Dr. Sanjay Gupta is well known for his role as CNN’s medical correspondent but he’s also a published author. His well-received novel,“Monday Mornings” takes a look at one lesser-known aspect oft the medical profession – the confidential review doctors are required to go through when a patient dies or when a big mistake is made. The new TNT show of the same title starring Ving Rhames debuts Monday, February 4 at 10 p.m.
On the show, which also stars TV and movie veteran Alfred Molina and is executive produced by David E. Kelley of “Ally McBeal” fame, doctors face their peers and must defend their mistakes. It makes for compelling drama, as TV executives realized after reading Gupta’s book. He says he was inspired to pen a novel by things he saw in his own career and thought his experiences might make for compelling reading.
“Iwrite things down a lot,” Gupta told USAToday.com. “I take a lot of notes. And then I realized there were some unbelievable stories there. I wanted people to understand what happens in a hospital when there’s a mistake. Bad things can happen to good people.”
Set at the fictional Chelsea General in Portland, Oregon the show follows the surgeons in both their personal and professional decision-making. Rhames plays Dr. Jorge Villenueva, the tough head of trauma surgery. Molina is the unyielding trauma chief who holds his surgeons to a high standard of accountability.
Watch the first five minutes of the pilot of “Monday Morning” here.
