I’m really excited for The Knick, a historical medical drama starring Clive Owen and directed by Steven Soderbergh, which Cinemax will be unveiling in August. This is the same network we jokingly call Skinemax, and which features action-packed, nudity-heavy series like Strike Back, Hunted and Banshee. However, The Knick definitely looks like a promising new start for the network.
In this newly released trailer, we’re introduced to the high-pressure, high-stakes existence of Dr. John W. Thackery (Owen), a doctor at New York’s Knickerbocker Hospital in the early twentieth century. As he pushes to expand the known boundaries of modern medicine, he encounters a myriad of personal and professional dilemmas.
The main draw for a lot of viewers will probably be Owen, who looks like he’s perfectly suited for this gritty role, but I’m most excited to see Soderbergh’s direction on the series. The Side Effects helmer is working with a very distinct color palette on The Knick, and his reliance on a lot of POV shots makes me think that this series will be visually interesting as well as compelling in terms of story.
The Knick premieres on Cinemax on August 8th.
Set in downtown New York in 1900, ‘The Knick’ is a new Cinemax drama series from Academy Award and Emmy-winning director Steven Soderbergh. It is centered on the Knickerbocker Hospital and the groundbreaking surgeons, nurses and staff who work there, pushing the bounds of medicine in a time of astonishingly high mortality rates and zero antibiotics. Soderbergh directs all 10 episodes of the series’ first season.
Academy Award and Emmy nominee Clive Owen stars as Doctor John Thackery, a brilliant surgeon pioneering new methods in the field, despite nursing a severe addiction to cocaine. He leads a team of doctors including his protégé Dr. Everett Gallinger; the young Dr. Bertie Chickering Jr.; and Algernon Edwards, a promising surgeon who’s been recently thrust upon him. The lively cast of characters at the hospital also includes Cornelia Robertson, the daughter of its benefactor; surly ambulance driver Tom Cleary; Lucy Elkins, a fresh-faced nurse from the country; the crooked manager Herman Barrow; and Sister Harriet, a nun who isn’t afraid to speak her mind.
The writing team of Jack Amiel and Michael Begler (“Raising Helen,” “Big Miracle”), who wrote the pilot for the series, serve as executive producers, along with Soderbergh, Owen, Michael Sugar (“Rendition”) and Gregory Jacobs (“Behind the Candelabra”). Michael Polaire (“Behind the Candelabra”) produces; Steven Katz (“Behind the Candelabra”) is a consulting producer.
