jones says. 鈥淲e are trying to show things that you and the general audience don鈥檛 know about what goes on in hospitals, partially so you can protect yourself and partially because we are tired of seeing the same thing that every show on television is doing, at least on network television.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty rosy, in my opinion, on network television. And we have a balance. Every episode has a problem in medicine. It has some spectacular, heroic saves. It has comedic runners. It鈥檚 not really one or the other. It鈥檚 trying to draw more from real life than you鈥檝e seen for a while on a medical show.鈥�
The idea of a medical show breaking the mould is new, but the team behind the show knows TV genres have modified over the years, especially those dealing with crime and punishment. Jones says changes to the medical TV show blueprint should be accepted by viewers because police and medical dramas have a deep link.
鈥淒octors and cops are who you go to when your life is really on the line. You may need them to save your life. And in cop shows, they began showing us quite some time ago that it can be an ambiguous thing to have an encounter with a cop,鈥� Jones says.
鈥淭hat has never been shown in network medical shows, or very seldom been shown. It was more shown perhaps in the days of ER than it has been in the recent years, and so we are trying to show you the more real complexity of what goes on in medicine today.鈥�
In the series opener of The Resident, an idealistic Devon Pravesh (Manish Dayal) faces the harsh realities of medical care when third-year resident Conrad Hawkins (Matt Czuchry) takes him under his wing to teach his unconventional methods for treating patients. Meanwhile, Conrad is in a constant battle with the chief of surgery, Dr. Solomon Bell (Bruce Greenwood), who uses power and intimidation to cover up his mistakes.
Greenwood isn鈥檛 certain how this will all play out in the series for Bell. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a moving target for the people who want to bring him down because he鈥檚 reached his best-by day.
But he鈥檚 also a moving target for himself because, as his faculties begin to diminish, it鈥檚 hard enough to recognize, never mind admit, that you鈥檙e going to have to redefine yourself,鈥� Greenwood says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 in the process of trying to redefine himself, and that obscures his ability to pinpoint when he鈥檚 crossed the line.
鈥淚n terms of the ethical boundaries that he crosses, that鈥檚 the kind of myopia that you can fall into when you鈥檙e trying to defend yourself against something that鈥檚 coming from both sides that you can鈥檛 quite identify.鈥�
The Resident premi猫res at 7 tonight on Fox, then moves to a regular time of 9 p.m. Mondays.
