• Broadcasting & Cable, Monday, September 7, 2009 11:03 PM

The nearly dead medical reality genre, which at one time thrived, may be regaining a pulse. Following the success last year of ABC News' update to its 2000 documentary series "Hopkins 24/7," BET is developing a program focusing on African-American doctors that will likely be set at a Los Angeles medical school, say insiders.

Endemol-owned True Entertainment is also working on reviving "Trauma: Life in the E.R." The hospital docu-series ran on TLC from 1997-2002. True Entertainment is eyeing Vanderbilt University Hospital as a setting for the new "Trauma."

Medical reality shows and documentaries have become all but extinct since a government health-care commission made restrictive recommendations about balancing media access and patient privacy. But ABC's newer Hopkins effectively showed that it was possible to present a compelling docu-series that features both doctors and patients while abiding by the new rules, setting a precedent for medical shows.

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