It has the pedigree and the actors to make it a hit. And “A Gifted Man” is the season’s best new drama — yet it’s most likely a series you’re not watching.
Consider that CBS’ spirited medical drama was created by Susannah Grant, Oscar-nominated for her “Erin Brockovich” screenplay, and is executive-produced by Jonathan Demme, Oscar-winning director for “Silence of the Lambs,” who also helmed the pilot.
And the “man” in the show’s title is Patrick Wilson, perhaps the most versatile actor working today, in his foray into TV. Wilson starred opposite Kate Winslet in “Little Children,” sang the role of Raul in the big-screen “Phantom of the Opera” (and played other musical and dramatic roles on Broadway) and was a superhero in DC Comics’ “Watchmen.” He’s also convincingly played a Mormon.
Smart and thoroughly lovely, “A Gifted Man” is the most emotionally resonant series now on TV.
Yet five shows into the 13-episode season, the ratings are modest and the show is CBS’s lowest-rated weekday prime-time show. In TV’s wasteland, the Friday slot may indicate the network is either burning off the show or allowing it to slowly develop a loyal following. CBS has handed out full-season pickups to “Person of Interest,” “Unforgettable” and “2 Broke Girls” — but “A Gifted Man” has yet to join the full-season elite.
The show involves an unearthly visitor, but before discussing the premise you need to first erase from your memory the Demi Moore character from “Ghost” — along with any recollection of Denny’s from-beyond visitations to Izzie during the largest of the fiascos viewers have endured in “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Michael Holt, so skillfully played by Wilson, is a brilliant-but-arrogant New York neurosurgeon whose life takes a dramatic turn when he starts receiving visitations only he can see from his recently deceased ex-wife, Anna.
Michael’s emotionally cold life begins to change, through Anna’s involvement, as he questions his true purpose in life. Because Anna used to run a downtrodden free clinic across town, she convinces Michael to divide his time between her former storefront practice and his high-tech clinic for the super-wealthy. (It appears Hollywood can accept spiritual visitations, but only if they are deemed “supernatural.”)
Wilson is just one member of the talented, A-list cast. Anna is played by Jennifer Ehle, recently in “The King’s Speech” as Geoffrey Rush’s wife and so memorable opposite Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy in the BBC’s “Pride and Prejudice.” Michael’s capable yet ignored assistant, Rita, is Margo Martindale, Emmy winner for her “Justified” supporting role. Pablo Schreiber (who happens to be Liev’s half brother), from “The Wire,” is another standout as a new-age guru who is dry-walling the expansion of Anna’s Clinica Sanando.
Eriq La Salle, Peter Benton from “E.R.,” returns to doctor scrubs as a recent cast addition, and good ol’ boy Tom Wopat is about to be Rita’s truck-driving husband. During November sweeps, recent Tony-winner John Benjamin Hickey, currently in Showtime’s “The Big C,” will guest-star as a patient.
As powerful as they are, the cast and creators of “A Gifted Man” are not the only reason to watch. Sure, bottom line is that “A Gifted Man” is a medical drama in TV’s crowded world of medicine, with Sondra Rhimes’ Thursday-night juggernaut leading the pack. Yet “A Gifted Man” skillfully weaves both the medicine, from the view of two disparate clinics, and the becoming-a-better-man premise with intriguing drama as Wilson’s character struggles between medical ethics over profit.
The execution is pitch-perfect. And with so little known about Michael’s personal life, there’s much yet to explore.
There are other high-impact dramas of the new season — with “Once Upon a Time” just-premiering as the best fantasy-drama — but “A Gifted Man” impresses with its gifted storytelling.