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Nurses is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from 1991 to 1994, developed and produced by Susan Harris as a spin-off of Empty Nest (which, in turn, was a spin-off of The Golden Girls).
The series spanned three seasons of 68 episodes total. These were aired between 1991 and 1994 on the NBC network. Because Empty Nest and Golden Girls aired back-to-back on the same night, special cross-over events were possible. One example is Hurricane Saturday, where all of Miami was struck by a hurricane storm that effected all episodes airing that night. Also at times some characters from one show guest starred on another. The show was taped at Sunset-Gower Studios.
Nurses was filmed in front of a live audience, aired September 14, 1991 — May 7, 1994. The series was created by Susan Harris, the creator of Empty Nest and Golden Girls.
Development
After the show's first season, changes were made in order to boost the show's ratings. Changes included the addition and dismissal of various new characters, the changing of the show's theme song in Seasons 2 and 3, and having nurse Gina and Dr. Hank Kaplan get married after Gina became pregnant with Hank's child. Recurring nurse Greg Vincent was also written off after season one.
Although ratings improved somewhat, NBC still cancelled the show after its third season.
Storyline
The show revolves around a group of nurses working at the same Miami hospital as Empty Nest's Dr. Harry Weston. For the first season, the main characters were the strong-willed Annie Roland, the sarcastic Sandy Miller, the dimwitted Julie Milbury, and the colorful Gina Cuevas, who frequently reminisced about her homeland, the fictional San Pequeño. The nurses were complimented with the arrogant Dr. Hank Kaplan, the wise-cracking orderly Paco Ortiz, and the flaky nurse Greg Vincent. In addition, Florence Stanley had a recurring role during the first season as Dr. Amanda Riskin.
In Season 2, David Rasche and Markus Flanagan joined the cast as Jack Trenton and Luke Fitzgerald, respectively. Flanagan was written off of the show after Season 2, and he was replaced by Loni Anderson as hospital administrator Casey McAfee.
In the show's final season, nurse Sandy was gone, and the show's focus moved increasingly from the nurses to Casey McAfee's adjustments in running the hospital under a new HMO, and the antics of Jack Trenton and his sidekick Paco the orderly.
Cast
- Stephanie Hodge as Sandy Miller, a nurse on Floor 3-West. A fast-talking Texan, Sandy is a divorced single woman always on the hunt for a man. Her sarcastic wit and cynical demeanor was both endearing and annoying to the rest of the staff. Sandy provided the closest initial link to Empty Nest, as she was best friends with Laverne Todd. Stephanie Hodge was let go after the second season to meet the replenish standard, to the resentment of fans.
- Arnetia Walker as Annie Roland, the Head Nurse of Floor 3-West. A long-suffering wife and mother, Annie is the level-headed, solid boss for the floor, whether she is advising Sandy on her latest relationship woes, keeping the shady Jack Trenton in line, or going head-to-head with hospital administrator Casey MacAfee. Annie is married to Fred Roland, and has a son named Zach.
- Mary Jo Keenen as Julie Milbury, the newest addition to the floor's nursing staff. Julie was new to the nursing field at the start of the show, having formerly been a psychiatric social worker, and had trouble dealing with the harsh realities of working in medicine. Her wide-eyed naivete was the source of much of the character’s humor, but her big heart and sunny optimism often won out in the end.
- Ada Maris as Gina Cuevas, a lovestruck Latina nurse who pined for the affection of Dr. Hank Kaplan and often shared humorous and typically harrowing tales from her homeland, the fictional San Pequeño. Hank and Gina eventually did get together and, after a one-night stand in Season 2 that resulted in pregnancy, had a daughter named Juanita in Season 3.
- Carlos Lacámara as Paco Ortiz, a shiftless and occasionally scheming orderly from Cuba who routinely flirted with Julie and Gina. After the first season, Paco often fell into the role of sidekick and scapegoat to Jack Trenton.
- Kip Gilman as Dr. Hank Kaplan, a Resident Physician at Floor 3-West. Despite his lofty position, Hank was constantly broke thanks to student loan debt, alimony payments, and his bachelor lifestyle. Hank was unhappily married to a woman named Joyce, but the only reason the two stayed together was because they loved having sex together. His will they-won't they relationship with Gina finally brought some consistency to Hank’s meandering social ways when the two finally got together in the third season.
- David Rasche as Jack Trenton, a character added to the show at the start of Season 2. Jack was a convicted felon, convicted of insider trading, who was sentenced to do community service at the hospital. A wealthy businessman, Jack was not pleased with having to spend his days cleaning up after patients. He battled Annie, fawned over Casey, duped Paco and consistently tried to get out of doing any work.
- Loni Anderson as Casey MacAfee, a character added at the start of Season 3. When a corporate company took over operations, its flaky owner put Casey in charge despite her having no experience with running a hospital. Her management decisions, such as installing a surveillance camera over the nurses station or ordering sunny yellow hospital gowns, conflicted with the staff, especially Annie, who became her biggest antagonist. Casey reinvigorated the show’s Empty Nest connection when she set her romantic sights on Harry.
- Florence Stanley as Dr. Amanda Riskin, a character introduced in Season 1. A dry, sharp-witted and tough-as-nails resident physician who later became the hospital's medical director. Florence Stanley left after the first season, and Amanda was written out of the show.
- Jeff Altman as Greg Vincent, a character introduced in Season 1. Greg was a snarky male nurse who often got flack for his disrespect of the hospital’s doctors. Jeff Altman left after the first season, and Greg was written out of the show.
- Markus Flanagan as Luke Fitzgerald, a character added at the start of Season 2. A hunky orderly and self-professed loner, Luke had trouble with authority and was not good at dealing with people. He immediately began to butt heads with Dr. Kaplan and often had the staff wondering just how sane he was. Markus Flanagan left after the second season, and Luke was written out of the show.
Episodes
Crossovers
The following is a list of Nurses episodes featuring characters from The Golden Girls and Empty Nest.
Season One
- Episode 2: "A Lesson in Life" - Laverne Todd from Empty Nest
- Episode 6: "Mother, Jugs, and Zach" - Harry Weston from Empty Nest
- Episode 9: "Begone with the Wind" - Rose Nylund from The Golden Girls and Laverne Todd from Empty Nest. Concurrent with The Golden Girls episode "The Monkey Show" and Empty Nest episode "Windy".
- Episode 20: "Moon Over Miami" - Blanche Devereaux from The Golden Girls and Charley Dietz from Empty Nest
Season Two
- Episode 2: "In My New Country" - Laverne Todd from Empty Nest
- Episode 7: "Playing Doctor" - Carol Weston from Empty Nest
Season Three
- Episode 1: "The Eagle Has Landed" - Harry Weston from Empty Nest
- Episode 4: "Jack's Indecent Proposal - Charley Dietz from Empty Nest
- Episode 7: "The Bridges of Dade Country" - Harry Weston from Empty Nest
- Episode 9: "Temporary Setbacks" - Sophia Petrillo from The Golden Girls and Empty Nest, and Carol Weston from Empty Nest
- Episode 10: "The Birth of a Marriage" - Harry Weston from Empty Nest
Contra-crossovers
Sometimes Nurses characters themselves starred in other productions.
- Empty Nest: "Love and Marriage" - Jack is teamed up with Charley for hospital duty.
- Family Feud: "Real Nurses vs TV Nurses" - The 3West Nurses battle against real nurses in a game show.
Ratings
- 1) 1991–92: #38
- 2) 1992–93: #60
- 3) 1993–94: #54
Media
Trivia
- Nurses was the only one of the three shows to keep on renewing how the show looked. Starring actors were regularly replaced, every season had it's own theme song, and the logo also kept changing.
- Nurses was sometimes even more successful than Empty Nest and even The Golden Girls were.
- Nurses was the first television program on network television to feature a condom commercial during it's commercial breaks.
- Nurses' review in the BBC Comedy Guide: "Harris's constant determination to give women a strong yet emotional voice, and allow women space and time to deal with subjects of a sensitive (some may think non-comedic) nature, makes her the US equivalent of the British writer Carla Lane."
- Nurses was mentioned by writer Isabel Molina-Guzmán in her book Latinas and Latinos on TV: Colorblind Comedy in the Post-racial Network Era in 2018.
- Nurses' actress Stephanie Hodge describes her character as the following: "dealing with a lot of hurt and pain and bitterness, but she has a will to survive". With Susan Harris she co-created the character Sandy Miller.
- Nurses' longest running episode in syndication is episode 14 of season 3 called "Mi Casa, Su Casa". It lasts 24 minutes without commercial time.
External links
- Nurses TV Series Online Encylopedia (Fandom)
- Nurses TV series at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
- LA Times (March 1992), "D/WB and WTH": https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-12-fi-5401-story.html
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