New Series Spotlight: Medical Drama "Monday Mornings" Debuts Tonight on TNT

Photo Credit: TNT

Writer/producer David E. Kelley has created several very popular and acclaimed television series, including Ally McBeal, Chicago Hope, The Practice, and perhaps my all-time favorite show, Boston Legal. Kelley's latest series, Monday Mornings, is based on the novel, of the same name, by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who is a practicing neurosurgeon, the chief medical correspondent for CNN, and also serves as co-executive producer on the new show. The title of the series refers to a weekly meeting held at fictional Chelsea General Hospital in Portland, Oregon, where chief of staff Dr. Harding Hooten (Alfred Molina) discusses the morbidity and mortality issues that have recently surfaced and takes his talented staff to task over their professional mistakes and character flaws.

The first three episodes provide a good overview of the characters, including Trauma Chief Jorge Villanueva (Ving Rhames), Dr. Ty Wilson (Jamie Bamber), Dr. Sung Park (Keong Sim), Dr. Sydney Napur (Sarayu Rao), Dr. Tina Ridgeway (Jennifer Finnigan), Dr. Buck Tierney (Bill Irwin) and resident Michelle Robideux (Emily Swallow). The cast is diverse and so are the characters they portray, from the sometimes egotistical, but well meaning, Dr. Wilson, to the socially challenged, but brilliant, Dr. Park. As talented as the team of doctors are, their faults are well known to Dr. Hooten, who attempts to make them better physicians by placing them under a microscope during the Monday morning meetings, where no ego is left unbruised.

The writing is intelligent and character driven and places more of an emphasis on medical issues than potential romantic pairings, which is a positive sign. Since the storylines will focus on mistakes that are made by the doctors, the mortality rate is likely to be high, so the series will need to find a way to balance out the heavy dose of drama that is exhibited in the first three episodes. I enjoyed learning something about each of the characters, who are all far from perfect, but that is what makes them interesting. It is a bit early to comment on the performances, but I will say that Alfred Molina is superb and, so far, is the standout among the talented cast. By the way, fans of Boston Legal will be pleased to know that Tara Summers, who portrayed Katie Lloyd, guest stars in the first two episodes.

Monday Mornings debuts tonight, February 4, at 10:00pm ET, on TNT.