A lot of struggling in new NBC dramase

By Jonathan Storm

Inquirer Television Critic

NBC's new fall dramas are called Mercy and Trauma, proving that corporations, too, possess a subconscious, as the poor network struggles to survive in prime time.

Mercy, in which nurses struggle with life and love, premiered last week and airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Trauma, in which paramedics struggle with life and love, premieres tonight at 9.

And isn't it all just a whole lot of struggling?

It's hard to imagine anyone, aside from masochists, watching both shows, since they are so much alike at their core: Fragile people trying to find the pathway to happiness, as they seek distraction in high-octane professions where life and death hang in the balance every day.

Here is a snippet from an actual NBC Trauma press release: "The first high-octane medical drama series to live exclusively in the field, where the real action is. Like an adrenaline shot to the heart, Trauma is an intense, action-packed look at one of the most dangerous medical professions in the world."

Like I said, masochists. An adrenaline shot to the heart - that has to hurt!

Lots of people get hurt tonight in Trauma.

In Mercy, it's just more of the usual medical claptrap to take us away from, or add to, the characters' personal pain. Old people die of cancer. A young gang victim, in for his wounds, dies of an existing heart condition. And lots of projectile vomiting, which is always amusing.

But in Trauma, they blow stuff up real good. You get 38 seconds away from humdrum personal lives with a giant helicopter crash! Then, there are 44 seconds of a spectacular freeway smash-em up! That's a big-time MCI (multi-casualty incident). They love jargon and acronyms in these medical shows.

It gets even bigger when the gasoline tanker blows up for 17 more seconds.

This series doesn't live exclusively in the field. The wise old Dr. Joe Saviano (played by Jamey Sheridan, who, at 58, is a veritable Grandpa Moses in this group) dispenses his sagacity exclusively from the hospital: "People get hurt. Some get saved. A lot die. And it happens all over again."

And isn't that a big endorsement for Trauma, or any medical show?

Nor is Trauma the first medical drama series to go into the field. Nobody but a TV critic would remember Rescue 8 from the '50s, and 240-Robert from the early '80s, even if it did star Mark Harmon, and nobody at all would remember Rescue 77 on the WB in the '90s, without their trusty Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows.

You could ask, "What about Emergency, on NBC itself, for goodness' sake, for five years in the '70s? What about Third Watch, another five-year NBC series that ended just four years ago?" But only a TV critic-nerd would ever ask such things.

Whoever said knowledge is power didn't know any TV critics.