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Even XXXXX, XXXXX XX, 2013 | TAB NAME Odd 2 TV ENCORE By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media M edical series tend to enjoy great popularity in prime time, and the trend shows no sign of fizzling out any time soon. NBC's spent a lot of time on that bandwagon over the years, with shows such as "Trauma," "Scrubs," "St. Elsewhere" and the wildly successful "E.R." under its belt. Hoping to keep the doctor love alive, the peacock network recently premiered "The Night Shift," a medical drama that follows the lives of the staff who work the graveyard shift at San Antonio Memorial Hospital. The series kicked off its eight-epi- sode order May 27, and its new- est episode airs Tuesday, June 10, on NBC. According to Deadline.com, one of the show's creators, Jeff Judah, has a friend who works as an ER doctor in Atlanta and is constantly regaling him with sto- ries of the cases he encounters and his fellow doctors who work there. It was these stories that served as the inspiration for "The Night Shift." "It gives our show more of a blue-collar feel," says Judah, referring to "people who are often drunk or high, and about the 'adrenaline junkies' who work in the ER on the night Graybeals Carpet 2 x 3" Young's Culligan 3 x 3" Harrison- Merzger 2 x 2" On the Cover shift." Day or night, there's always something going on in a hospital, and the never-ending flow of material plays a major role in making the genre so gripping. In an article for "The National," journalist Ben East comments on the realism of portraying life or death every week, since the medical profession is "inherently dramatic." "While it's faintly ridiculous for an ongoing cop show in a small town to revolve around murder after murder, people are always being rushed to hospital," he points out. Set in a relatively small mar- ket, San Antonio Memorial's ER is the point of call for 22 counties and often involves getting care to patients via helicopter. According to Judah, he and fel- low show-runner Gabe Sachs wanted to bring that military aspect to the series. Eoin Macken, one of the first actors that landed a role in the ensemble cast, plays one of Judah's aforementioned "adren- aline junkies," T.C. Callahan. T.C. is a brilliant surgeon who has recently returned from service in Afghanistan and is now find- ing himself constantly at odds with his superiors. His time spent as an Army doctor has taught him some unorthodox medical practices, which, despite their effectiveness, aren't always readily accepted by the powers that be. The Irish actor and model (yes, we probably have another McDreamy on our hands) is well known for his role as the honor- able Gwaine in the BBC One series "Merlin." He's also made appearances on "The Tudors" and the "EastEnders"-esque Irish soap opera "Fair City." The well- rounded Macken has also shown his writing and editing chops with his feature film "Christian Blake" (2008) and directed an hour-long documentary on the Irish fashion industry. Jill Flint plays Dr. Jordan Alexander, T.C.'s recently promot- ed night shift boss who, just to make things a little more compli- cated, is also his ex-girlfriend. While both are extremely talent- ed doctors, their work styles don't jive, and that, along with the awkwardness of their roman- tic history, causes them to butt heads. Jordan has risen to her new position with the expecta- tion that she can bring some order to the unruly nighttime ER, but T.C.'s fly-by-the-seat-of-his- pants manner clashes with Jordan's strictly regimented way of getting things done. This isn't Flint's first foray into the world of fictional medicine. The doctors are in: NBC rolls out a new medical drama for summer She played Jill Casey, an adminis- trator at the local hospital and the main character's on again/off again girlfriend in USA Network's medical drama "Royal Pains," and has had recurring guest roles in "Nurse Jackie." T.C.'s fellow late-night team- mates include his best friend Topher (Ken Leung, "Lost"), who helps keep his brash pal from getting into real trouble, and Drew (Brendan Fehr, "Roswell"), another former Army medic for whom T.C. acts as a mentor. Rounding out the medical team are surgical residents Paul (Robert Bailey Jr., "The Happening," 2008) and Krista (Jeananne Goossen, "The Vow," 2012), who are new to the ER and are trying to prove them- selves, plus Kenny (JR Lemon, "Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas," 2013), a seasoned nurse who keeps the doctors focused and helps maintain order. Like T.C., Kenny isn't afraid to break a few rules if it means getting the patients the care they need. 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