NBC’s “Heartbeat,” premiering tomorrow night (March 23, 8/7c), is
an annoying anachronism of a show, a program that openly steals ideas from
better shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “ER” and “House” but has no idea what to do
with them. It’s like a student who copies his classmate’s answers but still
fails the test. If anything, that’s the most interesting aspect of the show in
that it proves that one can hit all the same notes as much more melodious shows
but still do so in a way that creates a whole new, remarkably annoying song.
The true shame is that the star of “Heartbeat” is a talented actress who’s long
been in search of the right vehicle to display her range and likability. One
hopes this “Heartbeat” flatlines soon so she can find it.
Dr. Alex Panttiere (Melissa George) is one of the most
renowned heart transplant surgeons in the world—and yet, because “It’s TV,” she’s
constantly stymied by an unsupportive administration and most of the men in her
life. Almost like a parody of medical dramas, the writers of “Heartbeat” weigh
down this character with as much clichéd baggage as possible. She’s got two
kids. She’s got a rock star ex-husband (Joshua Leonard), who happens to be gay.
She’s got an administrator (Shelley Conn) to defy. And she’s got two men at
work (Dave Annable and Don Hany) to serve as romantic interests.
What’s so annoying about this structure is that it takes a
character who should be strong and makes her responsive to what’s happening
around her. She’s defined by how the people in her life either support her or
fight her—mostly men in both cases. So a character who feels like she should be
a field-leading feminist becomes reactive instead of proactive. And lest you
think that’s the theme—that a modern woman has to deal with a lot of dumb men
to become a success—don’t give “Heartbeat” that much credit. It doesn’t feel
like a progressive examination of gender roles in medicine—just a greatest hits
of genre clichés.
Where to begin? There’s a cutesy, jaunty score that says “Hey,
aren’t we different?” There are
drastic tonal changes, including a suicide, that just aren’t earned. Here’s a
particularly teeth-grinding exchange: “Alex, there are four doctors in the
world who know how to do this operation.” “Now there’ll be five.” Episode two
features singing conjoined twins where one of them has cancer and the other
doesn’t. Worst of all, it’s a tonal mess. Everyone is SO wacky, SO emotional,
SO brilliant, SO gorgeous, SO unrealistic.
The real shame is that I’ve been hoping Melissa George would
find a real household-naming making vehicle for some time now. With a film
resume that includes “Dark City,” “The Limey” and “Mulholland Drive” and TV
work on some of our generation’s best (including “The Good Wife” and “In
Treatment”), it always felt like she was one strong TV creator away from
stardom. She’s again easily the best thing about “Heartbeat,” although she’s
stranded by writing that has no idea what to do with a supporting cast that
includes vets like Annable, Leonard and Jamie Kennedy.
There’s a reason that medical, cop and legal dramas go back
to the Big Book of Clichés over and over again. They often work, especially
when they’re ingrained in a narrative that feels genuine. We like the
characters enough, we don’t mind that we can see some of the strings being
pulled. “ER” did it for years, carried by the charisma of its cast and realism
of its setting more than anything narrative. “Heartbeat” feels like it sprung
to life from a computer program that had been fed the scripts of every medical
drama in the last two decades. It has no pulse.
