'St. Denis Medical' Boss Talks Mixing Comedy and Medicine in New Sitcom

St. Denis Medical co-creator Eric Ledgin is very aware that a lot of America is still stressed out after the 2024 election, regardless of who they voted for. His new comedy series premieres on NBC a full week after America voted for the 47th president. And after endless commentary from political pundits, continuous vote counting, and pontificating over the future of the country, he's hoping people are ready to just chill out and do one very simple thing: Laugh.

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"I set out purposefully to make a show with the aim of making people laugh in ways that are uniting," Ledgin told Parade in a recent interview ahead of the St. Denis Medical premiere. "It's not like I did that for any political reason. It's just the kind of show that I like to watch."

"I don't like to think about politics and what side I'm on or preaching to people while I write comedy," he continued. "I don't think that's the way to loosen people up and make them relax and make them laugh. People are giving us their time, and our number one responsibility is to honor that by entertaining them. That is the goal of the show. I believe that the characters in this show are what people are going to get on board with and root for, and it has nothing to do with their opinions on the world at large."

St. Denis Medical is named for the suburban Oregon hospital where it takes place. It cents on Allison Tolman's character Alex, who, in the premiere, has just been promoted to head nurse. She's constantly struggling to find work/life balance, but struggles as unpredictable patients and her eccentric co-workers make it difficult to clock out in time.

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The friction between frontline workers like Alex and the administration of the hospital is where Ledgin aims to find the comedy to endear viewers to his show and these characters. However, the setting of the show means that St. Denis will have to balance comedy and the unavoidable drama of being in life-or-death medical situations.

"It was something that I was excited for," he said. "I remember from my childhood watching a show like Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. There were episodes where it got serious for a minute. I remember as a kid feeling the whiplash of that and being like, 'Whoa, that felt like something.' It was a little out of nowhere and unexpected, and it was powerful.

"I think it would be a total disservice to the reality, especially in a mockumentary, about a hospital if you didn't have moments that sucked. The goal is to find as much comedy as we can find. I did not set out to make a bummer of a show. I kind of welcome those dramatic moments as long as we can treat them respectfully and properly. I hope that when we laugh, we laugh for the right reasons."

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Pulling off the balance between comedy and drama on a show like this requires having talented actors who work on both ends of the dramatic spectrum. St Denis. Medical has put together an all-star team in front of the camera. Aside from Tolman, David Alan Grier plays the veteran and jaded doctor, Ron. Wendi McLendon-Covi plays Joyce, the hospital president. House of Lies alum Josh Lawson plays Bruce, a competitive surgeon who is barely able to hide his raging insecurity complex. They're supported by Kayhun Kim, Kaliko Kauahi, and Mekki Leeper as Alex's nursing staff.

"It's an embarrassment of riches. A lot of it was luck and good timing," Ledgin admitted, though he believes the well-formed characters in the script also helped bring people in. McLendon-Covi, for instance, initially got the script the day after she found out The Goldbergs was ending, so she was ready for work. Similar serendipitous circumstances led to them getting David Alan Grier and Tolman on board.

"It's incredible that we got this cast," Ledgin continued. "I think having Justin Spitzer as my co-creator, he has a record of his own and shows that he's created on his own, and that also helped get people's attention. Susie Faris was our casting director, and she was amazing. The most stressful part of making this show was casting the pilot, just watching hundreds and hundreds of tapes because there were great people available, and I wanted to make the most of it. I am very proud of who we ended up with."

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With the right cast in place and an audience, Ledgin hopes is ready to have a safe space to relax and enjoy themselves, the executive producer is ready to cut into the hospital comedy with surgical precision.

"I was very curious about these people who have these high-octane jobs where life is potentially on the line every day, but they have just to go in and be annoyed with traffic on the way to work and wait for their shift to end. I found that to be a very interesting juxtaposition," he explained. "The more questions I was asking, the more interesting I was finding it and learning about the conflict between the frontline health line workers and the administration part, or the insurance part of the industry. Every question led to more questions, and that's usually a good indicator that it's a good idea for a show."

We'll see if the viewers agree.

St. Denis Medical premieres with two episodes on Tuesday, November 12, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Episodes will be available to stream the next day on Peacock.

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