The world of medical TV shows is often filled with beautiful people swooping in to perform dangerous and daring operations while going from a rare condition to office romance. That’s not “Street. Doctor Denis.” NBC’s latest comedy is more likely to feature two nurses fighting over a chocolate bar than pulling off a medical miracle.

“Part of the genesis of this show was talking about what the day-to-day life of a non-beautiful ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ or ‘ER’ is,” executive producer Justin Spitzer told TheWrap during the Association’s 2024 summer tour. of Television Critics.

For showrunner and EP Eric Ledgin, the true heart of the series came to light when talking to a “friend of a friend” doctor. In the doctor’s hospital there was a surgeon who performed bad surgeries and endangered patients. So the staff came together and worked to fire this problematic surgeon.

“After that, the director of the hospital came and said, ‘Okay, well, he was making a lot, so we’re going to have to make up for that somehow.’ It was that moment where I thought, ‘Oh yeah, these are businesses,'” Ledgin told TheWrap. “There are these people who are doing this work that may have started as a vocation, or something they are passionate about, but it has become a job, like all jobs. They still face the manor whatever you want to call it, who is at the top trying to run a company.”

That is the basic premise of “St. Denis Medical,” a mockumentary about the workers at an underfunded Oregon hospital. The ensemble largely revolves around the empathetic, if not a little frazzled, Alex (Allison Tolman), who constantly clashes with her cynical mentor Ron (David Alan Grier) and the hospital’s CEO, Joyce (Wendi McLendon-Covey). ). Add in cocky trauma surgeon Bruce (Josh Lawson), clueless rookie Matt (Mekki Leeper), confident travel nurse with a wild side Serena (Kahyun Kim), and no-nonsense administrator Val (Kaliko Kauahi), and you’ve got the makings of a classic sitcom.

“Most nurses, especially those who work in the emergency department, will tell you that they are fun people. They have to be; You’re in the trenches. It’s that dark humor,” Ledgin said. “That’s something you miss in a lot of those dramatic medical shows, although I like them, that seemed ripe for a comedy.”

Although Ledgin described the casting process as “very tense,” they knew they had found their Alex after Tolman’s audition via Zoom. The two came to the audition as fans of Tolman’s work, especially “Fargo.” For a while, they even tried to include it in “Superstore,” which Spitzer created and Ledgin executive produced, but it never worked out. Both EPs noted that Tolman is excellent at both comedy and drama, a necessary balance when making a mockumentary about such important topics as death and the worst day of someone’s life.

“She reminds me of America (Ferrera) in ‘Superstore’ a lot of times,” Spitzer said.

“Especially in a mockumentary, there is something in his eyes when he looks at the camera that you zoom in on. You’re just there with her,” Ledgin said. “That’s weird.”

As the series continues, it will follow the familiar beats that viewers have come to expect from any confident sitcom. Strange couples will emerge. There will be unexpected deep dives into the characters’ surprising personal lives and sight gags, albeit with more gore than usual. But as much as the team behind “St. Denis Medical” worked to make his series as sharp and fun as possible, and also strove to make it an accurate reflection of the everyday challenges faced by modern healthcare workers. The team did everything from watching documentaries and reading books about the medical industry to talking to “everyone” they knew who had a doctor or nurse as a friend.

“There were a lot of people who were generously open with their frustrations, their joys, their stories,” Ledgin said. “Partly because it’s a mockumentary format, we try to be as real as possible while still being an entertaining television show.”

St. Denis Medical” airs Tuesdays at 8 pm ET/PT on NBC and the next day on Peacock.