• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, November 7, 2024

The influence of “The Office” is keenly felt in a new, one-camera workplace comedy on NBC set in a hospital.

Although there have been many other such “mock-doc” sitcoms both before and after “The Office” (2005-13 on NBC), “The Office” has had enviable staying power in the TV aftermarket in off-network syndication and streaming.

No wonder NBC stays in the mockumentary sitcom space. The network’s newest effort is “St. Denis Medical” -- which, like “The Office,” comes from Universal Television.

Premiering next Tuesday on NBC, “St. Denis Medical” is about the diverse, eccentric staff of a fictional, under-funded Oregon hospital. 

From its opening title sequence to its cast of characters, “St. Denis Medical” has “The Office” written all over it.

Most notable is the star character, “Joyce,” executive director of the hospital played by Wendi McLendon-Covey (above photo).

Clearly, she is the show’s “Michael Scott” character (played by Steve Carell in “The Office”) -- the earnest, but ultimately clueless and inappropriate boss who vexes everyone.

If there is a “Jim” character in “St. Denis Medical,” it is “Alex,” supervising nurse in the hospital’s ER and trauma unit.

Like Dunder-Mifflin paper salesman Jim Halpert in “The Office” (played by John Krasinski), Alex (Allison Tolman) is the comedic straight man (or straight woman) character of “St. Denis Medical.”

She is the one who is the least eccentric and most competent figure in the hospital workplace, and the one whose observations are at the center -- or just off-center -- of the show.

The rest of the cast of characters include a veteran, world-weary ER doc played by David Alan Grier and an egotistical trauma surgeon played by Josh Lawson. 

Come to think of it, these two would seem to have no “Office” counterpart. For that matter, “St. Denis Medical” has no Dwight Schrute either.

Still, with “The Office” as its model, “St. Denis Medical” tries to combine heart with comedy, and succeeds more than was expected in the premiere episode provided for preview.

“St. Denis Medical” premieres Tuesday, November 12, with two back-to-back episodes, 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Eastern on NBC.