Nurse Jackie
Premieres June 8 on Showtime
Viewers were used to seeing Edie Falco as Carmela Soprano, needling her husband Tony. In this dark comedy, she's administering needles to patients, as flawed but dedicated Jackie O'Hurley, a New York City nurse. Where many hospital shows focus on dramatic or quirky medical cases — and Nurse Jackie has both — this show focuses above all on the endlessness and physical exhaustion of nursing work. When first we meet Jackie, she's about to pop another in the series of illicit Vicodin that she uses to numb her body through one double shift after another. While Jackie is a different character from Carmela, she's also a kind of power behind the throne, as she butts heads with doctors and cleans up after their mistakes. Given Falco's talent for playing complex, struggling women, we're excited to see what she can do with a series about how life — and saving life — can be exhausting work.
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