Jordana Spiro of "The Mob Doctor"

Credit: FOX

[In case you've Forgotten, and as I will continue to mention each and every one of these posts that I do: This is *not* a review. Pilots change. Sometimes a lot. Often for the better. Sometimes for the worse. But they change. Actual reviews will be coming in September and perhaps October (and maybe midseason in some cases). This is, however, a brief gut reaction to not-for-air pilots. I know some people will be all "These are reviews." If you've read me, you've read my reviews and you know this isn't what they look like.]

Show:"The Mob Doctor" (FOX)
The Pitch:Isn't this one kinda self-explanatory? "You see... She's a doctor... but she also works for the MOB. Oh and she's hot."
Quick Response: Jordana Spiro is an underutilized resource in Hollywood. She had a kinda-hit show, at least by TBS standards, but that means that maybe 1 percent of the population has a clue who she is. Expect that number to soar to 2 percent by the time FOX is done promoting "The Mob Doctor," but I doubt that this mediocre jumble of genres is going to be the show that makes her the star she probably deserves to be. "The Mob Doctor" -- Don't forget the "The," because unlike the tag line for "The Bourne Legacy," when it comes to mob doctors, there was always only meant to be one -- is a generic medical procedural grafted onto a stereotypical mobster show. That produces a unique, but not necessarily effective, world in which you can have an ethically complicated case-of-the-week getting upstaged and rendered entirely disposable by a gratuitous and jarring car chase under the L in Chicago. At least in the pilot, the hospital is a world of theoretically serious dramas and emotions, while the mob storylines are set aside for cheap jokes, one-dimensional characterizations and dialogue that feels filched from countless movies and TV shows. It'd be like "dr. vegas" except for how central Sin City and the casino backdrop were to that failed CBS drama. That's why "dr. vegas," for all of its failings and its risible title, actually *was* kinda distinctive and interesting. The use of Chicago in the "Mob Doctor" pilot only sporadically adds value and the blending of two sets of perfunctory genre elements results less in one distinctive, fresh show and more in a doubly-unengaging Frankenshow. Spiro is not at fault at all. She's tough when she needs to be tough and sensitive when she needs to be sensitive. The character has a self-righteous streak that I found off-putting immediately, but I think it's just a set-up so that she can undergo a moral or ethical slide as the "Mob" half of the title pushes against the "Doctor" half. Zeljko Ivanek is wasted. Zach "QB1!" Gilford is wasted. William Forsythe is seemingly playing the mob heavy from the nonexistent sensationalistic Lifetime original movie "I Was a Doctor For The Mob!" That is to say that he's having fun, but he's not in the same show as the rest of the actors (who are all pretty much forgettable, if I haven't mentioned them). When it comes to "The Mob Doctor," I see the hook in the premise that might get some viewers to tune in, but I don't see the value in the execution that might bring them back.
Desire To Watch Again: Middling-to-low, but "The Mob Doctor" is in a time slot that isn't all that competitive for my DVR attentions. Especially in the early-going before "Gossip Girl" returns, I'll have space to give this one a couple episodes to find a voice, any voice.

Take Me To The Pilots '12: NBC's 'Animal Practice'
Take Me To The Pilots '12: ABC's 'Last Resort'
Take Me To The Pilots '12: CBS' 'Vegas'
Take Me To The Pilots '12: The CW's 'Beauty & The Beast'
Take Me To The Pilots '12: ABC's '666 Park Avenue'
Take Me To The Pilots '12: NBC's 'Chicago Fire'
Take Me To The Pilots '12: FOX's 'Ben and Kate'
Take Me To The Pilots '12: CBS' 'Elementary'
Take Me To The Pilots '12: The CW's 'Arrow'
Take Me To The Pilots '12: ABC's 'The Neighbors'
Take Me To The Pilots '12: NBC's 'Revolution'
All of last year's Take Me To The Pilots entries

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

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A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.