Review: There's not much worth saving in NBC summer series "Saving Hope"

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Don't hold out much hope for "Saving Hope" (Thursday, 8 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5) - the lower your expectations, the more you might like it.

And the odds are you're not going to like it much, unless you're a big fan of shows about doctors and ghosts. And doctors that are ghosts. Sort of.

This Canadian import revolves around surgeon Alex Reid (Erica Durance, "Smallville"). Alex and her fiance, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks, "Stargate SG-1") are on their way to get married when their car is broadsided. Alex is OK; Charlie ends up in a coma.

He must be sort of dead, because his ghost starts wandering the halls of the hospital where he was the chief surgeon.

There are a bunch doctors running around and a bunch of patients who do dumb things like eat daffodil bulbs. It's basically your standard medical drama, except that Charlie is caught somewhere between life and death and talks to other patients who are dying or dead.

Doctors and ghosts and ghosts who were doctors? It was done much better in CBS' "A Gifted Man" this past season. And that show got canceled.

If you think about "Saving Hope" for more than five seconds, you'll realize how ridiculous it is. You've definitely got to disengage your brain to sit through an episode.