“Getting On” (US) season 1, episode 5: “Nightshift” airs Dec. 22 at 10 p.m. on HBO.
Episode synopsis:
DiDi’s serene evening shift is turned upside down by the arrival of a new Swedish-speaking patient and several unwelcome inebriated visitors. Stopping by after a lamentable dinner party, Dr. James attends to her drunken husband Richard’s ingrown toenail while dreaming of a Cleveland fresh start; a woozy Dawn looks for stopgap comforts in the lounge after an unsettling evening with Patsy; and an elderly Swedish tourist shows off her gymnastic chops while complaining about her ruined vacation.
The series description reads:
“At the Billy Barnes Extended Care Unit of Mount Palms Hospital in Long Beach, Calif., the staff attends to the needs of female patients who are often “getting on” in years, while dealing with the challenges of a health-care bureaucracy in need of an overhaul. Even as they attempt to serve their charges under less-than-ideal circumstances, the lives of this ragtag crew are complicated by conflicting agendas, both professional and personal. The show follows the daily lives of overworked nurses and doctors as they struggle with the darkly comic realities of tending compassionately to their aging charges in a rundown, red-tape-filled hospital extended-care wing, blending outrageous humor with unexpected moments of tenderness.”
