I happened to be watching CBS's new medical drama "Miami Medical" and I wondered why it wasn't very good. I mean, the cast is attractive, the sets are inspired by "CSI Miami," filled with glass walls and sunshine. So why was I so bored, compared to classic medical dramas of the past like E.R. or St. Elsewhere?
I think it's that the cast is so small. There are ONLY five cast members in the opening credits. One middle-aged doctor/instructor with a British accent, one young stud doctor, two women (one bold, one shy) and one African-American doctor. That's it. Everything that happens has to happen to them. We don't know any of the support staff, no nurses, no techs, no administrators, no orderlies.
What happened to the cast size? On ER, we got to know the background stories of not just MANY doctors, but all the other people who run a hospital... even the EMTs who transport the patients to the Emergency Room. In two cases they became romantically involved with major cast members. Same with St. Elsewhere. There were THREE administrators in the opening credits, about 7 or 8 young doctors, a nurse and an orderly.
Even though Miami Medical has one African-American doctor, anyone who's been to a modern urban hospital recently knows that it's a United Nations of different professionals... and probably more so in Miami. But the cast at Miami Medical could be working at Boise Medical.
And even the guest cast was small. A husband and wife who both suffered injuries when a balcony collapsed and a worker who was also injured and turned out to be deaf. Wouldn't ER and St. Elsewhere have many more patients and other people intersecting the lives of the principal cast members?
Please don't say it's an economic move to limit cast size and guest roles. Having a hit show can still make or break a multi-million dollar network. Major hour-long dramas seem to spare no expense for explosions, elaborate sets, other costs. If the show's cast and guest roster is so small we only have a few stories going on at one time, all those expenses are spent in vain.
Let's remember CBS tried another medical drama only a few months ago, Three Rivers. It had a lot of promise. Alex O'Loughlin is a hot actor. (He's now in the new Jennifer Lopez comedy with numerous shots of O'Loughlin shirtless in the commercials.) It had multi-Emmy winner Alfre Woodard as O'Loughlin's supervisor plus three or four other cast members. So why did it die? Again, was the cast and guest roster so small that not much happened each week... or it all had to happen to O'Loughlin, Woodard or the three other cast members?
How much loss did CBS suffer when Three Rivers failed to catch an audience?
Watch American Life Network some night and count how many actors are named in the opening credits of Hill Street Blues. It's either 13 or 14, all with their own quirks, back stories and charm.
Gregg
[email protected]
I think it's that the cast is so small. There are ONLY five cast members in the opening credits. One middle-aged doctor/instructor with a British accent, one young stud doctor, two women (one bold, one shy) and one African-American doctor. That's it. Everything that happens has to happen to them. We don't know any of the support staff, no nurses, no techs, no administrators, no orderlies.
What happened to the cast size? On ER, we got to know the background stories of not just MANY doctors, but all the other people who run a hospital... even the EMTs who transport the patients to the Emergency Room. In two cases they became romantically involved with major cast members. Same with St. Elsewhere. There were THREE administrators in the opening credits, about 7 or 8 young doctors, a nurse and an orderly.
Even though Miami Medical has one African-American doctor, anyone who's been to a modern urban hospital recently knows that it's a United Nations of different professionals... and probably more so in Miami. But the cast at Miami Medical could be working at Boise Medical.
And even the guest cast was small. A husband and wife who both suffered injuries when a balcony collapsed and a worker who was also injured and turned out to be deaf. Wouldn't ER and St. Elsewhere have many more patients and other people intersecting the lives of the principal cast members?
Please don't say it's an economic move to limit cast size and guest roles. Having a hit show can still make or break a multi-million dollar network. Major hour-long dramas seem to spare no expense for explosions, elaborate sets, other costs. If the show's cast and guest roster is so small we only have a few stories going on at one time, all those expenses are spent in vain.
Let's remember CBS tried another medical drama only a few months ago, Three Rivers. It had a lot of promise. Alex O'Loughlin is a hot actor. (He's now in the new Jennifer Lopez comedy with numerous shots of O'Loughlin shirtless in the commercials.) It had multi-Emmy winner Alfre Woodard as O'Loughlin's supervisor plus three or four other cast members. So why did it die? Again, was the cast and guest roster so small that not much happened each week... or it all had to happen to O'Loughlin, Woodard or the three other cast members?
How much loss did CBS suffer when Three Rivers failed to catch an audience?
Watch American Life Network some night and count how many actors are named in the opening credits of Hill Street Blues. It's either 13 or 14, all with their own quirks, back stories and charm.
Gregg
[email protected]
