"NY Med," 9 p.m. Tuesdays on ABC, beginning tonight
Three stars
Nobody wants to go to the hospital. But "NY Med," the new ABC documentary series from the producers of "Hopkins 24/7" and "Boston Med," is an often-riveting journey inside a big hospital, where lives are saved and lost hourly.
Executive producer Terence Wrong introduces doctors, nurses, support staff and patients at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. The most famous of those is Dr. Mehmet Oz, and you may be surprised to see him looking not at all TV-ready in the opening episode as he roams the hall, consults with heart patients and performs surgery, as he does many times each week.
But his isn't the most interesting story in the eight-episode "NY Med," which begins with the humorous (or not, depending on your perspective) case of a man whose Cialis didn't wear off. (You've seen the commercials. It happens.)
In the first episode, we also meet a young mother with a huge brain tumor, terrified at the prospect of having it cut out while she's awake, and a man facing heart surgery with no loved one at his side. A patient wants to take a pretty nurse out to dinner; a surgical resident sings opera.
"NY Med" isn't always easy to watch. Chances are, it will make you cry even more often than it makes you laugh, but it will rarely bore you.
