Add Jada Pinkett Smith (photo) to the growing list of actresses of a certain age making the transition from film to TV. She’s heading to TNT, which has enjoyed success with vehicles for Kyra Sedgwick (“The Closer”) and Holly Hunter (“Saving Grace”).
Smith’s new series is “HawthoRNe,” debuting at 9 tonight. Smith plays Christina Hawthorne, the caring and stubborn chief nursing officer at Richmond Trinity Hospital in the Virginia capital.
Christina spends much of her time at work, in part because she and her rebellious teen daughter, Camille (Hannah Hodson), are still coming to terms with the death from cancer of her husband a year earlier. Much of the action takes place at the hospital, involving not just patient care but also the politics behind the scenes as well. Her struggles with Camille on the home front are hinted at, but not closely examined.
Smith is surrounded by an able cast that features familiar TV faces such as Michael Vartan (“Alias”) as chief of surgery Dr. Tom Wakefield, Suleka Matthews (“Men in Trees”) as Christina’s best friend, Bobbie Jackson, a fellow nurse, and Christina Moore (“90210”) as Candy Sullivan, a nurse with a unique sense of duty.
“HawthoRNe” has the misfortune to debut around the same time as Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie,” which also follows a veteran nurse through her long days but does it in a much more engaging manner.
It also pales in comparison to other original dramas on its own channel. Sedgwick’s and Hunter’s characters are forces of nature. Christina is well-meaning and mouthy, but that’s about it. (It doesn’t help that “Saving Grace” follows “HawthoRNe,” which serves to emphasize the differences between the shows.)
Still, maybe cable’s patience and lower summer standards will give “HawthoRNe” the time it needs to heal itself.