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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed shows.
Mercy
EMAILPRINTSERIES: NBC, Wednesday 8:00p (60 minutes)
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 39 votes
Read user comments
Rate this show >
Show Info
Genre(s): Drama
Created By: Liz Heldens
First Air Date: September 23, 2009
Summary
Starring Taylor Schilling, Jaime Lee Kirchner, Michelle Trachtenberg, James Tupper, Diego Klattenhoff, Guillermo Diaz, and James LeGros
Drafted to fill in for the delayed "Parenthood," the drama about the staff of New Jersey's Mercy Hospital focuses on three nurses.
Episode Guide & More Info: More about this show at TV.com
Also On The Web: Official Show Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
It sounds soapy, but it's all handled well enough, and with enough humor, that we believe it.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
In spite of some talented actors, it all seems more scripted than lived, referring not the world but a world of things you've seen on TV, handled well enough to make Mercy passable, but never exceptional, television.
Read Full Review >Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
If Ozzie and Harriet, the original sitcom mom and dad, might have some trouble recognizing themselves in any of this, surely Houlihan, the bullied boy-toy nurse of M*A*S*H, will raise a clenched fist of solidarity with the hardbitten Iraq war veteran Veronica Callahan of Mercy.
Read Full Review >The New York TimesGinia Bellafante
The class divide is ugly and pronounced, much more so than on “Nurse Jackie,” where Jackie’s best friend is a surgeon happiest in the proximity of $600 pumps. Quickly, Sonia’s aspirations are shown to be untenable.
Read Full Review >Washington PostTom Shales
Looking for a show to stave off "ER" withdrawal? Have Mercy; it's (you'll pardon the expression) strong medicine.
Read Full Review >VarietyBrian Lowry
Grading on a curve amid TV's viral nurse outbreak, the series proves more engaging than "Hawthorne" and less dour than "Nurse Jackie." Initially, though, it just doesn't quite possess the requisite spark that would leave people begging for Mercy.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-TimesPaige Wiser
Any effective moments are outweighed by thumpingly obvious sentimentality, hospital stereotypes, and undignified "girl talk."
Read Full Review >Hollywood ReporterRandee Dawn
Ultimately, despite an attempt to raw up the scene with topical war references, Mercy ends up being just another hospital soap opera that audiences have seen, and seen done better.
Read Full Review >USA TodayRobert Bianco
There are some remarkably good actors going to waste here, most of whom will no doubt wipe this showoff their résumé the moment they get the chance.
Read Full Review >Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Mercy is a bunch of played-out hospital cliches placed together in hopes of being the next “Grey’s.’’
Read Full Review >NewsdayVerne Gay
There's no reason to pile on here, but this show needed many more months of gestation before getting thrown to the wolves.
Read Full Review >Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Mercy isn't just derivative; it's stridently, obnoxiously derivative.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
When it comes to Mercy, they (and we) should probably expect none.
Read Full Review >Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Unlike "Jackie," nothing in Mercy feels real or believable, particularly the naivete of the recent grad student newbie nurse, who acts as if she's never been in a hospital.
Read Full Review >San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Mercy echoes all the worst efforts of "Nurse Jackie" without the brilliance of Falco to make you forget the shortcomings. Hell, it makes "Hawthorne" seem almost watchable.
Read Full Review >Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Mercy manages to stumble across a few not-awful moments here and there, but the bad moments are so cringe-inducing that the show ought to come with a warning label telling consumers this derivative melodrama is potentially toxic.
Read Full Review >TV GuideMatt Roush
Yes, I saved the worst for last. NBC’s mawkish new nurse melodrama Mercy has no mercy.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this show is 5.8 (out of 10) based on 39 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Carli N gave it a10:
Awesome show! It speaks and tell to US what is truly happening in our Country and world, however, sadly, the sheep may not watch. Just like the last 8 years. G-d bless our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the world. peacE!
Mark G gave it an8:
I've been a nurse for >4 yrs, & I have to say though plenty far fetched, still refreshing compared to MD focused shows with doctors starting IVs-ha! I get enough of real life nursing at work. They have to make it dramatized or no one would watch it and there wouldn't be any fictional nursing shows. Seems like no one will ever be happy with the depiction of RNs in medical shows, but in the meantime, I have to say I'm liking the new nursing shows.
Rebekah M. gave it a0:
lame series, I don't think they consulted anyone who actually has every worked in a hospital or seen one, I can't tell if these ladies work on a unit or in the ER??? stupid story lines as well, the medical issues are sappy. nothing intelligent or worthwhile. I feel embarrassed as an RN as I feel this represents us poorly.
John M. gave it a0:
Terrible show. Unbelievably boring.
James L. gave it a7:
Okay, we get it. Schilling's character was in Iraq. It was annoying how they kept mentioning it. Plus the senior nurses seemed really cold when they turned off the life support of one of their patients. Besides that though Trachtenberg's character is really likable and well played and I saw enough "good" in everybody else to come back next week. The show does need some improvement but it did just start.
Rachel F. gave it a0:
Horrible! Nothing redeeming to say about it.
Suzanne G. gave it a4:
I am an ER nurse myself and I found the majority of the show way out of line in several instances. I would not want the public to think that real nurses act this stupid and "high school." The scene at the bar was just too much. Nurses are professionals who act a lot better than this group. And the doctor pulling the nurse into the closet was Sooooooo obviously done for effect and ratings or something but even my husband turned to me and said nurses don't do this.......Please.......create a show that shows what nurses REALLY are like. There is plenty of drama in what goes on every day. Don't insult us like that.
