Nurse Jackie

In Showtime's hit comedy series Nurse Jackie, the staff at New York's All Saints Hospital knows a thing or two about pain, whether it comes to healing patients or coping with their own personal demons; none more so than Jackie Payton. A recovering addict, the hard-edged Jackie walks a daily high wire consisting of butting heads with hospital administration, coping with an ever-collapsing family life, and saving lives by whatever means necessary, all the while struggling with sliding back into her unsavory ways. Edie Falco's astonishing, Emmy-winning performance sets the tone for this dark, funny view of our flawed medical system. Surrounding her are a colorful array of sharply defined characters, including Jackie's upbeat "protégé" Zoey Barkow (Merritt Wever); smug, Ivy League doctor Fitch Cooper (Peter Facinelli); Jackie's new love interest, Officer Frank Verelli (Adam Ferrara), by-the-book administrator Gloria Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith), and newcomer to the ER, Dr. Carrie Roman (Betty Gilpin).