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[RatskyWatsky]

At the Billy Barnes Extended Care Unit of Mt. Palms Hospital in Long Beach, Cal., the staff attends to the needs of female patients who are often “getting on” in years, while dealing with the challenges of a health-care bureaucracy in need of an overhaul. Even as they attempt to serve their charges under less-than-ideal circumstances, the lives of this ragtag crew are complicated by conflicting agendas, both professional and personal.

The show follows the daily lives of overworked nurses and doctors as they struggle with the darkly comic realities of tending compassionately to their aging charges in a rundown, red-tape-filled hospital extended-care wing, blending outrageous humor with unexpected moments of tenderness.

This new comedy series, based on the BBC series of the same name, begins its six-episode first season Sunday, Nov. 24 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO. It was created for American television by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, co-creators of the acclaimed HBO series “Big Love”.

Cast

Cast regulars on Getting On include:

• Alex Borstein (“Family Guy”) as Nurse Dawn
• Niecy Nash (“Reno 911!”) as Nurse DiDi
• Laurie Metcalf (three Emmys® for “Roseanne”) as Dr. Jenna James
• Mel Rodriguez (“Community”) as Patsy De La Serda
  
  Guest stars include Molly Shannon, Daniel Stern, Harry Dean Stanton, June Squibb and Irma P. Hall.

Videos

Getting On Season 1: Trailer
Getting On Season 1: Episode #1 Clip "Turd on Chair"
Getting On Season 1: Extended Care Consent Form 101 Tease
Getting On Season 1: Invitation to the Set

 

[Shiggie]

I love all these people. Ill be checking it out.

 

[Slayven]

Damn good cast.

 

[bishopp35]

I will definitely check it out. Before reading the entire OP I was going to say that I was getting some British series vibe from the trailers.

 

[Ekdrm2d1]

Checking in.

I created the official AVS thread.

'Getting On' on HBO HD
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1497770/getting-on-on-hbo-hd

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

I'm cautious.

Big Love got insanely preachy in its later years.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

‘Family Guy’ Star Alex Borstein Is Ready for Her HBO Close-Up

Borstein received an email from her agent just weeks after having her second child, saying, “We have an audition for you.”

“I was like, ‘Are you crazy? I just had a baby!’” Borstein exclaims. “But then I saw that it was Getting On. So we went down into the kid’s bedroom and my husband shot my audition.”

Borstein recorded the video on Halloween 2012 and met with producers on November 8.

“My boobs were still leaking when I met them, I hadn’t slept, my hair wasn’t washed,” she says. “But apparently that’s what they liked!”

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Reviews are beginning to roll out:

Newsday - HBO's Getting On has just the right prescription for a medical comedy

Its tender moments register without feeling forced while the comedy comes in the form of a constant IV drip.

Variety - TV Review: ‘Getting On’

While one might charitably chalk it up to a slightly British sensibility, like too many of pay cable’s current batch of half-hours, whatever humor graces these hallways is so dry it’s questionable whether “comedy” is the proper classification.

AV Club - Getting On finds the beauty in pain and death—when it lets itself

Getting On captures the drudgery of work and life in this ward, but it also catches glimpses of the beauty, and it’s in those moments that it feels like a series that deserves better than it’s going to get.

 

[animus82]

Another Nurse/Doctor show?

Really?

I might watch after looking at some reviews and after nurse jackie ends.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

SF Gate - 'Getting On' review: Dying and lots of laughs

There is a brilliant mix of poignancy and hilarity in Getting On, which is why it all works so well.

Slant - Getting On: Season One

Adapted from the British series of the same name, Getting On is billed as a comedy, but the show's setting, a neglected geriatric rehabilitation ward, is such an overwhelmingly depressing environment that much of the offbeat humor ends up flatlining.

NY Times - Caring for the Aging, but Ignoring the Rules
‘Getting On,’ Starring Laurie Metcalf, on HBO

Every so often a staff member, usually DiDi, is shown in a quiet moment with a patient, providing actual care. These small scenes end up being surprisingly moving because this fictional hospital unit, in all its ridiculousness, feels somehow true to life.

 

[Bladenic]

Never even heard of it but now I'm very intrigued. Will watch.

 

[Ekdrm2d1]

Tomorrow night!

Edit: Ja'mie: Private School Girl is premiering after. The hell is that show?

 

[Poimandres]

Tomorrow night!

Edit: Ja'mie: Private School Girl is premiering after. The hell is that show?

It's an Australian comedy staring Chris Lilley. Have you ever seen Summer Heights High?

Ja'mie isn't too bad, but Summer Heights High was better.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Series Premiere tonight!

Born on the 4th of July

Spoiler

In the premiere of this comedy set in an extended-care wing of a rundown hospital in Long Beach, Cal., nurse DiDi's discovery of feces on a lounge chair generates conflicting orders of what to do with it from the powers that be. Meanwhile, the staff try to determine the identity of a woman who was found wandering on the highway; and debate what should become of a deceased patient's birthday cake.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Entertainment Weekly - Getting On

Getting On is much funnier than its premise suggests.

Washington Post - ‘Getting On’: Funny because it's painful

Weirdly enough, Getting On (adapted from the original BBC series) is a witheringly efficient work of satire, easily confident about the humanity and absurdity it’s trying to portray.

Chicago Sun Times - Getting On

Get ready to laugh and cry with this touching new comedy about a dysfunctional team of nurses and doctors caring for aging patients in a hospital’s extended-care wing.

 

[Brian Fellows]

I'll give it a shot. Setting my DVR now.

It's an Australian comedy staring Chris Lilley. Have you ever seen Summer Heights High?

Ja'mie isn't too bad, but Summer Heights High was better.

Cannot stand Chris Lilley.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Tuned In: HBO debuts 'Getting On'

There is some pathos in "Getting On" with regard to the elderly patients, but that's seamlessly interwoven in the darkly funny personal stories of the hospital staff.

WSJ - Annals of Animal Behavior - Terrific acting elevates HBO's brown comedy 'Getting On' above the muck of its material

That these actors can make us care about their characters, or at least feel their pain so acutely, is what elevates Getting On above the miasma of its material.

Slate - Getting On: I’ve never laughed so hard about the frail and failing elderly.

It’s almost as impossible to believe, without seeing it, that such a show could be both very funny and occasionally uplifting without ever resorting to cheap sentimentality. But it is.

 

[Ekdrm2d1]

Checking in.

 

[Ekdrm2d1]

Well that was something. A bit weird but I laughed a few times.

 

[ivysaur12]

Ja'Mie was funny (Summer Heights was funnier), but Getting On was really something. Wow.

Brutal and funny, but so incredibly dark.

 

[Cornballer]

- HBO put up the full premiere episode on their youtube channel

 

[dead souls]

Pretty decent premiere for this. Ja'mie was a total dud. I think I'm over Chris Lilley and I loved Summer Heights High.

 

[Leunam]

I really enjoyed the first half of the episode but I was starting to lose interest towards the second half. The ending brought me back, though. I'll keep watching since I need something to hold me over until True Detective.

 

[kingocfs]

Just watched this, loved it. The translating across the room killed me.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Pretty good premiere. I love the muted tones they shoot in - it gives everything a very realistic, almost gritty feel.

Also, I was rolling at the bit where they were shouting out Cambodian gibberish back and forth into the phone.

 

[Ekdrm2d1]

Just watched this, loved it. The translating across the room killed me.

Agreed. That was hilarious. The main nurse was pretty spot on with replicating the lady.

Pretty good premiere. I love the muted tones they shoot in - it gives everything a very realistic, almost gritty feel.

Also, I was rolling at the bit where they were shouting out Cambodian gibberish back and forth into the phone.

Good way of describing it. I wasn't feeling it unfortunately. I like the bright, crisp look that Nurse Jackie has. Regular HDTV I guess.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

New episode tonight!

If You're Going to San Francisco

Spoiler

A male nurse joins the staff with the intention of improving morale in the ward, but finds his tactics don't work with all the patients, especially the feisty Varla. Meanwhile, DiDi dotes on Donna, who proves to be quite good at karaoke.

 

[hythloday]

Good way of describing it. I wasn't feeling it unfortunately. I like the bright, crisp look that Nurse Jackie has. Regular HDTV I guess.

With the fast cuts from scene to scene I thought it was kinda like "Veep meets Nurse Jackie."

First episode was OK - I'm not immediately hooked, but I'll give it a shot. The

Spoiler

discussion on how to properly document the turd in the chair

was funny.

 

[dead souls]

The pilot was good, but the second episode was great. Between this, Treme, Homeland and Masters of Sex tonight was a damn great night for television.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

The pilot was good, but the second episode was great.

Agreed. I really enjoyed the second episode.

 

[Leunam]

Finally got caught up with the new episode. Loved this ep, Dr. James is hysterical to watch, really nails that anxious look when she needs to.

What a way to end it, too.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

New episode tonight!

Make Someone Happy

Spoiler

Patsy files a grievance against DiDi for remarks he deems inappropriate; Dr. James decides to go to a convention in Cleveland instead of Patsy's "Make Someone Happy" orientation; a patient is caught in a romantic situation with her gentleman caller; Dawn finds there are no exceptions to being evaluated.

 

[Ekdrm2d1]

That was funny.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Good episode. I lost it when Dr. Jenna started making Donald Duck sounds.

 

[Messofanego]

Oh did not know there was an American version of the show.

Love Jo Brand.

 

[dead souls]

Another funny one tonight.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

New episode tonight!

Dumped

Spoiler

A geriatric exercise program is proposed by Dr. James, but Patsy worries about the ward's morale and what will happen to his "Make Someone Happy" initiative. Meanwhile, DiDi talks to her union representative about Patsy and Dawn's relationship; and the staff investigate the suspicious arrival of a homeless woman.

 

[Leunam]

Dr. James annoyed me with the way she wanted the raffle prize handled, but I had a huge grin on my face at the end of the episode.

I'm glad that the med students seem to be regular characters now.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

I'm glad that the med students seem to be regular characters now.

Me too. Their scenes are always some of the best.

 

[dead souls]

Simply outstanding again tonight.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

New episode tonight!

Nightshift

Spoiler

DiDi's evening shift is disrupted by a new patient's arrival and some unwelcome inebriated visitors. Meanwhile, Dr. James tends to her drunken husband's ingrown toenail, but is already dreaming of a fresh start in Cleveland; Dawn seeks refuge in the lounge after an odd night with Patsy; and an elderly Swedish tourist displays her gymnastic abilities.

 

[Leunam]

Drunk Dawn was really awkward to watch and I loved it.

The thought of Patsy having an arch-nemesis is hysterical to me. I guess given what we've learned about the way he operates it really makes sense that he's stepped on a few toes.

One thing I really like is about the staff is that they aren't actually worthless employees. Dr. James, Dawn, and DiDi have all shown that they're perfectly capable, which is great because it leaves room for the drama to be mostly focused around their personalities instead of incompetence. Of course, they're not entirely immune to workplace error (infections in one of the wards, for instance), but even those mishaps lead to funny human interaction.

 

[dead souls]

Damn, that was the funniest episode yet.

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

yea, best eps so far

good show

 

[FLEABttn]

Hands down the best episode this season.

Also, great to see Daniel Stern. Yelled "Marv!" as soon as I saw him.

 

[Sharkeisha]

gawdaaamn this show is boring.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

A little late to the party on this one, but I thought it was good. Not the best of the season, but still good.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Finale is tonight!

The Concert

Spoiler

In the first-season finale, a patient is injured due to an equipment malfunction, and the staff take turns playing the blame game. Meanwhile, Phyllis can't get a straight answer about her mother's condition; DiDi stews as a debt remains unpaid; Dr. James tries to wrangle concessions from Dr. Stickley using her Cleveland opportunity as leverage; and a death on the ward brings everyone together for their weekly concert.

 

[Leunam]

This hasn't been picked up for a second season yet has it?

 

[RatskyWatsky]

This hasn't been picked up for a second season yet has it?

Not yet, no. Ivy said there's a chance that it will return though, so don't give up hope!