372 replies to this topic

[4815162342]

A Gifted Man is an upcoming American television series about a talented but self-absorbed surgeon (Patrick Wilson) who starts questioning his purpose in life when he is visited by the spirit of his dead ex-wife (Jennifer Ehle). It will premiere on CBS on September 23, 2011. The pilot episode was directed by Jonathan Demme, who also serves as an executive producer on the show along with writer Susannah Grant.

I'm not much for medical dramas or Ghost Whisperer type shows, but I'll at least check this out because of Patrick Wilson. I was in a play with him in high school*, so I always root for him and his career.

* Not opposite him, by any means. He was in college and played the lead. I was a lowly bit part, but his character did pelt me and couple other girls with pillows, so there's that :)

[MsOrange21]

I've loved him since his days in "The Full Monty" on Broadway. Also, got to meet him last year at a Broadway function and he was totally and utterly adorable. He loved the photo I took with him from stagedooring at "The Full Monty." It was from 2001 and he totally freaked out and loved it.

I can't wait for this show. So far, I think the critics have all loved it. I'm hopeful.

Edited by MsOrange21, Sep 18, 2011 @ 8:15 PM.

[Inquisitionist]

Jennifer Ehle doesn't get nearly enough exposure, so I've set the DVR for this one.

[Jodhaa]

Same here. Watching for Jennifer.
Reviews on the pilot have been positive so that's even better.

[insanityproject]

I also put this on the DVR because of the critics. PW is also a damn fine actor. And JE ain't half bad herself.

[Crs97]

I have such high hopes/expectations for this show! I love Jennifer Ehle and agree that she doesn't get nearly enough exposure. I don't know Patrick's work, but am really looking forward to seeing him. If you had described this show to me without mentioning the actors' names, I might have ignored it, but I find the trailer very compelling.

[OptimisticCynic]

Patrick Wilson was fantastic in Angels in America, and I've seen him on stage. He was great in Little Children, Hard Candy (with a pre-Juno Ellen Page). I've also met him in person and he was super nice. So I hope for both he and Ehle that this works out well for them. The only problem is the time slot for me, with Chuck, Nikita, and this at the same time, I've got to pick one to Hulu.

Edited by OptimisticCynic, Sep 22, 2011 @ 12:00 AM.

[drmka9]

I'm really looking forward to this. I'm not entirely sold on the premise yet, but the cast is fantastic.

[4815162342]

Tonight's the night!

[marifline]

I might just watch it because of P&P nostalgia... but it sounds good anyway

[AimingforYoko]

Mostly positive review from AV Club.
Basically, he loved the pilot, but worries about the viability of the series.

[Oh_The_Humanity]

So having watched the first episode, it would appear that it's a cross between "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" and "MacMillan and Wife". I enjoyed it, but I could do without the shaman part. A brain tumor would have been more interesting.

All I can say is if he sides his ex wife too much, he better hope Margo doesn't bust out the balled point peen (sorry; last Justified reference, I swear!)

I would have gone with an "apple pie" reference myself! "This is the hard part..."

Edited by Oh_The_Humanity, Sep 23, 2011 @ 10:31 PM.

[Jodhaa]

I really enjoyed that. I didn't care for the shaman part either.
Patrick Wilson was strong and Jennifer Ehle luminous.
One of my favorite new pilots.

[Karendipitee]

I came to this mostly for the cast, which can read cereal boxes as far as I am concerned (bonus: Bill Irwin!). I wasn't too sure about the premise and yeah, wonder about playing that out, but for this hour it worked. Most watchable pilot for me so far this season. I will stick with it.

[Sarah1281]

I really liked this which is remarkable because I really hated the dead wife. She came across as an unfortuante 'Too Good For This Sinful Earth' type which I've never liked. She was okay before we found out she was dead but I don't like saintly characters and she fit the bill. I'm not sure why he wants to keep her. They haven't even seen each other for ten years.

I was a little confused about the secretary. In the beginning I thought we were supposed to see her as underappreciated with that whole 'again with the birthdays' bit (reminded me of Scrooged, to be honest) but then she starts ranting about how this isn't a free clinic. Maybe not but if the boss wants to turn part of it into one and can still afford to pay her then she should really just shut up and let him make his own business decisions. And if for some reason she just really hates poor people and can't have anything to do with free clinics then she should find another job.

[sgheights]

So, didn't like DeadEx. At all. Was really, really hoping she was gonna be exorcised at the end. Didn't think she would be, but I had my fingers crossed. Alas, it was not to be.

I'll still watch cause, aside from her, I did like the rest of it. Also, Margo Martindale!!! I loved her in Justified.

Edited by sgheights, Sep 23, 2011 @ 9:32 PM.

[Split Ends]

Okay, great show. It really is. I loved it, I really hope it sticks around, and I didn't mind Jennifer Ehle at all, although I wish she had some actual issues instead of being pretty perfect, just dead. I'm okay with a traditional ghost story route.

Margo Martindale did a great job of acting with her face in her last scene. She's always fantastic, and so unlike Mags Bennett I quickly forgot she plays both. And I've always respected Patrick Wilson, but I've never really liked any character he's portrayed, not even in Watchmen. But I liked Michael Holt well enough. I also liked that there was no big stand-up moment where he yelled at the tennis player's dad, or even her.

But one part really, really pissed me off. No person -- uninsured or not -- would be turned away at an ER with those symptoms. It is illegal to turn emergent patients away. Yeah, he might wait 10 hours, or even more, but he would still get treatment and it is irresponsible of CBS to say otherwise. It's also ridiculous, and hopefully intentionally ironic, that a neurosurgeon who treats the super-rich in his super-clean, bright shiny corporation-style office would have the balls to accuse an ER doctor of failing to treat the poor.

[Sarah1281]

But one part really, really pissed me off. No person -- uninsured or not -- would be turned away at an ER with those symptoms.

I don't think he meant literally turned away so much as not given the treatment that he needed. And given how expensive MRIs are, I'm not sure I don't believe that.

[thuganomics85]

I like Patrick Wilson and Jennifer Ehle enough, but it was the recent Emmy winning Margo Matindale that made me decided to give it a chance. And overall, I liked it. One of the better pilots of this season (this and Person of Interests, which means CBS is easily winning the pilot completion in my book, unless Pam Air or Terra Nova end up being really amazing.)

I thought Patrick did a great job at making Mike kind of a dick (he kind of reminded me of Andy Brown/Treat Williams in Everwood before his wife died and he moved to the town), but still making me enjoy watching the character and want to see him become a better person. Jennifer was great acting wise, but I'll admit the actual character was kind of annoying for me. I hope she has more dimensions in future episodes. Margo made me forget about Mags from Justified which is very impressive. She didn't have much to do, but I'm glad to hear they will be expanding the character in future episodes.

Julie Benz as Mike's sister was a great surprise.

So, I'm assuming the overall theme is that Mike is going to be doing both his normal, rich doctor stuff, and also helping the poorer folks that his wife was helping, and have both Dead Ex Wife and Secretary Margo pulling him in opposite directions. All I can say is if he sides his ex wife too much, he better hope Margo doesn't bust out the balled point peen (sorry; last Justified reference, I swear!)

[Inquisitionist]

I enjoyed the characters, but why does the ex-wife have to be dead? I'm not sure I can take that level of hokiness for very long.

[lillybee]

A little Harry's Law here, perhaps?

[jjj]

I only heard about this in a newspaper highlight yesterday, so had no expectations. And I loved it. But, the portrayal of a neurosurgeon's duties was very unrealistic. There are whole teams that prepare patients for MRIs and then administer the tests, after which the SuperDoc reads the results. But we'll focus on the actual mysteries of life and afterlife that are introduced. Is DeadEx the only dead person he will see? I had the impression from what I read that he "sees dead people."

[cmm226]

I did not like it. I was looking forward to it as well. Maybe it was because that deadex was exceptionally annoying but it just dragged for me.

[A Little Edgy]

I don't think he meant literally turned away so much as not given the treatment that he needed. And given how expensive MRIs are, I'm not sure I don't believe that.

I'm sure I don't believe it. Especially not in NYC and especially not a child. The boy would have been treated in the ER and referred for follow-up care, most likely to the pediatric department of a public hospital or medical school. It is true that uninsured families have to be organized and persistent to get care for their children in ways that insured families do not (although organization and persistence is pretty important for everybody in the modern health care world). That's the reality behind Holt's remark, but the remark itself was untrue and annoying.

Otherwise, it was good show but a bit twee for my taste so far. I'd like to see a darker, edgier side to Holt - partly because I think it would be fun to watch PW in that kind of role - but that may be asking too much of an 8 p.m. show.

[Sarah1281]

I'm sure I don't believe it. Especially not in NYC and especially not a child. The boy would have been treated in the ER and referred for follow-up care, most likely to the pediatric department of a public hospital or medical school.

They would get him an MRI scan that insured families have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for for free? Really?

[freddi]

Yes, every hospital I've worked in writes off a percentage of cases as charity care. That's becoming more and more the situation with tens of million people without insurance. Some ERs do send cases to county hosptals that get some reimbursement for charity care.

I loved the sense of reconnecting and regret on this pilot.

[screamin]

New York hospitals are more generous in that respect than other hospitals, generally due to New York Medicaid covering more than most other states. But they still might substitute a less expensive CAT scan that doesn't show as much as an MRI.

[Haleth]

I thought it was a bit dull, to be honest. I tuned in just for Jennifer Ehle (how do you pronounce that anyway? Ay-lee?) It was like House meets Ghost Whisperer and I've really grown tired of the cranky doctor character. I'll give it another (or two) tries, but it may be the first new show I dump.

[Inquisitionist]

Jennifer Ehle (how do you pronounce that anyway?

EE-lee. I think she had a trans-Atlantic upbringing (her father, writer John Ehle is from North Carolina, where Jennifer was born, and her mother is English actress Rosemary Harris), but her accent sounded a bit odd to me in-character, like she was strugglingto suppress an English accent.

Stories of the "supernatural" aren't my cup of tea, and I didn't like the characters in this one enough to overcome that roadblock. Don't think I'll be watching it again.

[drmka9]

No person -- uninsured or not -- would be turned away at an ER with those symptoms. It is illegal to turn emergent patients away. Yeah, he might wait 10 hours, or even more, but he would still get treatment and it is irresponsible of CBS to say otherwise.

I think it was phrased poorly. He said that they'd likely wait 10 hours or more, then be denied because they don't have insurance. I inferred that the ER would treat the kid, but it'd be hell to to get any follow-up care.

It was a solid pilot, but I don't think they made Michael enough of a dick. Patrick Wilson can be great in that kind of role - he was fantastic as a borderline sociopath in the not-so-fantastic "A-Team" movie awhile back - but his character here was just softened up a bit too much. I get that he's not supposed to be an irredeemable jerk, but they could have spent a bit more time setting up his pre-DeadEx life.

Also - and this is true nit-picking - the tennis star storyline lost me entirely. I'm a tennis fan, and I couldn't figure out exactly what she was trying to accomplish except that she was maybe trying to be the youngest player to have won all four slam tournaments. It just took me out of the story entirely.