The show, one of TNT's nine current original shows, three of which started this year, has been recieved poorly by critics. The Boston Herald called the show "a mess," and the New York Post called the cast "flat and one-dimensional." It's been continually called "weakly written," and "unconvincing"  by many critics, and the titular protagonist has been criticized for being too much of an advocate. "She can’t always be in an uproar about everything or always play the hero. The show cannot center around her at the expense of everyone else," said Amy Amatangelo of Zap2it.

All that criticism really makes me wonder why exactly the show was renewed. I haven't seen Hawthorne, and have no intentions to ever see it. I'm frankly surprised that TNT has given another chance to this obviously drowning show, however, especially when compared to the hits on the network like The Closer, Saving Grace, and even the new Dark Blue. Hawthorne seems uncharacteristically mediocre for the usually stellar network, and I can't wrap my head around why they would want this show to remain on their network after such an unpromising first year. Is it because of star Jada Pinkett-Smith? Perhaps. Whatever the cause is, let's hope that Hawthorne finds some new writing help, stat. Because if it doesn't, I simply can't see the show being renewed for yet another season.

But what do you think? Is Hawthorne worth a second season, or should it not have been given a first? Post your opinion in the comment box below, and let's get a discussion going!

In Hawthorne, Smith plays Chrstina Hawthorne, a strong willed nurse who has dedicated her life to her patients in the wake of losing her husband to cancer. Vartan plays Dr. Tom Wakefield, the oncologist who treated Christina’s husband and serves as Chief of Surgery for the hospital. Fans of Vartan are familiar with his tremendous range, from dark to upbeat, but the actor promises something new with Dr. Wakefield – a blend. “My character [in Hawthorne] is a Doctor, he’s head of surgery, so obviously there is a serious side to him. But we are wrapping episode six now, and we’ve definitely developed the chemistry between those two characters. They are definitely joking around a lot more than they did in the pilot.”

Having spent five years making Alias’s Michael Vaughan the object of unobtainable affection for millions of fans, Vartan is bracing himself to test the chemistry with co-star Smith, but not yet. On the question of whether or not there is a future hook up between Dr. Wakefield and Pinkett’s Hawthorne, Vartan is slyly cautious. “You know, this is television so I’d be surprised if they don’t. In the story her husband just passed away six month to a year ago, and I was a close friend of his so I think we’re going to need a little healing time for the poor girl before Dr. Tom tries to swoop in and take her out.”

In addition to stoking the romantic speculation over Hawthorne, Vartan went on to gush over some upcoming guest stars, as well as their story lines. “Cloris Leachman, she plays a zany zany patient who gives one of our young nurses the hardest time she could ever handle. Malcolm Jamal Warner was on, and I got to work with him. He plays someone who gets sick and starts hallucinating and thinks that Jada’s character is his wife. “

Aside from the glitzy guest-star driven plots, Vartan promises Hawthorne gets into the guts of the more topical issues dominating the health care industry. “There is an episode we just finished that touched on health care and the economic crunch, and how it is affecting people, hospitals, and the healthcare system in general. We have great writers, and they are hell bent on keeping this as real as possible.

The pilot opens on the one year anniversary of the death of Christina's husband.  Still desperate to stay connected to her husband, Christina talks to his ashes each night.  In the early morning, she rushes to the hospital to save an old friend of her husband, who's suffering from cancer and tries to kill himself.  Her friend survives his suicide attempt and thus begins another crazy day for the hospital's Chief Nursing Officer.

Smith's acting is terrific in the pilot.  I admit, I haven't watched a lot of her previous work, but she switches from funny to caring to headstrong in a heartbeat.  The interaction with her character's rebellious teenage daughter, Camille (played by Hannah Hodson), is particularly poignant  The two are at odds, as Camille seems to blame her mother for her father's death, but they still love each other and connect as a family.  Her interactions with her mother-in-law, who also happens to be a member of the hospital board, are snarky.  It's clear that the two women have little in common besides Christina's dead husband and Camille.

Michael Vartan (previously of Alias fame) plays Dr. Tom Wakefield, a charming Chief of Staff doctor at Richmond Trinity.  He and Christina get along, but occasionally butt heads as cracks appear in the relationships between nurses and doctors.

Those cracks are a running theme of this show: some of the doctors are portrayed as smug know-it-alls who look down on nurses.  This is clear in the relationship between one Dr. Marshall and male nurse Ray Stein (David Julian Hirsh).  Dr. Marshall seems more concerned about golfing and putting down nurses than tending to patients.  When she prescribes an overdose of insulin to a patient, she defends herself and blames Ray, who actually caught the mistake and followed hospital protocol in the hopes of getting the doctor to realize her mistake.

Several other nurses round out the cast of supporting characters, including Bobbie Jackson (Suleka Mathew), a close friend of Christina's who has a prosthetic leg.  A handsome EMT, however, is willing to look beyond that and date her, which helps Bobbie with her insecurities.  Candy Sullivan (Christina Moore), is your typical blonde bombshell, who likes to give wounded soldiers some extra TLC.  Ray has a crush on her and while Candy enjoys flirting with him, it's unclear whether their relationship will develop at this point.

Several story lines appear throughout the episode, much in the same manner that other hospital dramas, such as E.R., would structure their episodes.  Christina also deals with a deeply troubled homeless lady, who she is very compassionate towards, and the woman's sick newborn.  The showdown between Dr. Marshall and Ray comes as a result of the near death of a soldier and the doctors and nurses who are close to Christina try to help her get through the anniversary of her husband's death.

Overall, the characters on this show are likeable and funny.  It's not a heavy and serious medical drama, but it has a nice mix of humor and touching moments.  It will be interesting to see these characters develop.  I like the tension between doctors and nurses, particularly since I think nurses get the short end of the stick for doing so much for patients in real life.

HawthoRNe premieres June 16, 2009 at 9:00 EST on TNT.