Good Sam (TV series)

Good Sam is an American medical drama television series created by Katie Wech for CBS, starring Sophia Bush and Jason Isaacs which premiered on January 5, 2022. In May 2022, after receiving low ratings over the course of their 13 episode season, the series was canceled.

WWW cbs.com/shows/good-sam

Premise

Heart surgeon Dr. Samantha Griffith becomes the top surgeon at Lakeshore Sentinel Hospital after her boss and father, Dr. Rob Griffith, falls into a coma. Her life becomes complicated when he awakens and wants to resume surgery, which means Samantha would be supervising him.

Cast

Sophia Bush as Dr. Sam Griffith, Cardiac Fellow and Interim Chief at Lakeshore Sentinel Hospital
Jason Isaacs as Dr. Rob "Griff" Griffith, one of the country's best cardiothoracic surgeons, the hospital's current Chief Medical Officer and Sam's father
Skye P. Marshall as Dr. Lex Trulie, Sam's best friend who is having an affair with Griff
Michael Stahl-David as Dr. Caleb Tucker, Sam's ex and member of her team
Omar Maskati as Dr. Isan M. Shah, a doctor on Sam's team
Wendy Crewson as Vivian Katz, a former orthopedic surgeon, the hospital's former Chief Medical Officer, Sam's mother, and Griff's ex-wife
Edwin Hodge as Malcolm A. Kingsley, part of the Kingsley Family Foundation, Lakeshore's main donor, and the hospital's new Director of Finance
Davi Santos as Dr. Joey Costa, a doctor on Sam's team

Recurring

Yanna McIntosh as Dr. Rhonda Glass
Evan Parke as Byron Kingsley, Malcom's father
Stephen Tracey as Tim Davis, Joey's boyfriend of five years
Sendhil Ramamurthy as Asher Pyne, Vivian's husband
Victoria Rowell as Tina Kingsley, Malcolm's mother
Travis Van Winkle as Dr. Eric Kace
Gerardo Celasco as Dr. Nick Vega

Special guest stars

Hilarie Burton as Gretchen Taylor
Bethany Joy Lenz as Amy Taylor

Production

Development

On September 19, 2019, CBS put Good Sam into development. Writer Katie Wech produced the series with Jennie Snyder Urman through her Sutton St. Productions and CBS Television Studios. In February 2020, the series was given a pilot order, with further development paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 14, 2021, the show was given a series order. On May 12, 2022, CBS canceled the series after one season.

Casting

In February 2020, Sophia Bush was cast as lead role. In March 2020, Jason Isaacs joined the main cast. In January 2021, Skye P. Marshall and Michael Stahl-David were cast in starring roles. In February 2021, Edwin Hodge joined the cast in a starring role. In January 2022, it was reported that Sendhil Ramamurthy was cast in a recurring role while Hilarie Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz are set to guest star. In February 2022, Victoria Rowell joined the cast in a recurring role.

Filming

Principal photography for the series began on October 18, 2021 and concluded on March 24, 2022, in Oakville, Ontario.

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 63% approval rating with an average rating of 7.5/10, based on 8 critic reviews. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 56 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".