What’s better than a classic melodramatic soap opera to unwind with? A melodramatic soap opera set in a hospital seems to be the answer, if TV programs from the last 80 years are anything to go off of. From decades-long staples of cable TV to short lived series starring TikTok influencers, there’s never a shortage of hospital dramas. Of the numerous “top ten” lists ranking all these fictional medical series, they never feature all the same shows — that’s to say, there are a lot. And if the scope is widened outside of just the U.S., there are hundreds, if not thousands. It all seems like an anomaly; why isn’t there this volume of shows around most other settings or professions?
“It's just interesting to kind of get a look into the process of how stuff gets diagnosed,” Berkeley High School senior and “The House” viewer Will Wheat said, “Normally I'm a one show at a time person because I can't focus on multiple things. But I think it's really interesting because each episode is kind of like a mystery. So it's like, they're going through this whole process and kind of solving the case and each case, each episode, is super unique.”
On the side of the producer, there's clearly a lot of money to be made, and people aren’t getting tired of these medical dramas. “General Hospital,” for example, has been running for 63 seasons, starting in 1963 and still airing. “Grey's Anatomy’s” episode list is about a third of the size, but its 22 seasons are still largely abnormal in the industry. It’s so tried and true that at the height of 2020, Brat TV released a highly-criticized hospital show starring TikTokers from the Hype House, “Attaway General.” As for why people watch them, hospitals create the perfect atmosphere for gripping drama. Already baked into the setting are extreme, life-or-death stakes, and with that, a feeling of hope in watching protagonists work to help people in need. All of the different hierarchies and jobs within a medical facility create struggle and work to characterize the cast. With such high tension comes an ideal scenario for love stories, fights, and breakdowns. A hospital becomes a blend of a familiar setting that everyone knows with a rhythm where there can be something new with each episode. Show writers can think of endless and increasingly bizarre ailments for fictional patients, and viewers stay invested as the stories follow a cast of characters they’ve grown attached to over season after season.
It’s pretty universally understood that these shows don’t pose the most realism, and it’s up to the viewer if this is a hindrance, or if it even matters at all. HBO’s “The Pitt” is one show in particular that has been praised for its adherence to the real healthcare worker experience, down to less romanticizable things like unclothed patients running down the hall and doctors being unable to take bathroom breaks. The show has taken a lot of care to consult real doctors and nurses through every step, but is this really setting new standards for the genre? There's one side that questions if most of these shows are too ridiculous, or even disrespectful, to people in the field, but the general consensus is that it ultimately doesn’t matter- or, even if it does, there are more than enough shows in this category to satiate any different interests. Whether a viewer is looking for the mystery-solving immersion, or scandalous workplace romance, or even just something to put on in the background season after season, there’s a hospital drama with something to offer.