I would hazard to guess that erstwhile TV titan David E. Kelley would like to add one more major hit to his illustrious resume before throwing in the creative towel.
But I don’t think “Monday Mornings” will do the trick.
That’s not to say that TNT’s new medical drama, executive-produced by Kelley (“Picket Fences,” “The Practice,” Ally McBeal,” “Boston Legal”), doesn’t offer some compelling moments — or take a different thematic tack from its morass of medical-drama predecessors (and, fear not, there will be more of these coming down the TV turnpike — stat!).
It’s just that we’ve seen most of this before, and despite its creative pedigree and a solid cast — fronted by the always reliable Ving Rhames and Alfred Molina — there’s not enough to set “Monday Mornings” apart from “ER,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” et al.
The requisite medical-drama gang’s all here at Portland’s Chelsea General Hospital, including Molina’s prickly chief surgeon — who not only wears the requisite bow tie, but sports an unusual name (Harding Hooten), a weirdly disturbing haircut (methinks a bad toupee?) and wears loud, mismatched socks (all of which are supposed to say something about his personality — I think).
Dr. Hooten’s staff includes the usual types: stern-yet-sagacious trauma chief Dr. Jorge Villanueva (Rhames); hotshot, bestubbled young brain surgeon Dr. Tyler Wilson (Jamie Bamber) and his pal, Dr. Tina Ridgeway (Jennifer Finnigan), who hint at a latent romance (she’s already married); obnoxious Dr. Buck Tierney (Bill Irwin) — again with the weird name; too-aggressive intern Dr. Sydney Napur (Sarayu Rao); and brilliant surgeon Dr. Sung Park (Keong Sim), who’s devoid of “people skills” (we know of course, that he’ll eventually come around).
What I do like about “Monday Mornings,” based on CNN medical chief Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s book, is that — at least in Monday night’s series premiere — it doesn’t sugarcoat the emotional-rollercoaster reality of surgery, where not everything turns out well and not everyone is saved.
And when was the last time you heard a prime-time character — in this case Rhames’ Dr. Villanueva — utter the word “bulls–t” without being bleeped? I know it’s basic cable, but still . . .
I’m also impressed that Kelley et al. spent what must have been beacoup bucks for the rights to play the Rolling Stones hit “Gimme Shelter” over the episode’s final fadeout.
Maybe what “Monday Mornings” lacks in originality will be compensated for in a diagnosis of extreme hipness.
At the very least, you can sing along with it, right?