Royal Pains

Royal Pains is a medical comedy-drama that aired on the USA network from 2009 to 2016. It's essentially a modern, humor-inflected take on the age-old story of a helpful doctor who's always on call, melding medical drama with interpersonal explorations and a dash of class commentary.

The show stars Mark Feuerstein as Dr. Hank Lawson, a talented and highly successful emergency room doctor in New York City. His life takes a sudden turn when he is wrongly blamed for a wealthy hospital trustee's death. In the wake of this incident, he loses his job and is blacklisted by New York hospitals. Hank, disillusioned and disheartened, retreats to the Hamptons with his younger brother Evan played by Paulo Costanzo. It's during a weekend party in the Hamptons that Hank saves the life of a guest, inadvertently becoming a "concierge doctor" to the wealthy and elite within the Hamptons community.

The concierge doctor, also known as a private doctor, provides on-call personalized medical care to his high-paying clientele, a business model that thrives in the playgrounds of the rich and famous. Despite the morally dubious implications of catering to the one percent, Hank aims to stay true to his Hippocratic oath and provide quality care for all, including locals who cannot afford his usual rates.

Hank's life in the Hamptons is further complicated by his free-spirited, entrepreneurial brother Evan Lawson. As CFO of their startup "HankMed," Evan adds lightness and comic relief to the show, regularly concocting precarious money-making schemes and social networking plans. The dynamic between the two brothers, one serious and grounded while the other is breezy and opportunistic, is one of the key relationships explored in the series.

The main cast consists of Jill Flint as Jill Casey, a hospital administrator who becomes Hank's love interest; Reshma Shetty as Divya Katdare, a certified medical assistant who completes the HankMed team and brings her own unique cultural perspective; Brooke D'Orsay as Paige Lawson, Evan's fiancee and later wife; and Campbell Scott as Boris Kuester Von Jurgens Ratenicz, Hank's primary benefactor and a mysterious international businessman who has a very rare and serious genetic disease.

Royal Pains strikes a balance between episodic and serialized stories. Each episode generally features a "medical case of the week," often culminating in Hank threading the needle between his principles and his client's expectations. These stand-alone stories coexist with ongoing arcs focusing on the characters' personal lives and the growth of HankMed. The show also takes time to artfully portray the scenic beauty of the Hamptons, often feeling like a summer vacation in TV form.

As the show progresses, it delves deeper into the characters' backstories and relationships, with several recurring and guest stars adding depth to the narrative. Henry Winkler plays Eddie R. Lawson, the Lawson brothers' often irresponsible but ultimately loving father. Ben Shenkman as Dr. Jeremiah Sacani, Anastasia Griffith as Dr. Emily Peck, Michael B. Silver as Ken Keller, Tom Cavanagh as Jack O'Malley, and others show up as fellow doctors, friends, clients or vague threats to HankMed's stability.

Above all, Royal Pains highlights the absurdity of the privilege that its elite patient base takes for granted while still remaining grounded in the very real, human problems that arise in the course of providing healthcare. The ethical dilemmas Hank encounters in trying to remain a caring, principled doctor while also catering to an extravagant, oftentimes entitled clientele provide the series with a compelling conflict that engages viewers throughout its eight seasons. The medical mysteries and procedures featured are both interesting and plausible, making it more than just a typical medical procedural drama.

Showrunners Andrew Lenchewski and Michael Rauch manage to maintain the perfect balance between the medical case-based narratives, evolving character arcs, and comic elements, making Royal Pains a show that is at once entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking. It's the perfect beach read of television programs, offering an engrossing blend of drama, comedy, love, medicine, and the lifestyle of the rich and famous.