As a comedy vet, what really jumps out about St. Denis Medical . . . about Justin Spitzer and his team’s writing?
The thing I love about the writing on the show is that although these characters are flawed, they are good people. Look around at the people you work with in any workplace. There are some kooks, some people that you think, “My God, how do you get through the day without falling in a manhole, because you’re always looking at your phone!?” But they’re good people, and they came to this for the right reasons . . . You know, nobody who gets into medicine is in it to harm people — but at the end of the day, they gotta eat lunch, they want to take their full break and they want to get home in time to see their kid play softball, but you don’t always get to do that when you work in medicine. There’s no such thing as a 40-hour week — and it makes people a little crazy.
On that note, as funny and as absurd as the series can be, it does also delve into the harsh realities of working at a hospital . . .
I really hope healthcare workers understand how much we respect them. Because you get thrown a lot of curveballs. You’re either butting up against bureaucracies like insurance companies, or you’re getting screamed at by a patient who doesn’t understand what you’re trying to help them with. It’s not always a sunny day at the office, and there are no thank-you notes . . . But again, when you spend so much time at a workplace, these people are your family — whether you want them to be or not. You are a team. Maybe you wouldn’t have picked each other to be teammates, but it doesn’t matter. That’s who you’ve got. I think that’s very relatable.
How do you go about grounding such an outlandish character like Joyce?
I’ve drawn a lot on women that I’ve worked with before I ever got into acting. I’ve had office jobs and retail jobs, and there’s always someone there in charge who’s really trying to motivate you — to make you want to do your best today. But you can tell that she doesn’t believe what she’s saying . . . “I’m in my late-50s, it’s too late for me to switch jobs, I’ve got to make the best of this, I’ve got people to answer to, I’ve got to make money, I’ve got to provide good care. Go, team!” And it’s that cheerleader aspect that is so annoying to people, but she feels like she’s got to do that, by any means necessary.
Even if you’re very, very successful, showbiz is a life of constant rejection. How do you, personally, cope with that?
The way I cope with it — and what finally changed the game for me — is to say, “I no longer believe in rejection.” You’re not going to get every job you audition for — just like if you’re in sales, you’re not going to make the sale most of the time; you just have to get to the answer quickly and move on. So, I don’t look at it as rejection, I look at it as a numbers game. If you’re constantly thinking, “Rejection! Ahhh!” you’re personalizing it, and you’re going to make yourself miserable. And if you’re miserable, why are you doing this? I just think of it as, every audition is an opportunity to show someone what I’m made of — and if I don’t get this part, I’ll get something else. They’ll remember me . . .
Looking back at The Goldbergs, did living with one character for so many years change your perspective on the craft?
That was such a blessing — because I’m not a mom, so I got that out of my system! I got to live through the ’80s twice, and I got to feel what it’s like to have kids and watch them grow. It gave me the opportunity to really bond with the crew . . . and [learn] how to make a character have staying power — that was also a real blessing.
St. Denis Medical airs Tuesdays on CTV and NBC
MEMORABLE ROLES:
A key player in some of the most beloved comedies of the past 20 years, TV fans got their first look at Wendi McLendon-Covey via cult-hit Cops spoof Reno 911! Thereafter, she went on to play family matriarch Beverly on ABC’s ode-to-the-’80s sitcom The Goldbergs from 2013-2023. In a full-circle moment, she recently voiced the villainous Chief Patsy Stamos on another unhinged comedy set in the world of law enforcement: Fox’s animated murder mystery Grimsburg.
CURRENT GIG:
The native of Bellflower, California, now heads the cast of St. Denis Medical — the latest mockumentary from Superstore creator Justin Spitzer. She plays Joyce, executive director at an overworked, underfunded Oregon hospital staffed by a most peculiar array of doctors and nurses.