Medical drama `Angels’ newest Bochco creation

In his latest effort, much-honored TV creator Steven Bochco shows viewers the polar opposite of “Chicago Hope.”

In other words, the urban medical drama “City of Angels” (guess the setting) is gritty, first and foremost (Bochco’s finest works inevitably are). None of the flashy kooks from ritzy “Chicago Hope” for this inner-city hospital.

“City of Angels,” which premieres on CBS at 8 p.m. Sunday before moving to its regular time slot of 8 p.m. Wednesdays Jan. 19, centers on devoted surgeon Dr. Ben Turner (Blair Underwood, “L.A. Law”) and the new medical director, Dr. Lillian Price (Vivica A. Fox, “Soul Food”), who is also Turner’s ex-fiancee.

Price finds that she’s fallen through the looking glass, as hospital staffers must struggle to treat largely indigent patients with only the most basic of equipment. Her sometimes allies include a weaselly chief executive officer (Michael Warren, alum of Bochco’s “Hill Street Blues”) and Edwin O’Malley (two-time Tony winner Robert Morse), peculiar chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

The supporting cast is mostly stereotypes, none terribly well developed: the slumming Jewish resident, the angry young black resident, the veteran omniscient nurse, the arrogant white surgeon. Still that’s not surprising, with such a large cast to introduce over the first couple of episodes.

While “City of Angels” has soul and heart, it lacks much of the sense of humor present in Bochco’s best work. It certainly doesn’t rank up there with “NYPD Blue,” “L.A. Law,” “Hill Street Blues” or the criminally short-lived “Murder One.” But then it’s no “Cop Rock” or “Total Security” either. In texture, it’s most like “Brooklyn South,” another well-developed, large-ensemble drama. Unlike that show, let’s hope that CBS lets “City of Angels” live more than one season.