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I am - Hercules!!


An NBC medical hourlong created by "Friday Night Lights" writer-producer Liz Heldens, "Mercy" follows a horny nurse and Iraq war vet and her co-workers and exes and family of lushes. It is far from perfect, but it is also zippy and surprising and its first 40 minutes got more laughs out of me than the first six episodes of "Nurse Jackie."

The bar for medical hourlongs is admittedly set pretty low these days, but I do like "Mercy" a lot better than "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" and "Trauma," and if you take this year's George Clooney episode out of the equation, I already like "Mercy" better than the last five seasons of "ER."

Taylor Schilling makes for a compelling lead and I kind of loved "Voyager's" Kate Mulgrew and "The Wire's" Peter Gerety as her character's liquored-up parents.

USA Today says:

… There are some remarkably good actors going to waste here, most of whom will no doubt wipe this showoff their résumé the moment they get the chance. If viewers are merciful, that day will come soon. …

The New York Times says:

… begins Wednesday on NBC with a scrappy vengeance directed at collective prejudices. … "Mercy" is an angry little soap, "Grey's Anatomy" as if conceived by Michael Moore. … The class divide is ugly and pronounced, much more so than on "Nurse Jackie," where Jackie's best friend is a surgeon happiest in the proximity of $600 pumps. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… in spite of some talented actors, it all seems more scripted than lived, referring not the world but a world of things you've seen on TV, handled well enough to make "Mercy" passable, but never exceptional, television. …

The Chicago Tribune says:

… "Mercy" manages to stumble across a few not-awful moments here and there, but the bad moments are so cringe-inducing that the show ought to come with a warning label telling consumers this derivative melodrama is potentially toxic. …

The Washington Post says:

A slickly feverish medical drama … As Veronica Callahan, a formidable force of nature toughened up by a tour in Iraq, Taylor Schilling makes a strong impression right off the bat. … Looking for a show to stave off "ER" withdrawal? Have "Mercy"; it's (you'll pardon the expression) strong medicine.

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

… a series so eager to embrace every conceivable hospital stereotype that it %%%!# a few ligaments in the rush to lameness. …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… the characters and situations all feel like things you'd only see on TV -- never in real life. …

The Newark Star Ledger says:

… I want to like it, because it seems as though Schilling has a future, and because it's set and shot in Jersey, but the thing would be a bundle of cliches even if the other two shows hadn't beat it to the air. Hey, at least it's not as blatant a star vanity vehicle as "Hawthorne" is for Jada Pinkett Smith.

The Boston Herald says:

… Schilling is a solid, likable presence, and she may be one of those actresses who can handle both drama and comedy, needed on a show like this that veers in every direction. …

The Boston Globe says:

… follows the hospital melodrama blueprint way too closely.…

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… Ultimately, despite an attempt to raw up the scene with topical war references, "Mercy" ends up being just another hospital soap opera that audiences have seen, and seen done better. …

Variety says:

… Appealing in places … more engaging than "Hawthorne" and less dour than "Nurse Jackie." Initially, though, it just doesn't quite possess the requisite spark that would leave people begging for "Mercy."

8 p.m. Wednesday. NBC.