After the launch of Showtime's Nurse Jackie this week, it seems as if nurses are taking the limelight away from doctors for a change. Joining the throng is Jada Pinkett Smith, the star of TNT's HawthoRNe premiering tonight at 9pm.
The medical drama featuring the wife of actor Will Smith revolves around Christina Hawthorne, the Chief Nursing Officer at Richmond Trinity Hospital, whom Pinkett Smith describes as "intense and all over the place" with a case of "God complex." Joining her are Michael Vartan who plays Chief of Surgery Dr. Tom Wakefield; Suleka Matthew, David Julian Hirsh, and Christina Moore as fellow nurses Bobbie Jackson, Ray Stein, and Candy Sullivan, respectively; Hannah Hodson as Christina's biracial daughter Camille, and Joanna Cassidy Christina's mother-in-law and hospital board member Amanda.
On the pilot episode, Christina must try and stop David, who is dying of cancer from ending his life, all the while trying to find the time and energy to deal with her husband's death.
"She's more than a fighter," says the promo. "She's more than a mother. More than a friend. She's every patient's hero."
"I think when you base a show on complex characters, there's always room for great drama," adds Pinkett Smith, 37. "Nurses are the heartbeat of the hospital. Christina Hawthorne is a woman with very strong convictions. She's a woman who's very passionate about her beliefs and right or wrong has the courage to do what she believes in."
"HawthoRNe is different from a typical medical drama because it's told from a nurse's perspective," Vartan chips in. "One of the amazing things about Jada is the combination of strength and vulnerability she brings to the part."
Catch the premiere
HawthoRNe tonight 9pm tonight.
- Glenn Diaz, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TNT
(Image courtesy of TNT)