The Office. Parks and Recreation. Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Superstore. Abbott Elementary. What do all of these mockumentary sitcoms have in common? They take place in the workplace, following the hijinks of a vivid and eccentric cast of co-workers trying to make each day on the job count, no matter what problems are thrown their way. The genre has been popular for decades, as far back as the 70s, because the format and familiar tropes have proven timeless and hilarious. Even in 2025, you can never have too many shows of this kind. The newest workplace comedy that deserves to be on everyone’s radar is St. Denis Medical, which follows the scrappy but passionate crew of doctors and nurses at an underfunded hospital in Oregon.
Though I don’t have any personal experience in this field, I can tell that the series is backed by good research and heavily draws from the real-life experiences and stories of nurses, surgeons, and physicians. The medical lingo hits just right – accurate, clear, and specific but not confusing – while the will-they-won’t-they trope feels familiar but fresh in a hospital setting ripe with romantic tension.
On top of that, St. Denis Medical brims with heart, much like the similar medical-themed sitcom Scrubs. Each character is well-written and distinct from the others, quirky, and snappy in their own way. These differences can often lead to conflict, like Ron (David Alan Grier), a physician, leaving a nasty note on nurse Serena’s (Kahyun Kim) car for parking too close to him and ending up with a psychopath diagnosis by the hospital psychologist. However, it’s clear that the staff members view each other as a found family and are determined to solve problems together.
In the seventh and latest episode “50 CC’s of Kindness,” which airs January 14, the problem is not between co-workers but between the staff and their patients. In the cold open, the hospital admits two inmates from the local prison who have stabbed each other in the abdomen and thus, have to be kept in separate rooms to avoid physically harming each other again. Despite how obvious it is that the men don’t like each other, head nurse Alex (Allison Tolman) and newcomer Matt (Mekki Leeper) are determined to “reform” them, showing them how many similarities they share, both inside and out. All the while, handsome head surgeon Bruce (Josh Lawson of Superstore) struggles to donate blood for the annual blood drive due to his fear of needles, tearing down his otherwise picture-perfect image.
While it’s not my favorite episode thus far (that would go to the fourth episode “Salamat You Too” featuring Nico Santos, also of Superstore), it’s still full of rewatchable moments that genuinely made me laugh out loud. I loved when Ron bribes the inmates with sushi to make them get along, which works until they begin fighting over the last piece and one of them stabs the other in the hand with his chopsticks. Then on the other side of the hospital, Bruce borrows a fake arm to use for his blood donation, only for the blood bag to puncture and leak everywhere. And while these two plotlines felt pretty disparate from each other for the majority of the episode to me, it all builds up and erupts into a single perfect, united moment of everyone screaming, panicking, running away, and not knowing at all what’s going on or what to do. Much like what really goes on in a hospital, it’s beautiful and well-timed.
It works thanks to the stellar editing that cuts scenes at just the right moment and the actors’ performances that truly bring it all to life. They’re silly and earnest but feel like real people. Just like Jim’s iconic fourth-wall breaks in The Office, they nail those camera looks with perfect timing, like when tough macho-man Bruce, still recovering from being pricked by a needle, emotionally connects to a teddy bear dressed in a lab coat and asks if he’s a doctor. Or when executive director Joyce (Wendi McLendon-Covey) crushes on the inmates’ security guard and stares at him creepily from across the room, only to realize that she’s being filmed. It’s all these little moments that reveal the human side of an otherwise tense, chaotic, and stressful environment. While people’s lives are constantly held in the balance, it’s also a space where friendship and fun can grow.
We’re not even halfway through the first season’s eighteen episodes. But from what I’ve seen so far, I can tell that St Denis Medical is only going to get better from here and that we all have a new must-watch workplace sitcom.
