St. Denis Medical: Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

St. Denis Medical: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Justin Dekker April 14, 2026

NBC's new mockumentary series makes its Blu-ray debut in 'St. Denis Medical: Season One' courtesy of Universal. The series stars comedy veterans Wendi McLendon-Covey ('Reno 911', 'The Goldbergs') and David Alan Grier ('I'm Gonna Git You Sucka', 'In Living Color'), alongside Josh Lawson ('Mortal Kombat (2021)'), and Kahyun Kim ('Cocaine Bear'), who are all part of the staff at the fictional medical facility. All eighteen episodes of the first season are included in the two-disc set, and are accompanied by a few light on-disc extras. Neither a slipcover nor a Digital Code are included.

This inaugural season of the mockumentary-style St. Denis Medical begins as Mekki Leeper's Matt arrives for his first day at work and things don't go exactly as planned. With him, we are introduced to the balance of the recurring cast that includes Wendi McLendon-Covey (flighty administrator Dr. Joyce Henderson), Allison Tolman (the overly committed Alex Mazurkian, RN), David Alan Grier (the eternally grumpy Dr. Ron Leonard), and Josh Lawson (Dr. Bruce Schweitz). Over the course of the eighteen loosely connected episodes that comprise the first season, Matt learns the ropes and finds his place as we observe these eccentric and outlandish healthcare professionals treating issues from the mundane to the extraordinary.

As one looks at the names of hospitals, it's not uncommon for these establishments to invoke the names of saints as part of their monikers. St. Josephs seem to pop up with great frequency, as do St. Judes, and St. Francises are also not uncommon, While I'm familiar with the stories of those saints, St. Denis was one I hadn't encountered before in relation to a hospital. As it so happens, living in the third century, St. Denis was the first bishop of Paris, France. He was ultimately martyred for his faith by decapitation. But it's here that his story takes a unique turn. After being decapitated, he evidently walked several miles to his burial site carrying his severed head in his hands, and, evidently, preaching all the way. How much that is factual and how much is apocryphal is, at this juncture, entirely a matter of faith. He has since been named the patron saint and protector of Paris, and of people afflicted by headaches, rabies, and demonic possession. All of this conspires to highlight the notion that St. Denis is perhaps better linked to a horror film or series similar to The Crazies (1973) or Ash vs. Evil Dead. St. Joseph is, after all, seen as the protector of families and the patron saint of death and dying, St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes, and St. Francis is recognized in conjunction with ecology, nature, peace, and, importantly, caring for the poor. Given those pedigrees, St. Denis seems an even more unlikely selection. But given the nature of those who practice medicine in the hallowed halls of the fictional St. Denis Medical, perhaps the patron saint of headaches is the right choice after all.

In many other popular medical series, doctors are often portrayed as being cut from a different cloth. Medical dramas have been a persistent element of television programming since 1951's City Hospital first brought them to the fore. Others quickly followed. In the 1970s, looking to deliver more medical thrills with a singular point of differentiation, Emergency! introduced and demystified the emergence of EMTs in a series whose heart is in the right place but shows some telltale societal and cultural signs of its vintage and age. A certain amount of humor and various character beats humanized those racing to save lives while often risking their own, but for the most part, they're a wholesome and upstanding group. 2004's House M.D. gave rise to a doctor depicted as having an uncanny intellect capable of diagnosing and treating complex and unusual illnesses that eluded all other medical professionals. The title character, played by Hugh Laurie, was given a significant character flaw in order to humanize the great man, and the intelligent team that surrounded him was similarly saddled with a degree of brilliance coupled with ethical, moral, or personal issues that kept them from flying too near the sun. But, perhaps not since 1972's M*A*S*H*, which is still sadly without a Blu-ray release, with it's deft mix of comedy and drama, have those in the medical profession been sketched in such a complete and believable fashion. Both before and since that series first introduced us to Hawkeye, B.J., and Hot Lips, while some shows have skewed steamier, others more dramatic, and still others more true-to-life, regardless of their bent, as a foundational element they all have typically treated their doctors and nurses with a modicum of respect.

In the NBC tradition begun by their iteration of The Office in the somewhat less-than-glamourous business of selling paper, and furthered by Parks and Recreation as it tore back the veil from city officials in a small fictional town in Indiana, St. Denis Medical gives medical professionals a similar lampooning. The characters we encounter in the ER and exam rooms of St. Denis have earned their requisite degrees and therefore must possess a certain level of intelligence, but by and large they are portrayed to be no different than any other person you might encounter at an entry- level office job, a grocery store, a book club, or a trivia night at your local watering hole. They're alternately dedicated, entitled, unsure, narcissistic, kind, antisocial, etc., but they might just save your life.

Wendi McLendon-Covey's Executive Director Dr. Joyce Henderson is this series' proxy Michael Scott. The former practitioner cum administrator is tasked with leading and inspiring a diverse team replete with large egos and a long-established hierarchical structure. While Scott was fighting to keep his branch of Dunder Mifflin financially viable and competitive in a fading industry, Henderson is working to balance increasing patient needs and demands in the face of rising costs and shrinking budgets. This financial battle faced by many a hospital in our day and age is fodder for more than a few episodes and plot points throughout the first season. While she works to do her best for the staff and the patients, like Carell's Michael Scott, she's a bit too removed from the trenches to be able to naturally interact with the nurses and doctors or understand their worlds and challenges. Allison Tolman's Alex is, more than any other character, the beating heart of the hospital, and the program. With her overdeveloped sense of responsibility and her belief that she is the glue that holds the place and its people together, it's her words and actions that frequently show the viewer why they should tune in to watch the antics of this rag-tag crew of medical professionals who don't always seem like the best or the brightest. While their is no shortage of humor at her expense, it's the balance of the cast that is responsible for generating much of the comedy, and they're up to the task. David Alan Grier's delivery and sense of timing is on-point and serves him well in his curmudgeonly role, and Kaliko Kauahi leverages much of what she learned portraying Sandra on Superstore in her role here as Val. Bringing an interoffice romance and young energy into the series, the awkward Matt (Mekki Leeper) struggles to navigate both the rigors of his job and the romantic feelings he has for Serena (Kahyun Kim), the latter of which quickly turns into sweet and occasionally cringey arc.

Though it all, while this peek under the tent that we get of this team doesn't inspire confidence, somehow they are able to ultimately dispense solid medical care and successfully treat patients. On a series like House M.D., one would certainly never wish to trade places with any of the patients that found their way into Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. Those characters, often through no fault of their own, typically faced bizarre and potentially fatal illnesses where the odds weren't on their side. With St. Denis Medical, in order to provide balance to its universe, the patients aren't often much different from the staff, and they are usually just as silly, flawed, and ridiculous, resulting in them seeking out treatment for issues that most would never want to experience for entirely different, and often funny reasons.

St. Denis Medical: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Blu-ray release of St. Denis Medical: Season One is very much in line with Universal's other contemporary television offerings. Given a very pleasing MPEG-4 AVC-encoded 1080p presentation, the image looks good in motion. Skin tones present as healthy across the board, save for those moments when patients are afflicted with a a condition or other issue, such as a snake bite, which has a deleterious impact on their normal skin coloration. Colors are well-saturated in the series' natural palette, and primaries, such as reds, which are visible in signage around the hospital, popping nicely. The image has an impressive level of fine detail on display with facial particulars of the cast and their patients being open for inspection. Viewers are also able to investigate the cluttered wall of child-crafted thank you cards, the various instruments that populate the exam spaces and operating rooms, and the cluttered closets. Woods are warm, and grain is visible in countertops, tables, desks, and chairs. Whites are crisp, and blacks are satisfying and the image possesses realistic depth.

St. Denis Medical: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Just as a patient should not ask too much of many of the staff at St. Denis Medical, not much is asked of the disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. As a mockumentary, the vast majority of what the track needs to handle is dialogue. It's usually kept front and center, and is properly prioritized over the occasionally chaotic activity of the hallways and exam rooms. Sound effects such as slamming drawers, closing doors, and beeping medical equipment sound authentic. Primarily front-focused, the track is not as immersive as one might assume. One of the more ambitious moments of the track is when Wendi McLendon-Covey Joyce does a mike check in advance of an in-hospital performance of an internet personality. Surrounds are pressed into service to place the audience convincingly in the midst of the large, empty space with her tongue-twisters and other words and microphone test phrases echoing around them, and are again leveraged when the "entertainment" begins. Music is handled well, with the delicate keys of of the show's theme song sounding pristine, and the bass line of the Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic" being well-supported in a comedic and character-appropriate moment.

St. Denis Medical: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

St. Denis Medical: Season One comes with a modest assortment of light bonus features spread across the set's two discs.

Disc One

• Set Tour (11.34) - Mekki Leeper (Matt) provides a tour of the set, taking care to point out which elements are real and which are fake. He keeps things very casual and injects a great deal of humor into what could otherwise be a rather dry affair. He take great care in pointing out the questionable elements that decorate Bruce's office, the taxidermy animals in Joyce's office, and the details of the staff's break room.

Disc Two

• Gag Reel (6.47) - A collection of flubs and crack-ups on set.

• Real Fake Medical Advice (2.31) - Beginning with a warning that states: "This information is meant for entertainment purposes only delivered by comedic actors who only have prop stethoscopes and fake medical degrees. It is not intended to be used as professional medical advice.", the cast provides bogus cures for hangovers, rashes, infected piercings, and the like.

St. Denis Medical: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

St. Denis Medical establishes its tone and identity quickly and doesn't deviate from that framework very much in the first season. There are enough medically-related scenes to check that box, but the issues are never graphically depicted and the patients' cases are rarely the primary focus. It's the interpersonal relationships of the staff, their personalities, and the pressures and demands of their jobs that predominantly remain in the spotlight, and the cast, led by Wendi McLendon-Covey and David Alan Grier, reliably deliver laughs each episode. It's not groundbreaking, mind you, but for those who are fans of The Office and similar series, it is enjoyable, bingeable, and rewatchable. St. Denis Medical: Season One comes recommended.