Fox’s latest comedy-drama, “Red Band Society,” lumps every known cliché together, adds a smattering of humor and a pinch of originality for a show which, though not terrible, is hardly entertaining.
“Red Band Society” premiered last Wednesday and, like the “Dead Poets Society” (1989), follows a group of young, carefree teenagers as they romp through their quirky lives. Apparently Hollywood thinks forming secret societies with cutesy names is a common teenage pastime — or maybe I was just never invited to join one.
While “Dead Poets Society” follows a group of boarding school students as they deal with the hardships of adolescence, “Red Band Society” tells the story of six teenagers in a pediatric hospital ward dealing with certain harrowing diseases: cystic fibrosis, leg cancer, an eating disorder and a failing heart.
Writing about cancer is hard. “Red Band Society” proves that writing a comedy-drama about cancer — balancing humor, emotion and plot alongside the hell that is chemotherapy — is downright impossible. This show bundles all of the potential complexity and insight presented by terminal illness into a picturesque, compact package with all the depth of the cardboard box it comes wrapped in.
The stale caricatures which comprise the show’s central figures are the worst. There’s the aggressively mean, hot cheerleader Kara (Zoe Levin) who needs a heart — literally and figuratively. A strikingly handsome young pediatrician Jack McAndrew (Dave Annable) takes a poor, orphan boy Jordi (Nolan Sotillo) into an intense and risky surgery, while Jordi’s understanding and charismatic roommate Leo (Charlie Rowe) supports him.
There’s a sassy no nonsense nurse, Nurse Jackson (“The Help’s” Octavia Spencer), with a heart of gold and a seemingly obligatory African American teen, Dash (Brian Bradley), who gets the group into all sorts of hijinks. Oh, and there’s a nerdy, but lovable, girl with glasses, Emma (Ciara Bravo).
Bored yet? If not, wait until you sit through 45 minutes of watching these over-stylized characters run amok through the playground of a hospital.
The best character and only highlight of the show is the narrator, a comatose kid named Charlie (Griffin Gluck). Midway between life and death, Charlie can hear everything happening not only around him, but also in the entire hospital. It’s a clever idea, but he’s laden with just as much sap as the rest of the characters.
“Red Band Society” still packs a weighty emotional punch. The dialogue between the cancer patients, especially given their ages, is touching despite their cookie-cutter personalities. Several mysteries, romances and quick twists keep the show fairly interesting throughout.
What “Red Band Society” ultimately lacks is reality. Maybe the point of television is to suspend audiences’ sense of reality, but this show asks too much.
In one of the opening scenes, Jordi and Dash are caught smoking pot in a storage closet. Nurse Jackson discovers them, smacks them on the wrist and sends them off to class. Dash has cystic fibrosis. Appropriate punishment, nurse.
During a later scene, the same kids break into the hospital rooftop where they knock back a few beers to celebrate the going away of Jordi’s cancerous leg happening the next day. Quick cut to Doctor McAndrew who, after being asked how long they should let the kids stay on the roof, says “Let’s give ‘em an hour” to the on-call staff. Shouldn’t the pre-operation kid be hooked to some IVs, not underage drinking the night before a major surgery?
It’s a sweet thought that these kids can still lead typical high school lives while stuck in a hospital, but it ignores some fundamental realities which should have set this show apart. For “Red Band Society” to so blatantly ignore reality is an insult to its audience’s intelligence — leaving the show little more than low grade television masquerading as a sensitive and emotional subject.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the character "Dash" has lung cancer.
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