Starring: Mammie Gummer, Michael Rady, Justin Hartley, Aja Naomi King
Category: Drama, Comedy
Like a friend that is doing too much to make other people like them, Emily Owens M.D., tries to charms us with her vulnerability just a wee bit too much. Whether that succeeds or not is yet to be seen. (Unfortunately not, as it has been cancelled).
Covering the grounds well-tread by Greys Anatomy, Emily Owens, M.D. (EOMD) follows the life of several medical students as they begin their internship at Denver Memorial Hospital. EOMD centers around Emily Owens, a young doctor not quite outgrown her vulnerabilities and still finding her footing in life. She thinks she is ready to take the next step with Will Collins, a fellow medical student whom she has had a crush on for years. Now both of them are about to do their residence under the famed Dr. Bandari at Denver Memorial.
The series re-imagines the teaching hospital as high school for grown-ups. Which is bad for Emily as she didn't have an enjoyable high school experience. To make things worse, her high school nemesis, Cassandra Kopelson, is also joining the group of new medical students. Suddenly, all the things in high school she thought she had out-ran come back to haunt her again one by one. Things also doesn't go well with Will when he doesn't respond to her advances and instead starts dating Cassandra. Cassandra also makes no qualms about reasserting her role as Emily's tormentor, especially when they are both competing for the attention of Dr. Bandari. She even introduces her high school nickname/taunt to the hospital.
Rounding up the people in Emily's life are Tyra, whose father is also the Chief Resident and Micah Barnes, the resident in charge of the interns who is also facing his own inner challenges. Their stories, usually involving Emily in some way, make up the background stories of EOMD. While they are interesting in themselves, the story never strays far from Emily.
It's still too early to see whether the series tip closer to drama than comedy or vice versa. Both elements are there in equal and it never dips too far in either way. I can't say that the comedy breaks up the drama like some shows because the comedy would be both sweet and slightly sitcom-ish. It actually moves the show along. Because of that, the medicine sometimes takes a back seat. It's there in the drama but definitely not in the same way as E.R. nor House. Clearly, for now, the medical scenes are much more sterile and the blood is kept to a minimum.
Mamie Gummer brings the right amount of cuteness, uncertainty, poise and natural beauty to generate the likability factor in this medical drama-comedy. The way she scrunches her mouth to the side, a habit probably her character has since childhood, is both cute and a tell. She plays both the confident smart doctor and the unsure young woman well in equal terms. It's fortunate she goes by her real name as people don't readily associate her with her famous mother and make the comparison. Her mother? Meryl Streep.
The series probably will be more interesting if it keeps playing the balancing act Greys Anatomy and Scrubs. Greys Anatomy grew to where there were more stories than people could keep up with. People came and went and it courted controversy both in their storyline and in it's production. Scrubs went the way of absurd but in a good way. It kept developing their stories while keeping things funny.
Will it succeed since it does tread well worn grounds? Most likely yes because Grey Anatomy no longer roam here, having moved on to being a full-on drama and now relying more on plot twists to keep viewers interested (ambulance accident, plane crash) as opposed to character interaction and growth.
While Greys Anatomy steadily moves into the ER territory of "living under it's own shadow", it's nice to see Emily Owens MD try to take a crack at the same spot in our hearts.
Category: Drama, Comedy
Like a friend that is doing too much to make other people like them, Emily Owens M.D., tries to charms us with her vulnerability just a wee bit too much. Whether that succeeds or not is yet to be seen. (Unfortunately not, as it has been cancelled).
Covering the grounds well-tread by Greys Anatomy, Emily Owens, M.D. (EOMD) follows the life of several medical students as they begin their internship at Denver Memorial Hospital. EOMD centers around Emily Owens, a young doctor not quite outgrown her vulnerabilities and still finding her footing in life. She thinks she is ready to take the next step with Will Collins, a fellow medical student whom she has had a crush on for years. Now both of them are about to do their residence under the famed Dr. Bandari at Denver Memorial.
The series re-imagines the teaching hospital as high school for grown-ups. Which is bad for Emily as she didn't have an enjoyable high school experience. To make things worse, her high school nemesis, Cassandra Kopelson, is also joining the group of new medical students. Suddenly, all the things in high school she thought she had out-ran come back to haunt her again one by one. Things also doesn't go well with Will when he doesn't respond to her advances and instead starts dating Cassandra. Cassandra also makes no qualms about reasserting her role as Emily's tormentor, especially when they are both competing for the attention of Dr. Bandari. She even introduces her high school nickname/taunt to the hospital.
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| The cast of Emily Owens |
It's still too early to see whether the series tip closer to drama than comedy or vice versa. Both elements are there in equal and it never dips too far in either way. I can't say that the comedy breaks up the drama like some shows because the comedy would be both sweet and slightly sitcom-ish. It actually moves the show along. Because of that, the medicine sometimes takes a back seat. It's there in the drama but definitely not in the same way as E.R. nor House. Clearly, for now, the medical scenes are much more sterile and the blood is kept to a minimum.
 |
| Emily Owens keeps the drama in medicine. |
The series probably will be more interesting if it keeps playing the balancing act Greys Anatomy and Scrubs. Greys Anatomy grew to where there were more stories than people could keep up with. People came and went and it courted controversy both in their storyline and in it's production. Scrubs went the way of absurd but in a good way. It kept developing their stories while keeping things funny.
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| Being new is never easy for Emily Owens |
While Greys Anatomy steadily moves into the ER territory of "living under it's own shadow", it's nice to see Emily Owens MD try to take a crack at the same spot in our hearts.
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