Review: Hospital mockumentary ‘St. Denis Medical’ isn’t ‘The Office,’ at least not yet

The mockumentary form, which once seemed a refreshing innovation, has become a standard element in the sitcom toolkit. Denis Medical,” premiering Tuesday, also on NBC, which is “The Office” in a hospital — no one’s done that before. St. Denis is a “small regional hospital” somewhere in Oregon, an underfunded “safety net” institution where everyone is treated and no one gets asked for their insurance. It’s populated, as hospital director Joyce tells the camera, with “some of the best doctors in the country, I mean in Oregon — carving out Portland, ‘cause that’s a big city so they probably, well, you get it.” She nevertheless dreams of making it a “destination medical facility” and buys a $300,000 3-D mammogram machine in pursuit of the goal, hopeful of attracting “women from as far away as Idaho because we have the best breast test. As nurse administrator Val, Kaliko Kauahi — who, like Lawson, was on “Superstore” — knows how things work and how to work them, while Kahyun Kim‘s nurse Serena represents youthful, sparky, self-assured attitude.