Night Shift: It’s a Wrap
As I’m going to be on a plane later in the week when Night Shift comes to an end, I thought I’d do my series wrap up in advance of the final episode. So here it is:
Night Shift Wrap Up: I stopped watching after episode 3.
I had episodes 4-6 on my computer but never watched them. They’re now deleted.
I kept a little bit of track via Serial Drama and The Soap Box, mainly to ensure that I wasn’t missing out on anything fabulous, or even fabulously bad, and it turned out that I wasn’t.
From what I can gather there was one halfway decent episode in the group I didn’t watch, but even that involved yet another er/Grey’s Anatomy surgery in an elevator rip-off.
So, what did Night Shift achieve?
- Using the actual hospital
- Turning Patrick into a complete jerk
- Making Jason appealing again, which only really makes it worse because most of the time we don’t get that Jason on GH
- Getting Spinelli de-flowered by a serial killer
- Turning the possibility of Brenda into a mummified red herring
- Never coming to grips with the “each episode is a new Saturday night” conceit and thus having Maxie flat-line with no follow up and Stacy the pregnant woman conveniently only ever having medical problems, or dying, on Saturday nights
- Casting the new Babe Carey to annoy us
- Wasting Billy Dee Williams
- Breaking up Robin and Patrick as painfully as possible
- Foisting Leyla on us
- Rejuvenating Robin and Jason’s friendship
Of those, really only two are positive and only the last three have translated over the regular GH in any way shape or form.
The parallel universe nature of the whole thing was both a blessing (none of this really counts to regular GH) and a curse (what precisely was the point?) Though, ultimately I am thankful for it because it meant that I did not have to care at all.
Compliment does need to be paid to the regular GH actors, particularly the three leads and, ultimately I gather (not that I doubt it, I just wasn’t watching), Sonia Eddy, for stepping up and putting in some really good performances throughout. Not that I really doubted that. Kimberly McCullough once again proved she can do brilliantly when given something, anything, interesting to do. It’s always amazing to remember that someone we have been watching since she was 7 years old can continue to deliver, and have chemistry with everyone, as an adult across a wide range of stories. Hopefully GH will remember that now she’s released from her Night Shift bonds.
Aside from those performances though, there was nothing at all compelling about this show. A couple of scenes here and there, that was all. The new cast was mediocre, the theme of the week stories were at times painfully clunky and otherwise boring and predictable, the existing characters – Lainey, Kelly – were handed bizarre stories, and generally nothing at all could compel me to care.
Which is saying something, because I’m a person who is still engaged enough to watch regular GH despite its many, many flaws and the fact I have close on 30 years of watching history to compare it unfavourably too. And I like Robin and Patrick and even, shoot me, Jason. So heaven help them with new viewers.
So, again, I stopped watching after episode 3. Can’t sum it up any more comprehensively than that.
Filed under: General Hospital, Night Shift | 7 Comments
IF they are thinking of NS 2 they better give Patrick and robin’s fanbase a reason to come back
breaking them up after eppy 9 killed the hight ratings they were getting to bad!
I think this was one of the worst shows I’ve ever watched. I’ve tried to figure out why I keep saying that when there truly are tv shows that are worse (The Mountain comes to mind). I think it’s because I have a real fondness for GH despite its recent and current problems, I’ve been watching it off and on forever. Night Shift trashed it in almost every way possible. So I’m ticked off about it.
I quit after episode 6, but the KoE stuck it out all the way through.
ITA with everything you said especially the painful and ugly breakup with Patrick and Robin and how they clearly decimated the character of Patrick for an unworthy character and actress who is being shoved down our throats and now it’s being bought on GH.
Who would want to see a part 2 to this crap? Not many.
Pat, there is nothing TIIC will give for the Patrick and Robin fans to tune in for and why would we believe them? They promoted Scrubs like they were going to have a good romance and it was the complete opposite.
I agree with Tammy, that the character of Patrick has been destroyed and only to prop another character. I also tuned out after Episode 3 mainly because I knew Robin and Patrick would breakup over a baby and it happend on GH as well. Too predictable. Just I like knew Patrick and Leyla would hookup cause that too was too predictable just like everything else on NS. It was dull and painful and not that much entertaining to keep me up at night.
Just say no to NightShift 2.
I agree with every word you said. And the saddest thing of all? They cast someone to be the big “spoiler” (wtf-EVER)in Robin and Patrick’s relationship who not only can’t act, and therefore gets steamrolled in her scenes with Kimberly, but who also has ZERO chemistry with Jason Thompson. And Patrick…..I could be wrong, but I somehow doubt that the goal of a “romantic leading man” on a soap opera is to have fans screaming at the television, “Die, mf’er, DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!” Yeah, good luck getting fans back for an NS2, you idiots. Thank you for your amazing comments-I haven’t watched a full epi. since Stacey died, I’ve just dl’ed clips w/Kimberly in them.
I totally agree with all of the comments above. I think TPTB at GH have hit a new low. They in essence literally turned on their own fans. They used Patrick and Robin to promote and pimp their new show Night Shift. They deliberately allowed SCRUBS fans to believe that the show would be about Patrick and Robin, their romance and their careers. They were told that NS would be a vehicle to explore SCRUBS in more depth than the time allowed on GH. What a load of cr**p! Instead, what the fans got was seeing SCRUBS systematically and painfully destroyed with every passing episode. They saw Robin turned into a whack job and Patrick turned into one of the most heartless, unappealing male characters in daytime. This was a man that saw the woman whom he supposedly loved going through some type of emotional collapse and how does he respond? Does he try to help her? No. His response is basically, “well if you’re unable to attend to my needs, I’ll find somebody who can.” What makes this even more insidious is that Patrick is supposed to be a doctor. If this is someone’s idea of a “hot” male lead, they must like abusive relationships. Someone needs to get this tin man a heart.
Moving on to Patrick and ________. Most SCRUBS fans are refusing to acknowledge this character or even say her name. Imagine that, having a character on a show where viewers can’t even bring themselves to say her name. If the handling of the SCRUBS relationship wasn’t bad enough, the fans saw the systematic propping of an uninspiring character played by a mediocre actress. Other more interesting stories were dropped (Brenda, Maxie, social and economic injustice) seemingly in favor of the new pairing of Patrick and ______. I guess the TPTB felt that two “gorgeous” people on screen getting it on couldn’t miss. They must have been shocked to learn that the scenes of Patrick sticking his tongue down ________ ’s throat turned more stomachs and made viewers turn off their televisions. It’s funny that the TPTB, the writers. etc. are supposed to be creative, artists, but it was the viewing audience that had to remind them that’s it’s about more than just being a pretty face.
This is a continuation of my previous post.
What is really sad about NS is that it started out so very promising. Not just in terms of SCRUBS but it tried to raise certain important issues. The large numbers of unsinsured Americans in this country, social and economic injustice as presented by the character of Stan. Even the issues of race and stereotypes was explored, which is usually not seen on daytime or nighttime tv and I have to commend GH for addressing it. Unfortunately, all of these issues were dropped in favor of the “new hot couple”. If there is to be a NS2, maybe Guza has learned his lesson and chooses to return to the themes that made NS successful in the beginning. One can only hope.