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Parents' Guide to

Combat Hospital

By Kari Croop, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Predictable medical drama mixes war with a little gore.

TV ABC Drama 2011
Combat Hospital Poster Image

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What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

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Kids say (1 ):

In spite of its serious subject matter, there's something about Combat Hospital that feels like a gag, or at least like one of those trumped-up TV shows they slip into real movies for the sake of comedy. Maybe it's because the title's so literal … and oddly reminiscent of the heavily satirical Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital. But it also doesn't help that the first few minutes are filled with enough clichés to make you wonder whether it's OK to laugh.

For the record, it's not. Or, more importantly, you're not supposed to, because the producers set out to create a serious series about a serious subject. (They even meticulously modeled the set in Toronto after a real-life NATO Role 3 Hospital in Kandahar.) But whether it's a function of a weakly scripted pilot or two-dimensional characters who have yet to be fully realized, Combat Hospital's earnest launch feels like a serious misfire.

TV Details

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