Octavia Spencer
Dave Annable
Astro
Ciara Bravo
Griffin Gluck
Zoe Levin
Rebecca Rittenhouse
Charlie Rowe
Nolan Sotillo
Wilson Cruz

Developed by:
Margaret Nagle

2014-2015
Comedy, Drama
Fox
TV-14

“Red Band Society” brings high school to the hospital, a very high-end hospital at that. It’s “Glee” meets “Grey’s Anatomy.” (It doesn’t have any singing or numerous trips to the on-call room, though.) Its focus is on a hospital wing that contains a group of teens with various illnesses and the adult staff that cares for them; they’re your typical character types.

This show wants to appeal to a teen audience; it’s a hospital dramedy for kids. But it tries to appeal to that audience too transparently. Both the contemporary reactions to situations and the style feel forced. The writing (at least, the first episode’s writing) just isn’t hip enough or sharp enough to pull this off. It has neither style nor depth. The comedic bits don’t land, and I’m not sure about the use of the kid in a coma as the narrator. So, it looks better than it sounds. And the look isn’t even anything new.

All of this could work with a more incisive script. But, as it is, I think of other, better shows when I watch “Red Band Society.” It isn’t for me. …

I didn’t need to finish the second episode of “Red Band Society” to know that it’s not going to get any fresher. It wants to be cool, instead of just being cool. The writing is limp, so the acting has nowhere to go. It’s cute, I guess. And I’m done.

Verdict: OKish

About: (Source: redband)

RED BAND SOCIETY is a provocative high school drama told through the eyes of a group of teenagers who meet as patients in a hospital pediatric ward.