Don't you often wonder how doctors really feel about medical dramas on TV? Do they cringe and say to themselves, "It never really happens like that?"
When we had the chance to chat with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the chief medical correspondent of CNN who is now executive producer of a new medical drama of his own, TNT's Monday Mornings, we had to ask him. (Emmy Award-winning producer David E. Kelley is also executive producer.)
Sanjay admitted some shows do make him cringe. "And there (are) some that I just don't watch," he added, during an informal interview at TNT's studios in Atlanta. "And I don't think that frankly, I'm probably their target audience so maybe it works both ways."
Watch here as Sanjay reveals his favorite medical dramas!
Asked his favorite medical dramas (besides his new show of course!), and Sanjay lists off some of the greats, in my non-expert book: St. Elsewhere, Chicago Hope and ER. "St. Elsewhere may have been one of my favorites. I thought ER was really good too for the first few years... I think St. Elsewhere, they explored some of these same sort of topics. They took doctors to places where I think a lot of people don't take them... Chicago Hope, which has incredible characters and incredible technology in the hospitals. It was a great, sort of, look at medicine."
Sanjay certainly hopes his new show, based on his first novel called Monday Mornings, may one day fall on a list of the greatest medical dramas. The show, premiering on TNT on February 4 at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT, centers around secretive meetings of surgeons that routinely take place at hospitals around the country -- meetings where doctors discuss mistakes that sometimes can be deadly. The show also showcases the relationships that develop inside the hospital itself.
"It's funny because that's where people usually, they say, 'Oh, come on, you know, doctors doing this in utility closets and what not," said Sanjay. "The relationships happen in hospitals... A lot of these doctors -- that's their whole life. They're literally in the hospital a hundred hours a week. They go home four or five hours a night and that's it, to grab their toothpaste and that sort of stuff. And so it's, I think some of (the medical TV shows) are more real than you think... Hopsitals are a real, sort of, character in and of themselves. Not just a place especially for doctors who inhabit them. That's almost their home."
Stay tuned for more from Sanjay this week, including his reaction when he learned David E. Kelley wanted to help turn his book into a TV show, and his biggest worry for his three darling girls.
Kelly Wallace, who knows Sanjay from her time working at CNN and CBS News, is Chief Correspondent of iVillage. You can follow Kelly on Twitter (@kellywallacetv).
