From left: Draymond Green, Dan Leahy, and Kaliko Kauahi in "St. Denis Medical."
From left: Draymond Green, Dan Leahy, and Kaliko Kauahi in "St. Denis Medical."Justin Lubin/NBC
There are probably a few NBA players out there who wouldn’t mind seeing Draymond Green get struck by lightning (followed by a speedy recovery, of course). Thanks to the season 2 premiere of “St. Denis Medical,” arriving 8 p.m. Nov. 3 on NBC, their ship is about to come in.
Green, the cerebral-but-hot-headed Golden State Warriors forward who has a habit of picking up (well-earned) technical fouls, plays an anonymous patient in the underrated hospital mockumentary series. Yes, he’s just a random man who’s been the victim of a lightning strike. “It got me right in the face,” he says in a quiet, gravelly voice. This is a mini inside joke: Green’s flailing arms and hands have gotten a few players right in the face. (Full disclosure: I’m a life-long Warriors fan who both loves Green and groans at his tendency to act out).
He gets a few more lines, and acquits himself well enough. It’s no Kareem Abdul-Jabbar playing co-pilot Roger Murdock in “Airplane” (all the while insisting he’s not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), but it beats 1981’s “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island.” Then again, most things on the planet beat “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island.” (To be fair, the Globetrotters were solid when they posed as carwash workers and wiped the floor with the Carver High team in a 1979 episode of “The White Shadow.)
I haven’t spent a lot of time with “St. Denis Medical,” but I like what I see. It’s got a sharp comedic pace, good control of the TV mockumentary format (which, with “The Paper” moving over from the streamer Peacock to the main network, NBC seems to have on lockdown), and some nice performances, especially from Wendy McLendon-Covey and David Alan Grier, a graceful comic presence in this elder statesman portion of his career. Finally, it should be said that Green’s cameo makes for smart cross-over marketing. The NBA is back on NBC this season after a 23-year absence. Expect some in-game “St. Denis Medical” promos. And watch out for lightning.
Chris Vognar can be reached at chris.vognar@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram at @chrisvognar and on Bluesky at chrisvognar.bsky.social.