Cartoon Network
Television is really ripe for parody, and web series like Burning Love and Children’s Hospital are rising up to satirize all of our network staples. Rob Corddry creates a hilarious send-up of medical drama that pokes fun at the likes of Grey’s Anatomy, ER, Scrubs, and Patch Adams.
The doctors at Children’s Hospital spend more time focused on their love lives and personal problems than on the juvenile patients in their care. Sound familiar? Dr. Cat Black (Lake Bell), later replaced by Dr. Valerie Flame (Malin Akerman), gives a Grey’s Anatomy-style narration that pokes fun at the pretension and self-absorption of medical drama leads. Corddry plays Dr. Blake Downs, a surgeon who only uses “the healing power of laughter.” The best character is by far Megan Mullally as the Chief, whose crutches and walker parody Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) of ER.
Each episode is comprised of one or two “episodes” of the web series. They include a “Previously On” reel of random intercut scenes that escalate a lot of the soap operatic plotlines of these shows. For example, Dr. Black gets into a relationship with a child with advanced aging disease played by Nick Kroll.
Corddry proves his real genius by penning a series that blends parody but still has its own unique spin. Not only does it borrow heavily from the genre, but it also manages to incorporate a blend of irreverent humor, the occasional offensive joke, and a lot of physical gags. There also is a meta-fictional element, with the characters occasionally breaking out of the hospital reality to reveal themselves as actors on the series Children’s Hospital. Corddry, for example, gives interviews before and after episodes as actor Cutter Spindell, and even gets his own spin-off that subsequently fails in enough time for him to return to CH.
A bonus: there are tons of cameos on the series. Quite a few members of The State pop up on the show. Ken Marino and David Wain are regular cast members and Joe LoTruglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Thomas Lennon, and Kerri Kenney have made cameos as well as other comic actors like Jason Sudeikis, Michael Cera, and John Hamm.
Not only is the series funny and addictive, it’s also short. You can get away with watching an episode or a few episodes when you have some time to kill. Luckily the first two seasons are available on Netflix.
