The slate of new network comedies in 2024 was well above average, and St. Denis Medical was one of the best. The hospital-set sitcom is a mockumentary that follows a group of nurses, doctors, and staff who are working in an underfunded hospital in Oregon, and Variety is reporting that it has been renewed for a second season.
Like Abbott Elementary before it, St. Denis Medical is at least partially about good people working inside a broken system. As they treat their patients, they find themselves constantly working against policies that seem designed to make providing great care impossible.
Since its premiere in the fall of 2024, the show has become one of the most-watched series on NBC with 21.4 million total viewers to date. The show stars Wendi McLendon-Covey, David Alan Grier, Allison Tolman, Josh Lawson, Kahyun Kim, Mekki Leeper and Kaliko Kauahi, among others, and currently airs on Tuesday nights on NBC.
While the hospital has long been one of the best settings for TV drama, few shows have attempted to set comedies inside of a hospital. Scrubs is likely the most prominent example, and is clearly a forebearer of St. Denis Medical, as are other mockumentary shows like Parks & Recreation and Abbott, both of which are about good people doing their best to make the world better.
The show will continue to air its first season through the spring, but the early renewal suggests that executives inside NBC are confident about the show’s long-term viability. We may have many more seasons of St. Denis Medical in our future.
