TV Review: Royal Pains on USA Network Thursday 10/9c
So I caught the pilot episode last night for the newest summer series on USA that premiered right after Burn Notice’s Third Season. The series titled Royal Pains stars Mark Feuerstein, a veteran TV actor who has had minor roles on TV such as in the West Wing and was last seen as the lead in the short lived series Good Morning, Miami.
Television casting is funny because the same recycled actors are seen in the same stuff every year and then something crazy happens they land success. Simon Baker, is a perfect example of a guy who probably sold his soul to the devil for a hit show and found The Mentalist, TV’s most popular new show of last year. Another anomaly is the “showkillers”, a person cycled around shows and they either never get picked up or they are canceled once they join the cast. Jensen Akles was a showkiller until his role on Smallville worked and led to his breakout on Supernatural. Jon Cryer landed his Two and a Half Men, suggesting that these actors always had star potential, but they needed the right vehicle, supporting cast, creators and writers to flesh them out correctly.
Enter Feuerstein, star of Fired Up, Conrad Bloom, the aforementioned Good Morning, Miami and 3 Lbs, as well as random film stints, like Baker, as a romantic lead in not so well known films like Woman on Top and In Her Shoes. Networks and studios keep giving Feuerstein different projects presumably due to his likeability and the impression of being a genuinely good guy, so you have to figure that the long string of failures were all about show’s inability to deliver and not about Feuerstein. Or that’s the thinking at least for me.
The USA series Royal Pains is another show built around Feuerstein’s likability something that is more likely to carry a show on cable rather than on primetime like Baker’s Mentalist. Feuerstein actually delivers not a home run but a nice triple into left field for the NBC owned network.
The show is about a New York City doctor named Dr. Hank Lawson (Feuerstein) who has it all, a smoking hot fiance, a spacious apartment and a killer job. One day, he’s forced to make a difficult decision in the emergency room, saving the life of a complete stranger at the cost of life of an elderly billion dollar hospital trustee, and his choice, the correct one, costs him everything. Wallowing in self-pity, Hank is “rescued” by his brother Evan (Paulo Costanzo), a hyperactive hornball, with the motto - “Fake it until, you make it”- takes Hank away for a party weekend in the Hamptons. A fish-out-of-water in the lap of luxury, Hank, feels unease among the rich and powerful who coincidentally he blames for his job loss. There he discovers a world where the wealthy retain “concierge doctors” as a high-priced commodity in order to keep names out of the papers, low keys so gossip isn’t spread or careers aren’t ruined. There he comes to discover that even tending to this new crop of spoiled clients, there’s a way he can save his soul as well. Along the way he meets physician assistant Divya (Reshma Shetty) who insists on becoming Hank’s employee, even though he has no intention of becoming a concierge doctor or staying for the summer.
But an encounter with the beautiful and series regular Jill Casey (Jill Flint), a Hampton’s Hospital Administrator, who catches Hank’s fancy with her down-to-earth personality but also her remarkably savvy intuition. She is completely unimpressed by the rich summer residents and the superficial lives they lead, Jill knows how to maneuver around local bureaucracies to get her job done. As principled as Hank, she respects him and his decision to save the life of a teen rather than the hospital patron. After a heart-to-heart during a walk on the beach, the chemistry between Jill and Hank is obvious and she’s clearly happy to hear that he will be sticking around. The pilot suggest there is more than meets the eye with her and I am sure sub plots to come will give us more into her backstory.
Ultimately Feuerstein’s performance is tepid, but so is his character design, the show around him commits to a tone of situational humor but also heartfelt moments. Costanzo is funny when he needs to be while Shetty has an over-eagerness that suggests a more interesting character to come in future episodes. The pilot’s other female lead Tamara Feldman may just be a guest star and shares the physical type of a model combined with the pedigree of a Sex in The City girl mixed with Gossip Girl.
I liked the show a lot and found its humor good and its drama better like most new medical dramas like House, TV doctors almost never specialize but Feuerstein’s Hank is capable of treating any ailment, performing any surgery (regardless of its severity or the tools at his disposal) and identifying even the most obscure of conditions regardless of the setting.
The show is a good fiot behind Burn Notice because they share a similiar formula and while Pains isn’t MacGuyver meets A-Team, it is Dirty Sexy Money meets House with some of The O.C. thrown in for good measure. Perhaps the best part of the show is the backdrop of The Hamptons serving as a character itself much like Miami does for Burn Notice. The setting provides something that most medical dramedies don’t. The series sets itself up perfectly for countless potential storylines and great potential guest stars (Andrew McCarthy will be on next week) that may keep me watching for at least 5 more episodes allowing its leading man and enemble to flesh out while in search for its full personality.
Look for USA to dominate basic cable ratings with a great Thursday line -up. Pains is welcomed new addition to a network where “Characters are Welcome” and since its summer and we have to wait for our primetime shows to return this makes a proper replacement.
