97 replies to this topic

[jessied112]

So, I didn't see a thread anywhere for this new Canadian show and I wasn't sure whether to include it under Sci Fi/Action Adventure or Drama so I decided to just put it under here.

New CTV Original Drama SAVING HOPE (Working Title) To Premiere June 7

Starring Erica Durance (SMALLVILLE), Michael Shanks (STARGATE ATLANTIS) and Daniel Gillies (THE VAMPIRE DIARIES)
Series is from award-winning producers Ilana Frank and David Wellington
CTV announced today that its new original drama series SAVING HOPE (working title) will air Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT beginning June 7. The series will anchor CTV’s summer schedule. Additional CTV summer programming will be announced at a later date.

In SAVING HOPE, currently shooting in Toronto, Charlie Harris (Shanks), the charismatic Chief of Surgery of Toronto’s Hope-Zion Hospital ends up in a coma, leaving the hospital in chaos – and his fiancée and fellow surgeon, Alex Reid (Durance), in a state of shock. Along with newly-arrived star surgeon, Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES), Alex races to save Harris’ life. As the action unfolds, comatose Dr. Harris explores the hospital halls in “spirit” form, not sure if he’s a ghost or a figment of his own imagination. Reid, along with her fellow doctors, press on to save his life and those of their other patients, as they deal with the complicated and courageous decisions that are made in their daily struggle to keep hope alive.

Starring Erica Durance (SMALLVILLE), Michael Shanks (STARGATE ATLANTIS), (Daniel Gillies, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES), Huse Madhavji (COMBAT HOSPITAL, STAR! DAILY), Julia Taylor-Ross (ROOKIE BLUE), and Kristopher Turner (ROOKIE BLUE, THE LISTENER), the series is from acclaimed Gemini award-winning producers Ilana Frank and David Wellington (THE ELEVENTH HOUR, WOULD BE KINGS, ROOKIE BLUE).

So, the pilot aired yesterday. I enjoyed it. I thought for a Canadian show, it was really decent. I've been waiting for this to air for a few weeks now and the episode was good. It wasn't fantastic, but it was enough to keep me tuned in. The characters were pretty decent. I thought main guy, Charlie, was sort of a jackass with his patients while other guy, Joel, was more friendly with them. It was interesting to note that Charlie barely maintained eye contact with Army Guy when he was going over the surgery.

My favourite characters right now would probably be the psychiatrist and Alex's new doctor-intern. I like everyone else so far, although Charlie is kind of a jackass from the little we saw of him before the accident. I wish we got a bit more of him and his background before jumping into him getting into the accident, though. I felt like there was too little explained. And I'm not sure about his fiancee, Alex, quite yet. Not a horrible pilot, but not a great one either. But it's enough to have me tune in again.

[quietone]

Long time Smallville viewer who watched it mainly for Erica Durance. Not bad for a pilot. I'm not too crazy about the voice over though. At times it was distracting. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the wedding and I'm still not sure on who is who but I will be tuning in next week.

[Actionmage]

Thanks for starting the thread, jessied112!

It was an interesting pilot, but I wondered why there wasn't a two hour "event"; the pilot, as shown, was very sad/depressing. The nominal lead is in a coma and barely used, a young, unmarried woman dies after giving birth, a war veteran is having problems with cancer and PTSD; a patient who died as a John Doe actually has a wife and child but is still unidentified at episode's end.

The love potion case was appreciated and well acted. There needed to be some levity.

I came for Michael Shanks, but the cast is indeed, very likeable. I want to know more about them.

I may have been grasping for something, but I thought there was a parallel between the New Dad and Dr. Alex; both had to come to terms with a hard situation. The touching/connection thing was a bit much, but gentle enough for an anvil. (Unlike Alex's honeymoon destination of The Black Void- ouch!)

From the preview, it looks like things may pick-up on the Dr. Charlie side of things. Hopefully, we'll also get "The Rules" for his time in The In-Between.

[Love]

It did well in the ratings last night. At least in Canada. Not sure about the US yet.

I really enjoyed it. I tuned in for Daniel Gillies. Loved his character. Arrogant with a side of empathy. And the man is drop dead gorgeous. Shallow, yes, but I also liked the episode enough to watch another week.

[Crucial]

I tuned it for Daniel Gillies as well. For me, he was the best part of the show, but maybe it's my love for his acting ability. I thought it was really good but they should have just focused on maybe the soldier and the young woman who died giving birth and saved the love potion until next week (although the love potion patient brought a nice connection to the resident psych doctor and the resident). I think that way we could have seen more how the three main doctors dealt with their patients. And seeing how John Doe stayed John Doe was kind of useless at the end.

I'm excited that next week's episode has a young boy seeing Charlie. I can't wait to see how that it played out. I liked the show and will watch it again.

[cyberducks]

I tuned in for Daniel Gillies too. He such a gorgeous man - and smart and witty as well going by his tweets. I liked it enough to keep watching. Hope it manages to stay on the air for a while.

Edited by cyberducks, Jun 8, 2012 @ 7:06 PM.

[jessied112]

Ok, I also tuned in for the same reason. Daniel Gillies has been very much underused on Vampire Diaries so when I heard he was a lead on a Canadian show, I had to tune in. And at this point, I'm pleased that he won't be the only reason to keep watching. I have a feeling this show will be renewed for a second season. No offense, but it's Canada; when we produce a summer show, most of the time it's pretty good and will be renewed. And I'm happy that Canadian summer shows do well. And I have no doubt that this one will too.

[GeekLove]

I saw the show described as "Lens Flare: The Series" and that about sums it up for me.

I really tried to enjoy it, but I just couldn't; well acted crap is still crap. But it's summer and there's not much else on, so I'll try again next week in hopes that it was just a lousy pilot. With way too much lens flare.

[corvus13]

I can't imagine how they can continue this idea. Do we really want week after week of voiceovers?

[BoobTubeJunkie]

I wasn't going to watch because I thought the commercials looked terrible, and then a few hours before it aired I read an article saying Daniel Gillies was in it. I actually cursed out loud since I knew I was going to be forcing myself to sit through it. And it lived down to my expectations. The writing was terrible and Erica whats-her-face is really bad in the part. And has she had some bad work done? I thought her face looked weird - at least in Smallville she was very pretty.

But I do love me some Daniel Gillies, so I'll probably be back. And seeing the guy from Instant Star (the psych resident) was a nice surprise. Although I must admit I kind of want the series to fail so I can get more Elijah on The Vampire Diaries.

I saw the show described as "Lens Flare: The Series" and that about sums it up for me.

This cracked me up because the lens flare was annoying the crap out of me.

[JasmineFlower]

Although I didn't think it was crap, it just wasn't much of anything to me. It was just there. And to me, there's enough in the summer that just okay but nothing special is a bit of a stretch. I feel like they went with the wrong dynamic here as well. The guy in the coma and Erica are more appealing and have a better dynamic than the doctor that is the male lead. And I'm not familiar with the actor, I don't watch Vampire Diaries. He did nothing for me. I didn't like his approach with patients, his demeanor in general felt cold and brusque. I didn't see him as a reason to tune in besides him being attractive and that's not reason enough here. One of the cutest parts to me was when Erica challenged her sort of fiance in front of the other doctors and the one deemed it foreplay and that basically won't happen again it seems so the little parts that worked here are going to be greatly diminished in future episodes from what I can tell.

I don't know if I'll watch next week, might depend on how full the DVR is. It's nice to see K.C. Collins in another role, but I hope this doesn't mean something happens to his character on Lost Girl (I'm not through watching the second season yet), because I really enjoy him on there.

[hugafish]

I'll probably watch again, but I wasn't too impressed. It was a bit too much gloom and doom for me (I just finished another really serious, almost no levity show) so I hope the next episodes can be a bit more balanced. Also I was really annoyed with the cancer/ptsd storyline. Given that if the cancer comes back he has no chance of survival, I can certainly understand a patient choosing amputation. Sarcomas are nasty, nasty cancers.

Also wasn't too impressed by the acting by the fiancee, some parts almost made me laugh because I found her delivery of sad so off.

[DolfinWings]

I tuned in because I love me some Dr. Daniel Jackson, but from the pilot i don't get the point of Michael Shank's role is on the show. To be the annoying VO guy?

Erica Durance looked fab BTW. Dark hair suits her. I didn't watch much of Smallville when she was on, but she looked way older on that show than she does here.

BTW what's with all the light flares? It was way annoying on Star Trek and even more pointless on this show.

[BooBear]

I really tried to enjoy it, but I just couldn't; well acted crap is still crap. But it's summer and there's not much else on, so I'll try again next week in hopes that it was just a lousy pilot. With way too much lens flare.

I thought it was crap as well. I wasn't interested in the two main characters, the medical issues on the show have been so done before, I called pregnant girl dead before she finished her first scene.. I couldn't even really watch the end. It is just all so cliche' I loved the general surgeon standing riding on the gurney saying get me a robe over her dress... please. Somehow you are a great doctor if you ride on the gurney instead of walking like everyone else.

Doctor that the love of her life just went into a coma: "I don't want to go home but I don't know what i am going to do?" Other doctor "your going to suit up and save lives" Really? I mean really?

Would any medical institution allow that? I mean do they have legal counsel? Pregnant girl's family finds out her doc had just been in a car accident and was emotionally compromised by her fiance fighting for his life a few floors away? Please... please.. come on. Does this hospital have only one doctor? Insane. Silly.

I tuned in for Daniel Gillies.

Yup and I adored the accent, but what a stinker. Get him on a better show.

[actaeon]

I think it has a lot of potential. As an ex-Smallville viewer, I wanted to check it out because of Erica Durance and Michael Shanks, and I'm glad I tuned in. Fast-paced right from the start (no long build up to his coma-producing accident, it was in before the credits finished). I like both main characters, the way he has to deal with his highly curious and unforeseen predicament, being out-of-body and all. Her coping with her professional responsibilities with her personal life suddenly imploded. 'Cause life goes on. Getting phone calls about the wedding. What to do with the engagement ring? Patients still need attending. I like the way they addressed his patients' suddenly being without their surgeon. Nice, fruitful drama.

It doesn't look like all doom and gloom. This show has the potential for some rewarding weirdness. I'm usually not a fan of doctor shows, but House won me over with its oddity. This one may too. Like House, I thought it was very well acted. I didn't quite get the lens flare thing, maybe it's just kind of a visual signature of the show, kind of like the radically desaturated color on Supernatural. Can't say it bothered me. Lastly, I was glad Durance is getting producer credit. She really made the final season of Smallville for me and I'm happy to see her successful.

[TV Anonymous]

BoobTubeJunkie:

GeekLove:

I saw the show described as "Lens Flare: The Series" and that about sums it up for me.

This cracked me up because the lens flare was annoying the crap out of me.

Me too. I stopped watching half way and will try to continue later as all the lights really bothered me.

[OakGoblinfly]

Oh, the flares ....... I liked the first one or two .... but having one every few seconds made it extremely difficult to concentrate on the oh so corny dialog. I might watch another episode to see if the quality improves ….. otherwise another show with an excellent idea that fails in execution.

[TheSporkWielder]

Gosh the lens flares. Holy crap.

I was also distracted by the fact that Erica's character was wearing black lingerie under her wedding dress. Really? You're not worried about it showing through the fabric? Come on, cream colored undies can be sexy, too!

Don't think I'm going to tune in again. Not a bad pilot, but not good enough for me to put it on my TV-watching schedule.

[ChelseaMcQ]

I have loved Michael Shanks for a very long time. However, this show is very lucky it's airing in the summer.

I want to like it, but it's missing that thing that makes a tv show good.

Eh, and I hope the ex-wife isn't going to come back. And I hope the interim chief is a tertiary character at best.

[jessied112]

I like the show, but I hated the two possible recurring women: Charlie's ex and Charlie's temporary replacement. Both women can gladly not come back.

I find the show just a fun show to watch, nothing more. Yes, it is missing that special tv quality, but it's not downright horrible. I can at least stand watching it.

Daniel Gillies can be shirtless onscreen anytime.

[hugafish]

I thought this episode was horribly cliche and the writing was cringe worthy multiple times. And I don't get how Charlie can ever feel like a part of the show, he can't help solve cases seeing as how he can't communicate with the doctors and most patients. So where's it all going?

[Actionmage]

Wasn't a big fan of the last episode. It felt pretty cliche.

*Charlie's ex is a cardio specialist, while Alex is leaning on the neurologist, i.e. heart vs. head.

*The kid not able to pass on the message.

*Intern/mentor hospital sex. (Hey, it's Daniel Gillies, I get it, yet it's been done.)

*Charlie seems to react to Alex's song. (Couldn't it be both songs getting Charlie to react?)

*Alternative treatments mown down in a spectrum of not conclusive to hokum(?). Just once, I'd like to see a noted, respected surgeon/specialist/mucky-muck be open-minded to alternative therapies, just as a change of pace. Not all therapies for all patients, all the time, but various therapies when appropriate. Like the contact and music. For some reason, the mention of sexual touch in that sort of setting (coma patient) made me a little squirmy. Not sure why.

IA with jessied112 on the ex going away, but the temp chief can stay. For her two minutes of screentime, she seemed like a tough-but-fair type and I like that it's a position that's filled by a lady. I also liked that she wasn't all gushy and sympathetic, just businessy, if a bit snide. Alex and she have an understanding now; it could be a fun grudging respect for the other kind of relationship.


Ready for the next episode!

[mizkat]

I love me some Michael Shanks, but I can't get past the premise of this show. Having had two surgeries within a month 18 months ago, if I found out that "oh, btw, your surgeon's fiance is in a coma down the hall" I would have flipped. out. How is this even ethically possible? The spectre of Charlie also makes the tone wonky--any joke or light heartedness seems out of place when one of your own is on death's door. And if it was my husband in a coma? You'd bet I'd be taking time off to be at his bedside day and night and trying every therapy on the planet to save him, quackery or not.

ITA with all the comments about the hokey dialogue, predictability, and lens flares. But the biggest problem is the passivity of Charlie--he does nothing but wander the halls, meeting the undead/dead? No anger, no emotion, no yelling at his lifeless body to wake-up? No attempts at communicating with Alex except through a child? Gah. I'd take one less medical case for more Charlie characterization. Otherwise what's the point in hiring Shanks? An extra could do his job.

That said, MS does have lots of experience playing undead/dead/invisible/ascended/trapped between two worlds. Maybe that's what got him the gig.

[Shermie]

I'm enjoying the show, even though it's pretty typical medical drama fare. I loved ER for the first several seasons and never watched Grey's (although I think I would have liked it), so I'm ready for another medical show.

Is this a short-run summer fill-in or will it continue into the fall?

I kind of like the twist of coma-Charlie walking around the hospital, talking to the dead patients, watching his fiancee trying to bring him back. I wonder what the end game is. If this is just a 10-week fill-in show, they can be writing towards some sort of conclusion, like Charlie dying. But if they don't know how long the show will go on, I can see this coma concept getting tedious.

And yeah, I get detachment for a medical professional, but I don't know many people who could go to work and perform delicate procedures when their loved one is in a coma. But that's Hollywood for you. Someone dies, and the woman cries, the man gets mad and they're over it in a day. In real life, people are often numb with grief for weeks or months. Especially if the dead person was young and the death is unexpected, which is the case here.

Also, does Charlie have no family or friends? If someone is in a coma, usually relatives and friends take turns sitting next to him, talking to him, visiting, trying to bring him out of it - at least for a month or two. But typically for TV, a character has no one in their life beyond the other characters on the show.

[jessied112]

Also, does Charlie have no family or friends? If someone is in a coma, usually relatives and friends take turns sitting next to him, talking to him, visiting, trying to bring him out of it - at least for a month or two. But typically for TV, a character has no one in their life beyond the other characters on the show.

Well, his ex did come by in the second episode to see him, and if I remember from the pilot, Alex said that both his parents were dead and he had no siblings. I can only fanwank, though, that he doesn't really have other relatives and his only friends are those in the hospital because of his busy schedule.

And yeah, I get detachment for a medical professional, but I don't know many people who could go to work and perform delicate procedures when their loved one is in a coma. But that's Hollywood for you. Someone dies, and the woman cries, the man gets mad and they're over it in a day. In real life, people are often numb with grief for weeks or months. Especially if the dead person was young and the death is unexpected, which is the case here.

I do get what you mean, but grief does work in mysterious ways. I have known some people to be numb with grief but for others, it takes longer to set in and they try to go about their daily lives before they finally start grieving. But at least they're showing, in a subtle way, that Alex is most certainly not ok. She's rationalizing, getting too emotional about Charlie and she's making mistakes because he's in a coma. And at least we're seeing her break down. But I think that new Chief should have told her 'ok, you need time off. You're not allowed to work for at least two weeks' instead of 'we need you, so pull yourself together'. That's what pisses me off. That new Chief should realize that Alex started work right after the accident and she should have taken some time off. Alex would have complained, but she needs the time off.

But regardless of that, I do like the show. I know he'll wake up at the end of the season (it would be an awesome twist if he died), but I'm still liking the journey that it's taking. And a part of me even wishes that we got more time with Charlie and his guiding people into the light.

In this episode, for example, I LOL'd at the old man screaming at his dead body and Issac saying 'uh...it's ok,dude. YOU'RE DEAD!' and the old man running out, screaming all the way into the afterlife. I'd also like to see what unfinished business Charlie has, if he even has any. I mean, Issac was dead and he stayed until he finished with his business but Charlie is in a coma. What does he have to do in order to break free from limbo? I want more information like that. I mean, it's cool that we see the living working and seeing their cases, but this is technically supposed to be about Charlie, yet we see less of him than we do of the other characters.

[Granny58]

Well I am so glad to read these comments about the so-so plot lines and cheesey dialogue. I thought I was lacking some subtle sophistication! Having not missed a single episode of the superb, witty HOUSE I was in medical drama withdrawal...needed something to fill the gap. I enjoy spiritual ideas as well so I thought this had potential. Well, I actually don't find any of the characters likeable, except the psych doc (just a normal guy), and the diaglogue is 3rd rate. In particular I find Charlie's character smug. Nevertheless, I am hoping they find their groove and improve. I'm not stopping my life to watch, I'm DVR'ing it instead.

[maculae]

I went into the show from reading the forum here first. Whoever coined the phrase "Lens Flare: The Series", holy crap you're right. I stopped counting after about 30 because I realized I just wasn't paying attention to the show. Then again, the show was so simple that you could wash the dishes, read a book, watch another show and come back not missing anything.

I still don't understand why Alex got ripped apart by her boss. Didn't she get no time off from when the accident happen? Shouldn't she be on some sort of leave instead of being forced to work? I understand they'd be 2 doctors down if she were to go on some sort of personal leave, but that's what moonlighting doctors are for. She's clearly doing a crappy job because she's distracted that her fiance is in a coma, so the answer is to keep her working and have her continue to do a crappy job? What? Do they want a lawsuit?

The old guy running away screaming was the highlight of the show. It also depicted what I felt like doing as a result of watching the show.

As a med student that enjoys watching medical dramas, I'm willing to suspend my disbelief for X amount of time if it's well written enough. For instance early House, early ER (because the later years were WTF beyond belief), early Grey's didn't totally butcher the medical field at the height of their writing. But this show really takes the cake of either having a medical adviser that gives no shit or having people that don't listen to the medical adviser. Add the terrible dialogue, tepid plotlines, excessive lens flare and character choices that make little sense in any context (be it realistic or entertainment) and you have a pretty great show to snark or a show that isn't worth watching. I love Daniel Jackson...er Michael Shanks (despite that mildly unflattering haircut), but unless I read that he has something to do in this show aside from nothing I think I'm done with it.

High hopes for Jason Katim's medical drama coming out in the fall.

Edited by maculae, Jun 22, 2012 @ 11:00 AM.

[shapeshifter]

I'm also here for Daniel Jackson, The Immortal One.
Perfect casting strategy to draw in scifi fans to a mostly medical drama, but probably not enough to save the show.
I haven't been a medical show fan since Dr. Kildare. Hee. I may be old but my iPod touch knows the character's name.

But have any of you Grey's fans noticed that if you close your eyes when Alex is speaking, it could be Katherine Heigl?



Editing because when posting from an iPod Touch in the not-mobile version, line breaks are lost.

Edited by shapeshifter, Jun 22, 2012 @ 7:53 PM.

[ljande]

Well, I've watched the first 3 episodes, and it's ok, but kind of boring, so not sure I'll watch again. I wish NBC would have bought "off the Map" from ABC instead - I really liked that one.

[hugafish]

I thought this was the best episode so far, but that isn't saying a whole lot. It really is pretty boring. I wish there was one character who I really liked. Does anyone know how it's been doing rating-wise?