I get a little worried when I see television shows that boasts a cast made up mostly of actors younger than 20, especially when said show is not airing on Disney Channel or The CW. I am very glad to be proven wrong in the case of Fox’s new show, “Red Band Society.”

During the pilot, the audience is introduced to Charlie, a longterm child patient at Ocean Park Hospital. He narrates through the episode, a trend that might get annoying by mid-season, but that’s to be determined.

Charlie also introduces all the other characters through a long stretch of exposition. There’s Emma (Ciara Bravo) a girl battling an eating disorder, Leo (Charlie Rowe) a cancer patient who is missing a leg, Kara (Zoe Levin, a highlight of the pilot) as the cheerleader who ends up in the hospital due to severe heart issues and Dash (Brian ‘Astro’ Bradley) who needs a lung transplant to keep up with his energy. Out of this group of misfits, Charlie has lived at the hospital the longest, mostly due to the fact that he is in a coma.

That’s right. The series is narrated by a child in a coma.

The series has a great adult presence with the terrifying Nurse Jackson (Octavia Spencer, in a role as far away from “The Help” as one can get) and Dr. Jack McAndrew (Dave Annable). They keep the show grounded from veering too far into the childish dramatics. I hope we get to see a focus on more of their lives, especially Nurse Jackson. She runs the hospital with an iron fist, but yet has a soft spot for Dash and Leo, an impressive feat, considering they are introduced to the audience by smoking a joint in the storage closet.

The show walks the line between drama and comedy. However it’s not afraid to get a bit gimmicky. In addition to the coma boy narration, Charlie also has a heart-to-heart with Kara when she loses consciousness. Belief needs to be suspended almost to “Glee”-like proportions. In one scene, Leo, Dash and new patient Jordi (Nolan Sotillo) convince a valet to loan them a doctor’s car to go on a beer run. Jordi manages to convince the owner to overlook Dash’s fake ID because they are “trying to get a crippled kid laid.”

“Red Band Society” is one of the few shows for this season that has the possibility of sticking around to the end of the television season. There are some obstacles the show will have to overcome, including keeping the kids from getting too grating, balancing the drama with the comedy, and finally, keeping things interesting. As for right now, I will continue to tune in, especially if the show continues to use Coldplay songs for episode-ending montages.

Bottom Line: “Red Band Society” deserves to be admitted into your television schedule, if only for a brief stay.

3.5/5