Danny Weiss, one of the NBC network’s top writers for the first decade of the hit series Chicago Med, is teaming with the same network to develop Pops, another medical drama in which screen icon and five-time Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer (Cheers, Frasier) will star and serve as an executive producer.
Pops: the plot of NBC’s new medical drama
In an era when medical dramas are raking in audiences left and right, as illustrated by Chicago Med itself (one of American television’s most-watched broadcast series) and HBO’s recent sensation The Pitt, Pops casts Grammer as a man who, after a long and successful career, finds himself increasingly out of step with the times. In desperate need of a fresh start, he plunges into the chaotic world of emergency medicine, working alongside colleagues who are half his age.
The project draws inspiration from the true story of Ed Levien, a Marylander who became an emergency responder after turning 60. Nicknamed “Pops” by his younger coworkers, Levien served for 12 years before retiring last autumn at the age of 76. The prospective series and his tale also mirror elements of ABC’s police drama The Rookie, which centers on the department’s oldest recruit in the Los Angeles Police Department, also based on a real-life account.
It’s worth remembering that one of the longest-running American TV series currently on the air is ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. Other major networks also have their own medical dramas in production. On FOX, for three seasons, Doc has been airing, based on the Italian-format of the same name. CBS, meanwhile, is pushing forward with solid results the revival of the One Chicago franchise, of which Chicago Med is a part, by developing a medical drama set in the fictional Edgewater district, after Fire Country and Sheriff Country.
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