medical drama
A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the characters' jobs and portray som ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
created by
Liz Heldens
Elizabeth Heldens is a television writer and producer. She is the creator of ''Deception'', a drama on NBC which premiered on January 7, 2013. She has worked on the NBC drama series '' Friday Night Lights''. She was nominated for a Writers Gui ...
, which aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
from September 23, 2009, to May 12, 2010. The series initially aired on Wednesday at 8:00 pm (ET), as part of the 2009 fall season, but was pushed back to 9:00 pm in April.
On October 23, 2009, ''Mercy'' was picked up for a full 22-episode first season. On May 14, 2010, NBC cancelled the series after one season.
Plot
''Mercy'' is an ensemble drama set in the fictional Mercy Hospital in
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Taylor Schilling
Taylor Jane Schilling (born July 27, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Piper Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she received a nomination for the Pr ...
) is a nurse who has just returned from a tour of duty in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, while Sonia Jimenez ( Jaime Lee Kirchner), her best friend, has become seriously involved with a
police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
, and Chloe Payne ( Michelle Trachtenberg) is a recent nursing graduate who is thrown into the world of nursing and is unprepared for what it entails.
Cast
Main
*
Taylor Schilling
Taylor Jane Schilling (born July 27, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Piper Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she received a nomination for the Pr ...
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo (born 18 November 1952) is an English-American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a NAACP Image Award, a Satellite Award, and nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Tony Award, two Critics' C ...
Michael Chernus
Michael Louis Chernus (born August 8, 1977) is an American actor. He has acted on film, television, and the stage. He is perhaps best known for his role as Cal Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013 ...
as Ryan Flanagan
* Patch Darragh as Tim Flanagan
* Johnny Hopkins as Bobby Flanagan
* Charlie Semine as Nick Valentino
* K.K. Moggie as Dr. Gillian Jelani
* Margo Martindale as Helen Klowden
* Jill Flint as Simone Sands
*
James Van Der Beek
James William Van Der Beek (; born March 8, 1977) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery in the WB series ''Dawson's Creek'' and Johnny "Mox" Moxon in '' Varsity Blues'' (1999). He played a fictionalized version of h ...
as Dr. Joe Briggs, new Chief of the ICU
*
Mary Stuart Masterson
Mary Stuart Masterson (born June 28, 1966) is an American actress and director. She has starred in the films '' At Close Range'' (1986), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), '' Chances Are'' (1989), ''Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and '' Benny & ...
as Dr. Denise Cabe
*
Kelly Bishop
Carole "Kelly" Bishop (born February 28, 1944) is an American actress and dancer, best known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series ''Gilmore Girls'' and as Marjorie Houseman, the mother of Jennifer Grey's Frances "Baby" Housema ...
as Lauren Kempton
Development and production
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
producer Jim Bigwood selected the warehouse at 10 Enterprise Avenue in
Secaucus, New Jersey
Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,Weehawken, New Jersey
Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.
. The production left New Jersey for New York in 2010, however, when New Jersey Governor
Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018.
Christie, who was born in N ...
suspended the tax credits for film and television production for the fiscal year 2011 to close budget gaps.Wright, E. Assata. "Getting the film crews back to NJ", ''
Hudson Reporter
''The Hudson Reporter'' is a newspaper chain based in Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Hudson Reporter'' publications mainly focus on local politics and community news. The oldest newspaper in the chain is the ''Hoboken Reporter'', founded in 1983. ...
'', February 13, 2011
Some interior shots for the show were filmed in the unused
Barnert Hospital
Barnert Hospital was a 236-bed hospital at 680 Broadway in the Eastside section of Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Passaic
Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69, ...
. Exterior shots of Mercy Hospital were taken of the back side of a public school on 4th street (between Newark Ave. and Colgate St.) in
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.South Amboy, New Jersey. The interior shots of the Saloon were filmed at Ted's Bar in the Morgan area of
Sayreville, New Jersey
Sayreville is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. Sayreville is within the heart of the Raritan Valley region, located on the south banks of the Raritan River, and also located on the Raritan Bay. As of the 2010 United St ...
.
''Mercy'' was originally slated to begin midseason, but was moved to the fall after the premiere of '' Parenthood'' was pushed to 2010 due to production issues.
Episodes
Critical reception
''Mercy'' received a score of 41 of 100 from the review aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, and received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Matthew Gilbert, from ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', referred to the show as "a bunch of played-out hospital clichés" and said it "follows the hospital melodrama blueprint way too closely." Similarly, a review in ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'' calls the show "just another hospital soap opera" and "a lethal cocktail of virtually every medical drama ever seen on TV". Matt Roush of ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news.
The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008.
Corporat ...
'' wrote "Nurses deserve better than this ludicrous potboiler". Several critics have referred to ''Mercy'' as a weak copy of Showtime's ''
Nurse Jackie
''Nurse Jackie'' is an American medical comedy-drama television series. It premiered on Showtime on June 8, 2009, and its seventh and final season premiered on April 12, 2015. The series finale aired on June 28, 2015.
The show stars Edie Fal ...
''.
The show's writing has been criticized as "twisting itself into a pretzel to provide ironies," and a review by Maureen Ryan of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' states that "all the characters are so thinly drawn." In a review in the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...
'', Rob Owen said the show "hits viewers over the head with its thesis statement that nurses are under-appreciated." Robert Bianco from ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' stated that "remarkably good actors regoing to waste here."
On the positive side, in a review in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'', Rachel Ray found the show "utterly enjoyable" and "marvelous television", while praising the "clicking pace, real-person dialogue, excellent writing, a fresh story line, and thoughtful acting". (Although the review was for a UK paper's online edition, the series did not air on British TV.) Noting an effort by NBC to find a replacement for the former standout '' ER'', David Hinckley, from the ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...
'', favorably compared the two shows and stated that ''Mercy'' "comes the closest yet to capturing that chemistry."