The Resident is an American medical drama television series that aired on Fox from January 21, 2018, to January 17, 2023. The series premiered on Fox as a mid-season replacement during the 2017–18 television season. The series focuses on the lives and duties of staff members at fictional Chastain Park Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, with generally a critical eye into current issues of medical practice and tensions in the healthcare industry.
Created by Amy Holden Jones, Hayley Schore, and Roshan Sethi, the series was purchased by Fox from Showtime in 2017. In May 2017, Fox ordered the project to series, with a 14-episode season order. The series premiere was a lead-out to the Vikings-Eagles NFC Championship Game. In May 2021, the series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on September 21, 2021. In May 2022, the series was renewed for a sixth season, which premiered on September 20, 2022. In April 2023, the series was canceled after six seasons.
Contents
Cast and characters
Main
Matt Czuchry as Dr. Conrad Theodore Hawkins: the titular resident. A third-year resident (later attending physician) in Internal Medicine at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital, he is a former Navy Corpsman who served with the Marines in Afghanistan, which is where he learned some of his unconventional medical techniques. It is mentioned that Hawkins has PTSD.
In season 3, he also gets a job as the team doctor for Georgia FC. At the beginning of the series, he and Dr. Bell often clash with different medical practices each uses and the cost of treatment but over time they seem to mend fences and work quite well together.
Over the seasons, Hawkins becomes close friends with his resident Devon Pravesh. In the pilot Pravesh is introduced as an eager Harvard medical grad and Hawkins a doctor whose military background has led to his practicing "cowboy medicine".
Hawkins and Nic Nevin, a nurse practitioner, had a relationship prior to the start of the series. They broke up but by the end of season 1, they get back together. In the season 4 premiere, they get married. They have a daughter, Georgiana Grace "Gigi" Hawkins.
Following Nic's death in season 5, Hawkins quits his job at Chastain and works in private practice as a concierge doctor for the next three years to have more time with his young daughter. He does return to Chastain.
In season 5, Hawkins starts to develop feelings for Billie Sutton. (One of Nic’s best friends, she had joined the hospital before Nic's death.) Hawkins is involved for a while in Season 6 with Kincaid Sullivan, but afterward he and Billie admit their feelings to each other. They are still together by series end.
Emily VanCamp (seasons 1–5) as Nicolette 'Nic' Marie Nevin, a nurse practitioner at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital. She is Conrad's love interest, and they marry after years together. A caring and compassionate nurse, Nic will go the extra mile for her patients.
In season 1, she is arrested and framed by Dr. Lane Hunter, after learning that Hunter is giving chemotherapy to healthy people and telling them that they have cancer to make a profit. The framing is discovered, and Nic is exonerated by the end of season 1. It is revealed that Nic's mother died when she was young, and that her younger sister Jessie became dependent on her. Later Jessie became addicted to drugs. In season 2, after years of drug abuse, Jessie needs a kidney transplant. She can't wait enough time after getting clean. Nic convinces their undependable father to donate a kidney, as she is not a match. The two start to rebuild their relationship. Even with the kidney transplant, Jessie dies in the season 3 premiere.
Recurring
Tasie Lawrence as Priya Nair (seasons 1 & 2), a reporter and Devon's former fiancée.
Michael Hogan as Dr. Albert Nolan, a trauma surgery attending of Chastain Park Memorial Hospital.
Violett Beane as Lily Elizabeth Kendall (season 1), one of Lane's chemotherapy patients.
Warren Christie as Dr. Jude Silva (season 1), a trauma attending.
Tasso Feldman as Dr. Irving Feldman, an ER doctor. He elopes with Jessica Moore in season 4's "Doors Opening, Doors Closing" after getting engaged to her in season 3.
Jessica Miesel as Jessica Moore, a gossip-loving scrub nurse. She and Feldman get engaged in season 3 and then elope in season 4's "Doors Opening, Doors Closing".
Jocko Sims as Dr. Benjamin Wilmot (season 1), an internal medicine attending.
Patrick R. Walker as Micah Stevens (seasons 1 & 2), a science teacher at Sanford High School who is a repeat patient of Conrad's and Mina's former romantic interest.
Steven Reddington as Dr. Bradley James Jenkins (seasons 1 & 2), a former surgical Resident at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital.
Catherine Dyer as Alexis Stevens, a Nursing Supervisor at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital.
Vince Foster as Dr. Paul Chu, the Chief of Anaesthesiology at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital.
Denitra Isler as Nurse Ellen Hundley, the head ER nurse at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital.
Production
Development
In August 2016, it was announced that Showtime was developing a new original series, known as The City, pitched by executive producer Antoine Fuqua. The series was described at the time as "a dark medical drama [that] centers around an idealistic young doctor who begins his first day of residency under the supervision of a senior resident who appears tough and brilliant, but turns out to be a cunning and deadly psychopath." It was also announced that Amy Holden Jones would produce the series and co-write the pilot episode along with Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi. The series, however, was never produced.
On January 20, 2017, it was reported that Fox purchased the series from Showtime and ordered a pilot episode under the name The Resident. On May 10, 2017, the series received a season order of 14 episodes. The series premiered on January 21, 2018. Phillip Noyce, an executive producer for the series, directed the first two episodes of the season after signing a multi-year deal with 20th Century Fox Television. The first season officially concluded on May 14, 2018.
In May 2018, Fox renewed the series for a 13-episode second season and pre-production began on June 8, 2018. The second season premiered on September 24, 2018. On October 10, 2018, it was reported that Fox had ordered an additional nine episodes for the second season, bringing the total episode count to 22. On March 13, 2019, however, series co-creator Amy Holden Jones stated on her Twitter and Instagram accounts that there were 23 episodes in season 2. In March 2019, Fox renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on September 24, 2019. The season was originally planned to have 23 episodes, but COVID-related production shutdowns resulted in three episodes remaining unfilmed. As a result, episode 20 served as a makeshift third-season finale. In May 2020, Fox renewed series for a fourth season, which premiered on January 12, 2021. In May 2021, Fox renewed series for a fifth season, which premiered on September 21, 2021. In May 2022, Fox renewed series for a sixth season which premiered on September 20, 2022. On April 6, 2023, Fox canceled the series after six seasons.
Casting
On February 21, 2017, Manish Dayal and Bruce Greenwood were the first to be cast in the series for the roles of Devon Pravesh and Soloman Bell, respectively. Greenwood's character name was later changed to Randolph Bell. Matt Czuchry, Emily VanCamp, Shaunette Renée Wilson and Melina Kanakaredes were later announced to be starring in the series as well. Moran Atias was also cast for the role of Renta Thorpe, CEO at Chastain Park, which was originally portrayed by Valerie Cruz in the pilot. However, when Merrin Dungey joined the cast, the producers saw Atias as a better fit for the role of the hospital's head of marketing. Dungey replaced her as the CEO and the character's name was changed to Claire Thorpe.
As the season developed, it was announced that Violett Beane was set to recur, and on April 30, 2018, Malcolm-Jamal Warner was reported to have a major recurring role in the final three episodes of the season.
On June 18, 2018, it was announced that Warner and other recurring cast member, Glenn Morshower would be promoted to series regulars for the second season. The following day, it was announced that Moran Atias, Merrin Dungey and Melina Kanakaredes would not be returning, and that Jane Leeves would also be joining the cast as a regular for the second season on a one-year contract.
On July 16, 2018, it was announced that Jenna Dewan is set to recur on season 2. It was later announced on August 27 that Daniella Alonso had also been cast in a recurring role for the second season. On October 15, 2020, Conrad Ricamora was cast in a recurring role for the fourth season. On December 18, 2020, Jessica Lucas joined the cast as a new series regular for the fourth season.
On April 21, 2021, it was announced that original cast member Shaunette Renée Wilson would be written out of the series towards the end of the fourth season, after her deciding to exit the series to explore new ventures. She was followed by Emily VanCamp, whose character was written out of the series in the third episode of the fifth season.
On June 4, 2021, Anuja Joshi was promoted to a series regular for the fifth season. On August 24, 2021, Stephen Wallem joined the cast in a recurring role for the fifth season. On September 15, 2021, Miles Fowler joined the cast as a new series regular for the fifth season, followed by Kaley Ronayne on October 19, 2021. On April 6, 2022, it was reported that Fowler exited the series after less than one season as a series regular. On July 11, 2022, it was announced that Andrew McCarthy was promoted to series regular for the sixth season, followed by Ronayne on July 14, 2022.
Filming
Primary photography for the series takes place in and around Atlanta, Georgia. Some filming took place on location in Canton, Georgia, at the Blankets Creek Bike Trail. Exterior and some interior shots of the High Museum of Art in midtown-Atlanta were used as the backdrop for the fictional Chastain Park Memorial Hospital. Some filming also took place in Conyers, Georgia, on a production set previously used for Fox's Sleepy Hollow. Filming for the first production block took place between March 20 and April 5, 2017. Filming on the second season began in July 2018. On March 14, 2020, production on the third season was suspended upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Broadcast, streaming, and home video release
In the United States, episodes were broadcast by Fox. Internationally, the series airs on Seven Network then later on Disney + in Australia, City (season 1) and CTV (season 2–present) in Canada, on Universal TV (season 1 and 2), Sky Witness (season 3) and Disney+ (season 4-present) in the United Kingdom and Ireland and on Star World in the Indian Subcontinent. In Latin America, the series is broadcast by Fox's Latin America counterpart. Episodes can be watched next day on the network's website. Hulu owns the SVOD rights to the series, and individual episodes, or the season as a whole, are available for purchase on Amazon and iTunes. The first season DVD set was made available for pre-order in June 2018 through Amazon and was released on October 2, 2018.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 59% based on 22 reviews for the show's first season, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The site’s consensus reads: “With sporadic amusement and a handful of decent performances, The Resident drifts between medical melodrama and hospital horror with often unintentionally funny results.”. On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
USA Today rated the series 1.5 out of 4 stars stating "It's a shame, because it's a waste of the talents of Czuchry and VanCamp (Revenge), two usually appealing TV veterans" and "The Resident can't save itself". Meanwhile, TVLine rated the series a B+ and said: "The Resident takes a hard look at the thorny ethical issues surrounding today's health-care providers." The first season was also often compared to ABC's medical drama, The Good Doctor. The series was unpopular with some in the medical profession, with various sources calling it grossly unrealistic.