DVD Review: General Hospital Night Shift - The Complete First Season - Page 3

Part of: The Night Shift

Rumors and spoilers indicated she was going to end up being Jason's long lost love Brenda Barrett and that she would return to General Hospital at the conclusion of season one of Night Shift. Unfortunately, that was dropped and she was released from the hospital as Jason was being picked up from his night job by Sonny Corinthos to return to his daytime life as a "coffee importer."

Because the actors and actresses of the daytime drama have very strict shooting schedules, it was only feasible to film Night Shift during the summer months when General Hospital goes to a four day a week shooting schedule, making the actors and actresses who crossed over available on Fridays to film the spin-off. Because of that restriction, viewers will probably never see a season that is more than thirteen weeks long.

Plans are on the table for a second season of General Hospital Night Shift; we can only hope the writers' strike hasn't delayed preproduction so long that it has to be pushed to the back burner.

The disc has Dolby digital stereo sound which is an extra special treat for the episode "What Becomes of The Broken Hearted" when we get to see Billy Dee Williams' character Toussaint sing the old Temptations song that is the title of the episode in a dream sequence. The video is presented in 1:33:1 full screen adaptation.

The only extra on the disc is a behind the scenes clip called "On the Set at Night Shift." It's a very slick addition in which the cast explains the shooting schedule and the differences between this and its parent show. If you didn't already know Night Shift was a sexier, grittier version of General Hospital that point will be driven home by the time you're done watching the clip.

Reviews of specific episodes of General Hospital Night Shift can be found on BC Magazine.

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Article Author: Connie Phillips

Wife, mother, aspiring novelist, and music editor at BC Magazine, Connie Phillips spends most of her time in a fantasy land of her own creating. In reality, she writes about music, television, and the process of writing, when she's not cheering on her kids at equestrian events. …

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  • 1 - Patti

    Feb 22, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    General Hospital Nightshift has only two good episodes. The first episode and the last one. The writing is awful and all over the place. The promos hinted at an exciting triangle between Jason,Robin and Patrick. That never happens but it would of made the show more interesting. There are not alot of medical cases and for a show suppose to be set in the ER, they are hardly in the ER. The most interesting medical cases are Stacy, the HIV positive pregnant women. She is in critical condition and being escorted to the OR by Nurse Leyla who ditches her patient in the elevator with a kid and mob enforcer because she sees a man with an obvious head wound who speaks her native language. She is hailed as the hottest and smartest nurse after that, while the caring nurse Regina is called a disgrace to the African American race. If you think these things will be dealt with, it's not. The show wants you to agree with them. The second cases is heart patient Maxie. At the end of one episode she is coding, after that you never see her again at all. They reference that she is fine and out of the hospital. The Mcdreamy of the hospital, Dr. Drake, is anything but. He's more of a Mcsleazy with no depth or point of view. The pairings lack chemistry and the show makes a mockery of the nursing profession with poor peformances from those actresses and by giving a complete falseness of what is a priority and a nurses role. Billy Dee Williams is greatly underused and the only stand out performances are Kent Master King, Kimberly Mccullough and Steve Burton.

  • 2 - Connie Phillips

    Feb 22, 2008 at 7:43 pm

    Patti --

    There certainly were some drop stories through the course of the season. You mention the one with Maxie, there was also the one I mentioned with the mysterious "Barrett." I think some of that can be attributed to the show finding it's way. Some of it, yes, was just the quality of telling a story from beginning to end. The daytime show is suffering from the same problem with it's text-message killer storyline and Epiphany's heart attack.

    I disagree with you that Dr. Drake is supposed to be a McDreamy. I think they've always portrayed him as a dog - plain and simple. Yes, he makes young nurses and some doctors swoon, but it never takes long for them to realize he's commitment phobic and damaged by his mother's death and his father's abandonment.

    Regina struggled with the nursing program. Not everyone can get through school easily. She was haunted by the abortion she had and a case of low self-esteem. Dr. Julian helped her through the rough times.

    They did make Leyla the 'bad guy' in the break up of Patrick and Robin, and she made a mistake with Stacy. Sometimes people make bad choices and have to live with the consequences. If I remember correctly, in the weeks following she was dealt with on the professional level and she wrestled with her guilt.

    I think because this was a weekly show that aired at night, people tuned in expecting to see a Grey's Anatomy or ER. It was never meant to be that. It was always meant to follow the soap opera formula with the freedoms of night time cable.

  • 3 - Anna

    Feb 22, 2008 at 11:30 pm

    I never, ever saw Leyla struggle with her guilt, nor did she receive any backlash on a professional level. She was coddled by the male doctors and the arrogant Dr.Patrick Drake let her pick his surgical team, for God's sake. Also, Robin had to apologize to HER, when Robin was the only one concerned about Stacey and had suggested a C-section weeks earlier, which would have saved her life.

    Night Shift just reeked on every level.

  • 4 - Kimball

    Feb 24, 2008 at 5:07 am

    I didn’t have a problem with the STORIES not crossing over from Night Shift to GH and vice-versa. My problem was with how the RELATIONSHIPS between the characters were manipulated on Night Shift.

    Jason and Robin had hardly spoken to each other for almost a decade on GH, but on Night Shift they were all buddy buddy. It seemed so fake and came out of left field. How did they find this new, happy place after all this time?

    Spinelli was smitten with Lulu on GH, but on Night Shift he was head over heels for his Angel of Mercy Jolene. Huh? Leyla was more blatant about her pursuit of Patrick on Night Shift, whereas on GH she was portrayed as being caught in the middle of a Robin/Patrick feud and being uncomfortable about it.

    I hated those glaring inconsistencies and enjoyed the series less because of them. The characters could have maintained the same traits and relationships, but been involved in different stories. There was no need to totally warp the canvas dynamic.

  • 5 - Brie

    Dec 10, 2008 at 6:25 pm

    I must say that I was not expecting nightshift to turn out the way that it did. I honestly thought that we would see more of Jason Thompson and Kimberly McCullough (Patrick and Robin's) characters together. I was a bite disappointed but now looking back I guess they had to go through all the nurse Leyla crap, Robin wanting to adopt a baby in order to get to where they are now, engaged and parents.
    Also, Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) Spinelli (Bradford Anderson) Laniey (Kent Masters King)and Robin (KMc) all had a wonderful storylines. Spinelli was brillant and super funny.

    Overall this was a great season.

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