Nurse Jackie = Dr. Cox

Warning: This post contains minor spoilers for the plot of Showtime’s Nurse Jackie pilot and for Scrubs.

Nurse Jackie = Dr. Cox:

• Both are cranky but caring medical practitioners working in an ostensibly Catholic teaching hospital.
• Both work too much, to the chagrin of the hospital’s chief of medicine.
• Both are accompanied by an overly cheery and perky sidekick underling.
• Both are addicted to depressants (pain meds vs. alcohol).
• Both feel too much responsibility/guilt for their jobs.
• Both are vigilantes when it comes to providing the best care.

So, do you think the pitch for Nurse Jackie was something like, “Think of Scrubs told from Dr. Cox’s perspective…but make Dr. Cox EDGIER…and FEMALE…and MORE REAL…”