Nursing It

Weeds fifth season premiered this week. The show's been tired for a while, and it looks like this will be the worst season yet. The original reason the show had for existing (a young suburban widow with kids to raise selling pot) has long since vanished. It's now just traveling on the strength of its characters, and I don't think that's enough.

Following Weeds, Edie Falco returns to television on Nurse Jackie. It seems to be yet another medical drama with a quirky lead (this time a nurse instead of a doctor) who doesn't play by the rules (she signs a patient up as an organ donor after he dies) and has serious personal problems (hooked on painkillers). Also, this being Showtime, we get the swearing and sex they can't show on the networks.

Because Falco is the lead, she knows better than the doctors, and she cares more. There's also a big reveal at the end--she has a husband and two kids. I'm not sure why we should care.

Most of the other characters seem to be cliches--the overbearing doctor, the hard-edged administrator, the rookie nurse learning the ropes. Maybe they'll fill in as we go along, but how many will be going along?