{"id":66,"date":"2001-11-07T15:15:18","date_gmt":"2001-11-07T22:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/?p=66"},"modified":"2001-11-07T15:15:18","modified_gmt":"2001-11-07T22:15:18","slug":"next-stop-wonderland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/?p=66","title":{"rendered":"Next stop, “Wonderland’"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Francisco Gate<\/em>
\nNext stop, “Wonderland’<\/strong>
\nBy Tim GoodmanABC’s riveting new hospital show is shaping up as TV’s next great dramatic series.<\/p>\n

When “ER” first burst onto the scene, it was a mix of supreme drama and over-the-top hospital theatrics – yelling, running, cameras swooshing around the room. The worry then was that even though you couldn’t take your eyes off it, who could bear the clatter?<\/p>\n

A lot of people, apparently. “ER” has been the most dominant drama on television since it debuted. With two other hospital dramas already on the schedule – “Chicago Hope” and “City of Angels” – a cynic might say a fourth is overkill. But ABC’s new midseason replacement series, “Wonderland,” is a special kind of hospital drama, one that recalls all the greatness of “ER” without having yet fallen into the soap-operaesque storylines of a tired front-runner. In fact, “Wonderland” is the new “ER,” the fresh take with a twist. Anyone with an inkling that “ER” has played itself out and needs a discharge should take a look at this show’s premiere (10 p.m. Thursday, Channel 7). Yep, a head-to-head battle with the champ – conventional programming wisdom would call that a suicide mission.<\/p>\n

However, “Wonderland” is worth skipping “ER” for. It isn’t about ruptured spleens and heart attacks. It’s about the mentally ill, the psychotics and schizophrenics and the severely depressed. It’s about the doctors who take care of these special cases, the so-called gatekeepers holding the barbarians back from society.<\/p>\n

Produced, written and directed by Peter Berg (himself an alum of “Chicago Hope,” as well as an independent filmmaker), “Wonderland” is a riveting if challenging bit of television. Berg and a team of writers spent months at New York’s Bellevue hospital, where they were allowed to witness and interview doctors working with the mentally ill. They’ve borrowed storylines from there and have gained a convincing knowledge of psychiatry and its terms, much as “ER” mastered the fine art of yelling for drugs and clinical tools with the right words.<\/p>\n

To further the effect of being in what is essentially an asylum, Berg uses hand-held cameras and lets the actors improvise when needed. This gives “Wonderland” a gritty, realistic feel. But the technique also adds a sense of chaos to the viewing experience. Watching “Wonderland” is a sensory overload, as patients scream at the top of their lungs, bang on things, turn TV channels rapidly and provide a kind of non-stop white noise over the show’s dialogue.<\/p>\n

Parents who have put to bed unruly children will find no relief here, nor will anyone else seeking to unwind from the day’s work. “Wonderland” makes the frenetic talking-and-walking banter of “The West Wing” look like a mime show.<\/p>\n

In fact, “Wonderland” has more in common with Martin Scorsese’s “Bringing Out the Dead” than any hospital drama on TV.<\/p>\n

But those who hang in there will discover the potential of television’s next great drama. The doctors and patients in Rivervue Hospital’s psychiatric and emergency wards are an engaging bunch. Dr. Robert Banger (Ted Levine, “Silence of the Lambs”) heads up the forensic psychiatry department. He’s the calmest in the storm – a trait he needs with a crumbling marriagge and the impending custody loss of his two beloved young sons. Levine is brilliant, by the way.<\/p>\n

Another forensic specialist is Dr. Neil Harrison (Martin Donovan, “The Opposite of Sex”), who is married to Dr. Lyla Garrity (Michelle Forbes, “Homicide: Life on the Street”). The two are expecting their first child – and for two tightly wound people, that’s just added pressure. Donovan has been wonderful in every movie he’s been in and Forbes’ intensity is her greatest asset. She heads up the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program – meaning she has to decide if people checking in to the crowded hospital are really disturbed or not. A misread in the pilot leads to the dramatic crux: A mentally ill man who thinks he’s taking orders from Zeus guns down five people in Times Square.<\/p>\n

Also in the mix: young Dr. Abe Matthews (Billy Burke), whose womanizing and fear of intimacy sometimes cloud his psychiatric evaluations; Dr. Derrick Hatcher (Michael Jai White), a physician (as opposed to a shrink) at the hospital; and resident Heather Miles (Joelle Carter), who is bright and understanding (and a potential romantic partner to Dr. Matthews). Like any good series, “Wonderland” is littered with smaller characters giving fine performances, and its “crazy people” truly get into their parts.<\/p>\n

The writing and acting in this series are superb. And Berg hasn’t tried to tell too many stories too quickly, so we can get to know the characters slowly. That said, the pilot has an explosive subplot that kick starts everything.<\/p>\n

If you’ve been attracted to the reality feel of “NYPD Blue” or the fine writing of a show like “The West Wing,” you’ll see the potential in “Wonderland” right away. This thing is just dripping with quality. The question is whether you can adjust to the in-your-face chaos and, more importantly, if you can give up “ER.”<\/p>\n

You ought to at least give “Wonderland” a chance. It’s time to switch hospitals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Francisco Gate Next stop, “Wonderland’ By Tim GoodmanABC’s riveting new hospital show is shaping up as TV’s next great dramatic series. When “ER” first burst onto the scene, it was a mix of supreme drama and over-the-top hospital theatrics – yelling, running, cameras swooshing around the room. The worry then was that even though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[34],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.martindonovan.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}