Summary

• Medical dramas explore the high-stakes world of healthcare, pushing the boundaries of TV storytelling through innovative and fresh approaches.
• Popular procedural medical shows like Grey's Anatomy excel in creating drama, while others, like The Resident, focus on the business side of medicine.
• Unique medical dramas like Good Sam and Transplant tackle personal, societal, and immigration issues, creating emotionally engaging stories alongside medical drama.

Medical dramas are well-known within the TV landscape, and the most underrated shows deserve just as much hype as the high-profile series, which are synonymous with the genre. While not every medical drama is procedural, many of the popular shows, like Grey's Anatomy, fall into that category. Early medical dramas like St. Elsewhere​​​​​​ pushed the boundaries of what television can be and illustrated how medical shows can easily create drama due to the high stakes of the profession. Today, medical dramas are aware of their history on television and explore innovative ways to make their stories fresh.

Medical dramas show their versatility by excelling in the procedural arena, as well as outside it, demonstrating the longevity of the stories.

The procedural isn't always the most critically acclaimed and celebrated show because it follows such a strict formula. However, this formula means that these series run for many seasons and are popular with audiences because they utilize an episodic format that allows viewers to jump in during any episode or season. Recently, modern procedural TV shows have redefined the genre by drawing attention to the tricks and tropes that are used by the genre and subverting them. Medical dramas show their versatility by excelling in the procedural arena, as well as outside it, demonstrating the longevity of the stories.

8 The Resident (2018 - 2023)

A group of talented doctors must navigate the red tape of the business of medicine

One of the main characters of The Resident, Conrad Hawkins, might look familiar to audience who are fans of the hit TV dramedy Gilmore Girls. Conrad is played by Matt Czuchry, who portrays Rory's boyfriend Logan on Gilmore Girls. In The Resident, Czuchry brings his trademark confidence and swagger to Conrad and makes him an excellent foil to Devon Pravesh (Manish Dayal), a younger and less seasoned medical resident than Conrad. The show's thrust involves the differences between Conrad and Devon in how they approach medicine and the hospital's bureaucracy.

Additionally, they're ed by Emily VanCamp as Nic Nevin, who becomes the central love interest of Conrad. The show had a decent six-season run, but despite its many solid elements, it was never the most popular show on Fox. Part of this could be because, instead of focusing solely on the medical procedures and ups and downs of patient care, the characters are frequently in conflict with the medical system itself. This might sound less dramatic and compelling on paper, but the strongly written characters make every scene feel important.

Watch The Resident on Hulu or Netflix.

7 9-1-1 (2018 - )

Not just medical professionals, but all first responders are brought to the forefront of the heart-pounding show

Any series that boasts Angela Bassett as a main character is already primed to be fantastic, and her skills, along with the rest of the cast and the intriguing concept, make 9-1-1 a must-watch series. The series is currently airing with no end in sight and has even incurred the popular spinoff, 9-1-1: Lone Star. As indicated by its title, 9-1-1 is about the first responders who rush into high-risk situations after the emergency hotline, 9-1-1, is called. While focusing on such a wide range of individuals veers off the traditional medical drama path, this makes the show more exciting.

9-1-1 excels by broadening the scope and world of the show, making it feel realistic even when the emergencies border on improbable scenarios.

Sometimes, in medical dramas, the strict setting of a hospital can feel suffocating. When patients are brought to the hospital by the police because of disasters or injuries, it makes the audience wonder about the outside world. 9-1-1 excels by broadening the scope and world of the show, making it feel realistic even when the emergencies border on improbable scenarios. Though 9-1-1 recently moved to ABC from Fox, as long as the human stories remain the heart of the series, it will remain a great medical drama.

6 Good Sam (2022)

A talented young surgeon suddenly finds herself with the responsibilities of being chief

Canceled after just one season, Good Sam stars Sophia Bush, who is best known for her roles as Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill and Erin Lindsay in the Chicago One crime drama Chicago P.D. The series might have been short-lived, but that doesn't make it any less worth watching. Good Sam distinguishes itself from other medical dramas by making it a family drama at its center more than any other genre it draws from. This personal drama elevates the already intense setting of the hospital.

Bush's Dr. Sam Griffin is promoted to chief of her surgery unit but soon comes into conflict with her dad, Dr. Rob Griggin (Jason Isaacs), who used to be the chief. Isaacs is a veteran actor who brings a sense of confidence and importance to the series, allowing the audience to take the situation seriously. Outside the central father-daughter relationship, Good Sam populates its world with empathetic and interesting characters who face the challenges of medicine as a team.

Good Sam is available to rent on YouTube or Prime Video.

5 Hart Of Dixie (2011 - 2015)

A New Yorker adjusts to life in Alabama when she moves there to take over her father's practice

Though medicine is a large part of the show, it's frequently overshadowed by the complicated romantic entanglements of the main characters.

Worlds collide in Hart of Dixie when New Yorker and hot-shot surgeon Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson) moves to Alabama to work as a local doctor serving the small town of Bluebell. Though medicine is a large part of the show, it's frequently overshadowed by the complicated romantic entanglements of the main characters. Zoe has her fair share of love triangles and confusing feelings, but it's nothing compared to the ing characters who constantly break up and get back together in different combinations. However, this makes Hart of Dixie an endearing and unexpected addition to the genre.

Bilson makes a compelling protagonist, and much of the comedy of the series is mined from the differences between her city-slicker attitude and the slow pace of small-town life. However, Hart of Dixie doesn't look down upon small-town living but celebrates it as Zoe learns to love and embrace her new life. Witnessing her embrace love and the life she wants is what kept viewers coming back for more. The show isn't the most serious scientifically or medically, but it's an enjoyable and easy watch.

4 This Is Going To Hurt (2022)

British cynicism and realism come together in this brutally honest portrayal of the lives of doctors

The British miniseries This Is Going To Hurt combines the iconic aspects of the medical drama genre with biting British humor and bases its plot on the experience of the real doctor, Adam Kay. Kay wrote a non-fiction memoir about his time working in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department of a hospital. Ben Whishaw plays Adam, the character based on Kay, and co-stars with Ambika Mod, who plays Shruti Acharya, a young doctor training under Adam. Mod is known for playing Emma as part of the cast and characters of One Day, the hit Netflix show.

Both Adam and Shruti struggle to balance their professional and personal lives, as working in the hospital is portrayed as anything but glamorous in This Is Going To Hurt. Patients are rude, difficult, and constantly in need of saving, and trying to find time to have a romantic relationship, let alone sustain one, seems impossible. The shifts are long and impossible, but all this hardship just makes it impossible to stop watching. Imperfect and compelling, the characters in This Is Going To Hurt are just as vital as the medical setting.

Watch This Is Going To Hurt on AMC+ or Acorn TV.

3 Trapper John, M.D. (1979 - 1986)

A nontraditional spinoff of the hit wartime drama, MASH

It would have been difficult to follow in the footsteps of MASH, which is considered an amazing contribution to the medical and war genres, but to television as a whole. However, Trapper John, M.D. didn't try to recapture the magic of MASH, but stood on its own, firmly within the medical genre. The series takes place almost 30 years after Hawkeye's (Alan Alda) best friend in Korea, Trapper John McIntyre, is sent home, and becomes the chief of surgery at a hospital in San Francisco.

At the time it aired, Trapper John, M.D. wasn't overwhelmed by many offerings among the medical drama genre, as it was still a new type of television.

In Trapper John, M.D. Pernell Roberts takes over as Trapper from the MASH actor, Wayne Rogers. Roberts doesn't try to copy how Rogers portrayed Trapper, and the change of actor works because so much time has ed within the world of the show, and since it drew a line between itself and the themes and tones of MASH. At the time it aired, Trapper John, M.D. wasn't overwhelmed by many offerings among the medical drama genre, as it was still a new type of television. Many early examples of tropes and iconic aspects of medical shows can be seen in the series.

2 The Night Shift (2014 - 2017)

Tensions run high and inhibitions run low during the night shift at a San Antonio hospital

It's well-known fact that doctors and nurses who work in a hospital are expected to work during the night shift, and that this shift is when many of the most challenging cases come into the hospital. The Night Shift is all about how intense and unbelievable this time is, and how the doctors on duty deal with the high pressure of their jobs. It's set in San Antonio, but frequently calls back to the war in Afghanistan and the connection that many of the doctors have to the army.

The protagonist, Dr. Thomas Charles "TC" Callahan (Eoin Macken), is a veteran, and his experience in the field and unconventional attitude comes into conflict with the hospital s. The beauty of the formula of The Night Shift is that the barriers that people put up during the day are lowered at night, making the characters more honest and less likely to hide their true feelings. While this causes plenty of drama and conflict, it also means the romantic entanglements are one of the most compelling parts of the show.

1 Transplant (2020 - 2024)

A talented doctor faces discrimination and challenges, but rises above anyone's expectations

Canadian TV shows are often criminally underrated, and while Canadian comedy series often get the spotlight, the medical drama, Transplant, deserves just as much recognition. Dr. Bashir "Bash" Hamed (Hamzad Haq) is the protagonist of the series, and gets a job at a hospital after saving the life of the chief of Medicine. At first, Bash is denied a job despite his excellent credentials because he is an immigrant from Syria, but because of his experience in high-stakes situations, he soon proves himself to be invaluable in the emergency room.

Transplant doesn't simply rely on the medical drama to push the story forward, and doesn't shy away from firmly placing Bash at the center of the series, making it completely his story.

It's the realistic and empathetic portrayal of immigration and the prejudice that Bash comes up against that has brought the show so much critical acclaim. Transplant doesn't simply rely on the medical drama to push the story forward, and doesn't shy away from firmly placing Bash at the center of the series, making it completely his story. This isn't to say that the ing cast doesn't have just as much to do and aren't fully developed characters. Bash grows and develops as a person and doctor alongside a complicated but warm group of people.