'Medical Investigation' is a disappointing imitation

The episodes tend to follow a formulated plot with predictable storytelling.
By HAL BOEDEKER
ORLANDO SENTINEL
People turn deathly blue on the premiere of NBC's "Medical Investigation," a show that can make viewers go blue in disappointment.
This slick drama, debuting in the "ER" time slot tonight, supplies the perfect preview of the upcoming television season. Although deftly photographed and edited, "Medical Investigation" offers nothing remotely surprising or fresh as it follows a team of experts from the National Institutes of Health.
The show is simply an imitation in a season packed with them. It's NBC's attempt to make its own "CSI," the high-rated CBS drama that has yielded two spinoffs.
Plot
Every week, the brilliant team of "Medical Investigation" will race to unravel mysteries and save lives. In the grim premiere, inspired by true events, the experts scramble to help the growing number of blue patients. The doctors don't provide a lot of relief to blue viewers.
In the second episode, airing in the series' regular Friday slot this week, the specialists treat young girls who have come down with encephalitis. In another installment, the doctors aid children suffering fatigue and rashes.
The setup gives way to formulaic drama. The experts furrow brows, bicker and shout before they have a eureka moment: That's what's causing the sickness!
This storytelling doesn't give the first-rate cast a lot of room to maneuver. The actors also spend time in the premiere lecturing others on the National Institutes of Health, as if that august agency needed a sales job.
Most of the pontificating falls to Neal McDonough, the intense actor who was a revelation as Deputy District Attorney David McNorris on "Boomtown." In "Medical Investigation," McDonough plays Dr. Stephen Connor, who barks orders, snaps at underlings and comes off as ridiculously tough.
"He suffers from a bad case of high expectations," a colleague says.
The same could be said of "Boomtown" fans. They want more from McDonough, but "Medical Investigation" limits him. When Connor isn't snarling, he's fretting over his faltering marriage and his beloved son.
Can it improve?
Even so, the actors give some oomph to the predictable storytelling and suggest the show could grow. Kelli Williams, who was a treasure on "The Practice," is winning as Connor's more levelheaded colleague. Christopher Gorham, the young hero from "Jake 2.0," brings touching confusion to his role as the team's newest member.
Anna Belknap, who was so good as an undercover cop in last season's "The Handler," plays the publicity liaison with energy and spunk. She delivers even though the premiere hands her the worst situation: repeatedly misleading a reporter to throw him off the story of the blue patients.
No one will be misled by "Medical Investigation," a show as derivative as its title. It's just stubbornly average. Sadly, by those standards, it's NBC strongest new drama this fall. That's what kind of season it will be.