Critic Reviews

It is as baldly manipulative and corny as heck--the pilot ends with a Coldplay song--and even a little ridiculous. But the actors sell it, and the fact that the action can seem so unlikely oddly just makes it more compelling.

New Amsterdam will satisfy fans of the genre. It’s somewhat predictable, with a moderate dose of prime-time soapiness. But with Eggold’s strong performance and an interesting supporting cast, this show could be the right prescription to attract a following.

Perhaps the show will develop, but in the first two episodes given to critics to review, it’s simply boring in its predictable moralizing. The show isn’t awful enough to be hemorrhaging or flatlining but watching it is long, drawn-out suffering for which the only sweet release is the end credits sequence.

New Amsterdam tends to rather tidily resolve all of its patient crises in these first two episodes. It also can get treacly at times, particularly when Coldplay’s “Fix You” hovers over the closing minutes of the premiere hour. The long-term diagnosis is iffy at best, with the main characters and their cases coming off as not that special or interesting.

It’s a fine if unremarkable broadcast network-style series.

New Amsterdam...is not based on one show but every medical drama in TV history going right back to 1954's Medic.

Eggold is appealing, in an old-fashioned, "Marcus Welby" kind of way, and the show does contain a few unexpected twists. The series is loosely based on a medical administrator's memoir, but the idea of a square-jawed doctor who really, really cares feels like an awfully familiar procedure.

The problem is that no matter how many side characters and plots the series adds into the mix--and it adds a lot--the doctor who’s supposed to be its main catalyst for change is so irritating that he ends up overshadowing the more promising elements.

Heartfelt, well-meaning and dull. ... Mr. Eggold has an easy charisma, but ... It all feels too smooth and forgettable.

It doesn't do much good having a hospital in which basically every permutation of medical case is possible if every case feels like a pale imitation of something that worked on another medical show.