{"id":104714,"date":"2020-01-17T12:46:46","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T17:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/25yearslatersite.com\/?p=104714"},"modified":"2024-04-12T21:53:37","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T01:53:37","slug":"whats-the-buzz-medical-police-richard-dawson-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvobsessive.com\/2020\/01\/17\/whats-the-buzz-medical-police-richard-dawson-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical Police, Richard Dawson, and More!"},"content":{"rendered":"
Welcome to What\u2019s the Buzz<\/strong>, where members of our staff provide you with recommendations on a weekly basis. This week, Hawk Ripjaw<\/a> is watching Medical Police<\/strong>, Laura Stewart checks out the recent video from Richard Dawson, Jason Sheppard<\/a> is listening to the score from 1917<\/strong>, Varden Frias<\/a> is reading Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye<\/strong>, and Johnny Malloy<\/a> contemplates a candle that is supposed to smell like…Gwenyth Paltrow’s vagina?<\/em><\/p>\n Hawk<\/strong>: Almost a decade ago, the trajectory of Cartoon Network\u2019s Adult Swim was changed by one of its first live action programs, Childrens Hospital<\/em>. Rob Corddry\u2019s short-form satire debuted on the internet before being picked up by CN, and the show has enjoyed a handful of semi-related shows such as NTSF:SD:SUV<\/em>, Newsreaders <\/em>and Eagleheart<\/em>. His latest, Medical Police<\/em>, is a very goofy and exceptionally welcome addition to Netflix. It’s just what the doctor ordered.<\/p>\n Medical Police <\/em>changes the formula of the original show, taking Dr. Lola Adolf Spratt (Erinn Hayes) and Dr. Owen Maestro (Rob Huebel) and sending them on a globe-trotting action adventure to stop a dangerous virus. This premise changes the format to a 20-30 minute serialized narrative that expertly transplants the short-form comedy of the original show to longer episodes. Given the new theme of the parody, this format works perfectly and never overstays its welcome.<\/p>\n What makes Medical Police <\/em>so great is its commitment: it has those Netflix dollars to deliver high production value that realistically apes its target material. The action sequences pop—they feel realistic, but still exhibit the visual language to randomly pop off action sequence cliches.<\/p>\n In terms of the comedy, it\u2019s essentially a non-stop riff on action thriller genre conventions and cliches, with characters delivering extremely stupid dialogue in even stupider situations, but all of it done so in absolute seriousness and deadpan perfection.<\/p>\n In an example, the stars have to spot two criminals involved in a hand-off, with their only intel being that they\u2019re both wearing red hats. It turns out that the hats in questions are extravagantly conspicuous giant foam cowboy hats. The show\u2019s secret weapon in regards to this style of humor is that this specific detail is not actually called out by anyone.<\/p>\n In another, an agent is recalling a situation in which she was off the grid, but \u201cgot cocky\u201d and accidentally used her CDC-issued credit card to buy coffee. This situation is played completely straight but the performances are very overblown. It\u2019s an impressive tonal balancing act that accomplishes several things at once but with tongue firmly in cheek, and rarely fails to be hilarious.<\/p>\n At the center is a strangely compelling relationship between Spratt and Maestro that does the standard trope of them falling for each other. But the chemistry between Hayes and Huebel is so strong, and their delivery so deadpan, that it is absolutely effective as both a genuine narrative element and a parody of the trope. It\u2019s easy to forget where they begin and how their relationship evolves, but while some spoofs would drag it out of nowhere for the sake of the joke, Medical Police<\/em> lays the groundwork from the first episode and builds on it in ways that would feel contrived in a straight-laced drama, but here play specifically into the show\u2019s language.<\/p>\n Medical Police <\/em>feels like something we need right now: an intelligently stupid and entertaining goofball comedy with no political or existential underpinnings, that knows what it does well and executes it perfectly. 2020 is off to a great start with such a clever and lovable goofball show. There is potential for another season, and I would love nothing more to join these characters for another hilarious globe-trotting adventure.<\/p>\n
\nMedical Police<\/h2>\n