As there are no comments about this show and I'm one of the few members of the public that have actually seen it I thought I'd best write a few lines. I actually saw the show in the summer of 2001 whilst at Universal Studios in Florida.
Various TV people were trying to get the general public into these screenings for a 'new show' but as the weather was good and people had paid for the attractions there were few takers. Then it rained and we were filed into this darkened room by said TV people
The Heart Department was very close in structure to ER and if you're a fan of that long running TV series then there's a very good chance you'd of enjoyed this. After only viewing one episode it also appeared that like ER the story lines would closely follow the main characters (Tony Shalhoub was particularly good as the sympathetic Dr. Nassar) both in and out of work. Like most pilots I've seen it also had more than its fair share of irritating characters including the token English import whose accent was appalling and manor stereotyped to say the least.
Overall there was also the usual comic relief characters and story lines pulling at the heart strings (which the Americans do rather well). Would it of succeeded? Maybe given the chance but it certainly wasn't as intelligent or well written as the current crop of US drama's and with ER still producing an unrivalled output it may have been one medical based drama too many.
