Like any competent Bruckheimer, "Miami Medical" speaks TV very well. It spins the A, B and C story lines like plates in a circus act. It has reduced the medical jargon to the requisite bewildering-cum-authentic prattle.

This Miami trauma-hospital drama is marginally better than "Three Rivers."

Good actors such as Jeremy Northam and Lana Parrilla are wasted in this rote hospital drama from Jerry Bruckheimer. [9 Apr 2010, p.67]

Parrilla is a compelling presence, and it's marvelous to see Northam all modern and un-martyred after his terrific turn as Thomas More in "The Tudors." But there is a strange lack of chemistry among the cast, perhaps because they are continually forced to deliver monologues on how difficult their jobs are and say things such as: "Life, so bloody beautiful."

What Miami Medical most closely resembles is CBS' equally retro and quickly canceled Three Rivers, right down to the pre-credit scenes that launch the medical story lines.

The ingredients in this old-fashioned remedy have a modest shot at working, but if the network wants to find a critic who'll deem such a mundane operation golden, it'll have to seek a second opinion.

Regardless, it doesn't take long to realize that "Miami Medical," written by executive producer Jeffrey Lieber, is long on emotional manipulation and short on compelling characters and insightful storytelling.