PILOT REVIEW: Combat Hospital

COMBAT HOSPITAL

Starring: Michelle Borth, Luke Mably, Terry Chen, Arnold Pinnock, Hamza Jeetooa, Gord Rand, Ellen Wong, Anne Bedian, Karan Oberoi, Dwain Murphy, Trenna Keating, with Deborah Kara Unger, and Elias Koteas

Created by Jinder Oujla-Chambers, Douglas Steinberg, and Daniel Petrie Jr.
Written by Jinder Oujla-Chambers, Douglas Steinberg, and Daniel Petrie Jr., Directed by Iain B. MacDonald

Combat Hospital is a new summer scripted medical drama on ABC that is a cheap option for them since it is made in Canada and simulcast there. It centers on a group of military doctors at a hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2006. In many ways it hearkens back to M*A*S*H as it has some banter mixed in with the horrors of war. However, this show is more serious than M*A*S*H and not as good, though it really isn't bad for a summer drama.

The main characters who arrive on the base in the pilot - Rebecca Gordon (Michelle Borth) and Bobby Trang (Terry Chen) - are both very likable but there wasn't much to them yet, particularly Trang. Still they make for good protagonists. The supporting cast was solid too. The show occasionally veered into unnecessary banter but as far as medical shows go, this one wasn't too bad in that department. What really helps this show is the setting. Unlike the dreadful Off the Map, this isn't just Grey's Anatomy set in an exotic location. This show explores the horrors of war as the doctors and nurses never know when the next batch of wounded warriors will come in. This would be a decent show for the season, much less the summer. It's nice to have some solid scripted programming in the sea of repeats and cheap reality on network TV.