Combat Hospital

It's unlikely that any TV drama filmed in Toronto could ever come close to the bloody reality of war, but ABC's new series, Combat Hospital, makes a pretty compelling attempt at doing so.

Placid and often incomprehensibly bland, Combat Hospital still has flashes of intelligence. Definitely worth a second look.

Combat Hospital has the look, feel and pacing of an old "M*A*S*H" episode--minus the humor and preachiness--and the soapy elements of fellow ABC hospital drama "Grey's Anatomy" (a smarmy British doctor, nervous newbies and the no-nonsense unit chief--with the heart of gold, of course). But these aren't necessarily drawbacks. This is an episodic TV drama, after all.

As if afraid they will be accused of not taking things seriously enough, the creators walk through much of the pilot as if through a minefield, which is to say ver-ry slowly and ver-ry carefully. Not the best pacing considering the subject matter.

Like fellow Canadian import Rookie Blue, Combat Hospital seems almost purposefully forgettable. Watch a China Beach rerun instead.

Combat Hospital is as bland and generic as its title.

Still, for a show chronicling this modern conflict, Combat Hospital seems painfully old-fashioned, as the script by Petrie, who shares story credit with creators Jinder Oujla-Chalmers and Douglas Steinberg, recycles any number of hospital-show cliches in the pilot alone.

Imagine any "M• A• S• H"-style cliche and odds are good it will turn up in Combat Hospital whose predictability makes it a dull summer entry that may encourage viewers of this week's premiere to become deserters before next week's episode.