What I Watch: The Mob Doctor (?!)

Here's a show I started watching from the beginning (there have only been about four episodes so far). It got a LOT of advertising before it launched, and it took the time slot of House, which was one of my favorites up until last year. I dutifully watched it to the end of its run, although without Cuddy it just wasn't the same. (Hey, that was another show I started watching because of USA reruns ... anyway.)

I like the main girl on The Mob Doctor (I used to watch her old show My Boys, and Shawn recognized her from Must Love Dogs), although that and the premise of the show--she's paying off her brother's debt to the mob by being a sort of inhouse doctor for them--weren't enough to get me watching. What was? Two words: Matt Saracen.

OK, the actor's name is Zach Gilford, but I've been a fan since Friday Night Lights, one of the best shows ever. I'd actually rank it up there with My So-Called Life in terms of my favorites. (The FNL season with a random murder and Matt sleeping with his grandma's live-in nurse not-with-standing ... I blame the writers' strike on that.)

Another FNL alum is on a new show -- Nashville has Connie Britton, aka Tami Taylor. I tuned into the first episode of that show, but yowza. It felt too campy and soap opera-y even for me, so I made a conscious decision to keep myself from watching further (although it was tough, as I kept thinking "I wonder what happened when the husband found out about..."). I guess I could always go back and watch the episodes on demand -- but I will refrain! Anyway.

The Mob Doctor as a show is really too much. They cram way too much into each episode. Someone described it as "two shows in one" -- meaning it as a compliment. But I don't really like that about it. I'd rather see more Zach (I have no idea what his character's name is on this show!) and her relationship and more medical drama and less of the shoot-em-up stuff inherent with a mob show.

Not sure I'll continue watching this faithfully, especially since it's very likely it will end this season, but I'll keep DVR-ing it in case I have downtime and nothing else recorded. (Summer 2013 maybe?)