A Gifted Man, which moves to its new 9 p.m. time slot on Friday, February 17, could use a bit of divine intervention. CBS still sees potential in the medical drama, which stars Patrick Wilson as a doctor haunted by the ghost of his ex-wife, but the show remains firmly on the bubble. Executive producer Neal Baer is no stranger to medical drama, both on screen and in real life. A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Baer used to practice medicine between seasons as a writer on ER. Later, he made the transition to Law & Order: SVU, which he ran for 11 seasons. Now, as the creator of A Gifted Man, Baer has made several tweaks to the show in recent months, putting the focus on the show's medical setting (where Wilson's character is assisted by critics' fave Margo Martindale) and bringing in both Rachelle Lefevre as a love interest and ER alum Eriq La Salle as an old colleague. Baer answered our showrunner survey in the hopes that Man will be gifted with more viewers.
TV Guide Magazine: Friday night is usually date night. Why should I stay home and watch A Gifted Man instead?
Neal Baer: We're a cheaper date thanread more
Once is not enough. Sometimes a second look, or a second episode, is necessary to convince a skeptic that a show is worth taking a risk on. So it is with ABC's dazzling but dauntingly precious Once Upon a Time (Sunday, 8/7c), which back when I was considering it for Fall Preview left me wondering: "Is this ambitiously whimsical fantasia the next Pushing Daisies cult fave or the next Eastwick insta-flop? (Either way, it will likely be an uphill climb to happily ever after.) It would be easier to love if it weren't so convoluted and campy."
But then ABC made another episode (the third, airing Nov. 6) available for review, and I started to find myself enchanted and beguiled, ready to curl up with more chapters of this fractured fairy tale. First, though, you have to digest the premise, and the overstuffed and often overripe pilot is a lot to swallow. We begin in a lavishly rendered fairy-tale land ...
read more
In the series finale, Dr. Carter opens a new medical facility for the underprivileged in Chicago and some old friends from County General all come to show their support. watch