St. Denis Medical's Josh Lawson and Kaliko Kauahi help flesh out the comedic world of the new NBC hospital comedy. Set in Oregon, the series follows the lives of the staff of a hospital as they try to juggle their own idiosyncrasies with their commitment to helping other people. St. Denis Medical creators Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin bring the silly energy they used to help elevate shows like Superstore, albeit with some sweet touches of humanity that keep the story grounded.
The trailer for the upcoming NBC mockumentary show St. Denis Medical teases a comedy that is part Grey's Anatomy and part The Office.
St. Denis Medical's mockumentary comedy highlights those comical strengths, with characters Josh Lawson's confident trauma surgeon Bruce and Kaliko Kauahi's no-nonsense nurse administrator Val bringing fun energy to the setting. Both characters have true moments of heart, amid a series of jokes about the show's occasionally bizarre hospital workers. During an interview with Screen Rant, Josh Lawson and Kaliko Kauahi sat down to discuss the show's balance of heart and humor, break down how it compares to Superstore, and the show's balanced approach to stakes.
How St. Denis Medical Compares To Superstore
"The tone of this show is, to me, very different from Superstore."
Screen Rant: Starting off, congrats on St. Denis Medical! It's got such a great balance between real heart and pure silliness, and I really enjoyed it.
Josh Lawson: Yeah, it's a delicate line. I think the setting of a hospital lends itself to that kind of razor's edge between comedy — it's certainly a comedy, and unashamedly so. But when it needs to crank up the stakes or pull on the heartstrings, there's plenty of fertile ground there within the setting to do that.
What would you say separates this series from other comedies out there?
Josh Lawson: Well, I think the easy answer straight out of the gate is the writing. I just look at the scripts and first say, 'Well, I think this is funnier than other sitcoms.' Just looking at the scripts made me fall in love with [
St. Denis Medical
]. But there is also that human element of it. What I think Justin and Eric do so well is build out the world bigger and bigger and bigger.
It just makes the situation seem so much more believable, that you're seeing characters again and again and again in a more ancillary, secondary setting, you know? For me, it makes the world feel larger and more truthful. I don't see that very often. Often you see just the core ensemble in a show and really not much beyond that. I think that's a unique aspect of perspective that they provide.
Kaliko, you've worked with Justin and Eric before on Superstore. How would you say this experience on St. Denis Medical compares?
Kaliko Kauahi: The environment that [Eric and Justin] build is the same. We work with a lot of the same people behind the camera as well. So it's a really warm environment, a welcoming one. Josh and I know that it means we're more comfortable to try things. You're not as nervous to do that. But the tone of this show is, to me, very different from
Superstore
. Superstar felt wacky at times and outlandish. I think this is a little more subtle in general. That's been a little bit of a shift.
Yeah, I can't see you all finding a body in the walls of St. Denis.
Josh Lawson: Wait, there's an episode of
Superstore
where they find a dead body in the walls?!
Mortal Kombat 2 & Biggest Surprises In St. Denis Medical
"It was a sort of exquisite schizophrenia to go from such wildly different characters and voices."
Josh, I've got to also ask about Mortal Kombat 2, which is a bit of a tonal swing away from St. Denis Medical.
Josh Lawson: It's so great. I love this job for that, to be able to do. I kind of hate being myself in anything. It's strange because I just finished shooting
Mortal Kombat 2
when I went on to do this. It doesn't just look physically very different, but it was a sort of exquisite schizophrenia to go from such wildly different characters and voices. That's coming out next year, and I'm as excited as any
Mortal Kombat
fan to see how it turns out.
What would you say surprised you both about St. Denis Medical?
Kaliko Kauahi: Yeah, to be honest, especially in the beginning episodes, we were on set and still finding our way. I wasn't sure of how we would play against each other. Because I came from
Superstore
, and I knew this was different, [I didn't know] how it would all work together with all the pieces. It honestly wasn't until I saw the finished product, with the magic of editing and how they tell this story, that I saw it come together. That was a bit of a surprise to me. And once I saw it, I was like, 'Oh, we're, we're on the right track. We're doing something.
Josh Lawson: I haven't seen it yet, and I don't plan on watching it for a couple of reasons. I don't like watching myself back anywhere, really, but it's mainly to do with the fact that this shooting experience on
St. Denis Medical
was far and away my favorite job that I've ever done. The people I did it with, I just loved it so, so much. In that way, I don't need to see it. If I'm doing something wrong, you should show me and point it out to me so that I can fix it, but because I love this job so much, I didn't want to. I didn't necessarily need it to be results driven, right? The process was enough for me. It made me so satisfied to be a part of this process, and I was just fearful that if I started watching it, I'd be like, 'Ah, I'm going to need to get the best result,' as opposed to just enjoying the experience.
It's so rare to work with people you love, creators you love, in a stage like the one on the Universal Studio lot. And all in scrubs! That's like wearing a pajamas and sneakers. Everything was perfect. It was just the perfect job. I just wanted to remain perfect in my head. I don't want to look at things, and certainly don't want to make any changes to the character based on anything vanity related, you know? I don't want to look at it back going, 'Oh, okay, that's what my face does.' So I'm avoiding it, but it sounds people are responding to the show as positively as I responded to making it.
St. Denis debuts on NBC on Nov. 12.
More About St. Denis Medical Season 1
Devoted nurse Alex has just been promoted to Supervising Nurse in the emergency department at St. Denis Medical Center in Oregon. She works alongside an eclectic team of underfunded yet dedicated doctors, nurses and hospital staff, including her boss, Joyce, who wants nothing more than to turn the hospital into an international medical destination, and Dr. Ron, who's done it all, seen it all and is pretty much over it all. They're all doing their best not to lose their patience in a hospital overrun with patients -- while caring for everyone who comes in the door, including each other.
Check out our other St. Denis Medical interviews here:
St. Denis Medicalairs on NBC and premieres Nov. 12.
In an underfunded and understaffed Oregon hospital, a dedicated team of doctors and nurses struggles to maintain their sanity while delivering care to their patients. Set in a mockumentary style, this workplace comedy brings humor and heart to the high-stakes environment of healthcare, with a standout cast led by Wendi McLendon-Covey and David Alan Grier.
Cast Wendy McLendon-Covey , David Alan Grier , Josh Lawson , Mekki Leeper , Kahyun Kim , Jeff Marlow , Allison Tolman , Kaliko Kauahi
Custom image by Yailin Chacon
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