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St. Denis Medical Creator Explains Where It's Set: "You Don't Hear A Lot About It"
The small town setting of St. Dennis Medical may be fictional, but it pays homage to a very real person.
With its unique brand of high-stakes medical conundrums interspersed with a healthy dose of laughs and workplace humor, NBC’s new comedy St. Denis Medical is just what the doctor ordered. As relatable as the show is, some may be wondering about its larger setting.
The skilled — yet comically flawed — doctors and nurses that make up the understaffed hospital’s ranks in the new comedy could be found working in virtually any emergency room across America, but the show’s creators recently offered up some very specific reasoning for the state the fictional St. Denis Medical is set.
Where is St. Denis Medical Set?
St. Denis Medical takes place in a fictional small town in Oregon that was created to be reminiscent of overworked ER departments everywhere.
“[It’s] in kind of anywhere USA,” showrunner Eric Ledgin recently shared with TV Insider.
As for its exact location in Oregon, Ledgin wanted to find a fun way to honor a real-life nurse who helped him create the show's world by offering up some stories and advice about her own time working in the medical field.
“There was a nurse [from there] that I spoke to a lot during the research part of the development process, and it was a little bit of a nod to her,” Ledgin shared, adding the same woman “kind of inspired” Allison Tolman’s character Alex.
But the subtle shout out wasn’t the only reason Ledgin and co-creator Justin Spitzer decided to create a story set in the Pacific Northwest, according to The Oregonian.
“Oregon was chosen for a couple reasons,” Ledgin said during the 2024 Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, California. “One is, I just feel like it’s a very underrepresented state. It’s a great and beautiful state that you don’t hear a lot about.”
St. Denis Medical isn’t actually shot in the Beaver State, though, but the show’s creators are hoping to find more creative ways to work the hospital’s locale into the half-hour comedy as it progresses.
“It’s a fun place for us to discover as we go,” Ledgin explained. “We’ve got little references to Oregon throughout Season 1, but, of course, if we get more seasons of the show, we’ll explore more outside the hospital.”
Ledgin, who served as a writer and executive producer of NBC’s American Auto and the co-executive producer of Peacock’s Rutherford Falls, also has an unexpected connection to the fictional town’s name in St. Denis Medical.
As he shared at the 2024 Television Critics Association summer tour, the town is named “Merrick,” the same name as his own real life hometown of Merrick, New York — although the connection wasn’t exactly intentional.
“It is unfortunately named after my hometown, which is mainly a result of the first three options not clearing,” he said, while referencing the legal clearances needed to use a name.
“Then I found that it’s like $1,500 every time you clear a city,” he continued. “So, I just threw out my hometown name, and that ended up being the name of the town that (the) show takes place in.”
When Does St. Denis Medical Premiere?
Fans won’t have to wait long to delve into the fictional world of Merrick, Oregon.
St. Denis Medical, which is perfect for fans of The Office and Superstore, premieres Tuesday Nov. 12 at 8/7c on NBC with two back-to-back episodes.
The half-hour comedy seamlessly finds a way to blend the everyday minutia of any job with life-threatening medical emergencies, all while playfully honoring those who work everyday on the hospital front-lines.
“When you talk to people who work in these spaces, they’re very practical and will tell you that you have to have a sense of humor when you work in the emergency department,” Ledgin told TV Insider. “You have to laugh or you will cry, as they say.”
Along with Tolman, St. Denis Medical stars Wendi McLendon-Coven, David Alan Grier, Josh Lawson, Mekki Leeper, Kahyun Kim and Kaliko Kauahi.
Catch the premiere on November 12 on NBC and stream all episodes next-day on Peacock.
