Home Cool News Coaxial Reviews Zone Chat Contact Us Sign in

Hercules Takes The Pulse Of
TNT's New Jada Pinkett Smith
Nursing Series HAWTHORNE!!

I am – Hercules!!


A predictable and disappointing hospital hourlong from John Masius, who wrote for “St. Elsewhere” (the best hospital hourlong of all time, if you’re asking me), Richmond, Va.-set “HawthoRNe” stars fabulous Jada Pinkett Smith (of the “Matrix” sequels) as caring chief nursing officer, single mother and new widow Christina Hawthorne. Michael Vartan, a long way from “Alias,” plays her doctor boss.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Smith is now (get this) only the third African-American woman to play the lead on a weekly American primetime drama, after Jill Scott in HBO's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (2009) and Teresa Graves in ABC’s "Get Christie Love!" (1974). Wow!

“Hawthorne” turns out to be nowhere near as fun or funny as “St. Elsewhere.”

Smith remains plenty minx-like, but I hated (SPOILERS AHEAD):

1) Christina’s made-for-TV conversations with her dead husband;

2) how nice Christina is to the batshit homeless lady who repeatedly assaults her (that homeless lady, candidly, needs incarceration; she is a menace to herself and others); and

3) the subplot with the uncaring doctor and the insulin overdose (if the nurse was so sure he had the wrong dosage, he should have awoken the sleeping intern or consulted with a more senior doctor or nurse).

Oh, I was also very concerned that Christina’s episode-punctuating Asian balloon was going to set her neighborhood on fire.

On the upside, the girl who plays Christina’s daughter, Hannah Hodson, is almost as cute as her TV mom.

Entertainment Weekly gives it an “C” and says:

… the results here are mostly mawkish and predictable …

The New York Times says:

… The writing is a bit stilted and predictable, but the show is not unbearable — there are some amusing supporting actors and the occasional engrossing medical crisis. As a character study, however, “HawthoRNe” is weighed down in the pursuit of worthIness.

The Los Angeles Times says:

… Everyone working so hard, everyone talented and professional and doing their very best to make this a terrific television show, and it just isn't.

The Washington Post says:

… drudgery that once or twice borders on torture … a show in need of emergency care rather than one offering fast-fast-fast relief.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… Fans of subtlety are advised to steer clear of this show. But viewers who prefer uncomplicated, pabulum-like TV could find worse programs on TV this summer -- and already have (e.g. NBC's "The Listener"). As uninspired as "Hawthorne" may be, it's still better than TNT's last medical drama, the Pittsburgh-set "Heartland." The "Hawthorne" pilot, directed by Mikael Solomon, moves like a freight train from the start and sustains a decent pace throughout. And "Hawthorne" shows potential for character development among the show's supporting players.…

The Boston Herald says:

… It’s a mess …

The Boston Globe says:

… If there were some complexity afoot in the writing, perhaps she could hint at hidden, less unnervingly calm parts of Christina's character that will emerge later. But "HawthoRNe" seems bent on being reverential, complete with musical montages meant to break our hearts. It's not awful, by any means, just too good to be true.

Variety says:

… administers to a pretty generic formula … Despite some potentially intriguing characters, about the best one can scribble on "Hawthorne's" chart is that it's an improvement over TNT's earlier forays into medicine, "Heartland" and "Saved." …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… a fairly standard hospital drama … On the one hand, it is nice to see one of TNT's ladies not weighed down with vices (Hawthorne's worst problem is insomnia), but barring some serious shocks to the system, this patient is not going to live long. For now, it does at least have an etherlike quality: It'll lull you into thinking you've watched some far better, far more intriguing drama. And then you'll go quietly to sleep.

9 p.m. Tuesday. TNT.


Mein Fuhrer!!
Shipping Now!!


The New Book From The Guy Behind THE WRATH OF KHAN, THE VOYAGE HOME And THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY!!

AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Click for previous story Talk Back More on this story Click for next story

User login

Reader Talkback

Jada
by NudeandAroused
Jun 16th, 2009
04:31:45 AM
Fuck Jada
by HercsShowerRadio
Jun 16th, 2009
04:43:55 AM
This show lost me...
by Literarywanderer
Jun 16th, 2009
05:18:51 AM
Julia
by Hercules
Jun 16th, 2009
06:07:51 AM
They are trying to fill the gap left by ER
by estacado1
Jun 16th, 2009
06:12:35 AM
tnt misses again
by palewook
Jun 16th, 2009
06:32:21 AM
STILL hate St. Elsewhere's IDIOTIC ending episode...
by Ninja Nerd
Jun 16th, 2009
07:12:41 AM
Jada's award shopping for awards
by Shut the Fuck up Donny
Jun 16th, 2009
07:37:33 AM
award shopping for awards?
by Shut the Fuck up Donny
Jun 16th, 2009
07:38:15 AM
I thought the worst thing when I saw this commercial
by CherryValance
Jun 16th, 2009
08:50:57 AM
Why????
by rfid
Jun 16th, 2009
09:10:25 AM
FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER JADA PINKETT SMITH
by digital8
Jun 16th, 2009
09:11:10 AM
Screw TV Doctors, Screw TV Nurses......
by 300Zartans
Jun 16th, 2009
09:55:58 AM
When Homeless People Attack
by Rocco Curioso
Jun 16th, 2009
09:57:56 AM
A DIFFERENT WORLD continues to annoy
by Darkartist
Jun 16th, 2009
10:16:15 AM
uncleveRNess
by geekofsellyoulloyd
Jun 16th, 2009
10:24:20 AM
Single, widowed, war veteran, tough as nails, heart of gold
by Falafalguy
Jun 16th, 2009
10:25:33 AM
Dig up Fat Boys for DisOrderlies the Series
by Darkartist
Jun 16th, 2009
10:35:48 AM
I liked Saved
by xsi kal
Jun 16th, 2009
10:56:41 AM
Remember " A Different World?" When Jada was pretty?
by theycallmemrtibbs
Jun 16th, 2009
11:31:23 AM
Uh... Missed one....
by Kid Z
Jun 16th, 2009
11:43:30 AM
Kid Z
by DennisMM
Jun 16th, 2009
11:50:10 AM
Darkartist...
by Kid Z
Jun 16th, 2009
11:51:08 AM
DennisMM...
by Kid Z
Jun 16th, 2009
11:52:53 AM
Kid Z
by Darkartist
Jun 16th, 2009
12:05:55 PM
"That line means about as much as staring at the shit in my toil
by theycallmemrtibbs
Jun 16th, 2009
12:16:11 PM
Actually rfid is right
by CherryValance
Jun 16th, 2009
12:19:27 PM
Supernatural can't get a TB but this can
by Darkartist
Jun 16th, 2009
12:28:48 PM
Speaking of "A Different World"...
by Mr Spork
Jun 16th, 2009
01:18:49 PM
Hop aboard the Will Smith Gravy Train!
by Samuel Fulmer
Jun 16th, 2009
01:23:02 PM
Mr Spork
by Darkartist
Jun 16th, 2009
01:56:20 PM
Blech
by Cobbio
Jun 16th, 2009
02:39:39 PM
Another Hospital/ doctor show!
by I_am_the_ultimate_product
Jun 16th, 2009
02:50:18 PM
Haven't we learned our lesson yet?
by I_am_the_ultimate_product
Jun 16th, 2009
02:53:37 PM
The Problem with this series
by HideousSecretion
Jun 16th, 2009
03:08:51 PM
LA TIMES IS WRONG!!! Ethel Waters, Beulah. 1950 -53
by JuanSanchez
Jun 16th, 2009
10:14:08 PM
Only good thing Pinkett was in...
by Pissed Off And Bitter
Jun 17th, 2009
03:37:55 AM
the finale of the series will be...
by The Amazing G
Jun 17th, 2009
07:05:23 AM
She has some nice eyes, that's about it
by terry1978
Jun 17th, 2009
09:45:07 AM
So this isn't about Nathaniel Hawthorne?
by rbatty024
Jun 17th, 2009
04:37:16 PM
Beulah
by Hercules
Jun 17th, 2009
08:20:43 PM
Black Lead Actresses
by Hipshot
Jun 18th, 2009
05:23:42 PM
Nurses? Really?
by Serious Black
Jun 18th, 2009
10:23:44 PM
Saved was really good.
by Serious Black
Jun 18th, 2009
10:26:38 PM

Quick Talkback

Please login to post talkback.