Wendi McLendon-Covey talks about the new NBC sitcom ‘St. Denis Medical’

On November 15, 2024By Littum

Wendi McLendon-Covey knew that for her first role after 10 seasons on ABC’s family sitcom “The Goldbergs,” she didn’t want to play another overbearing mother. Instead, she takes on Joyce, the high-strung hospital administrator of NBC’s mockumentary-style sitcom “St. Denis Medical” (premiering Tuesday, 8 EST/PST).

Joyce “likes cute things, but she doesn’t have time for pets,” McLendon-Covey, 55, explains to USA TODAY. “That’s why she never had kids. That’s why all her plants are fake. She’s always on edge.”

Joyce constantly tries to push St. Denis, an underfunded hospital in fictional Merrick, Oregon, “uphill.” McLendon-Covey believes Joyce is ambitious in her fundraising efforts for the hospital but also “so annoying”.

While Joyce may be the “complete opposite” of Beverly Goldberg in McLendon-Covey’s view, the actress is no stranger to workplace comedy. She played Concierge Mariea character who joined Michael Scott in a 2008 episode of NBC’s “The Office.”

“Fans of ‘The Office’ are rabid fans, and they know that show better than the actors or the creators do,” she says. For a single guest role, she hears more about the character than she expected. “They’ve seen it so many times that they’ll correct you if you’re wrong, you know? I love that you can’t pull the wool over a fan’s eyes anymore.”

The McLendon-Covey “St. Denis” cast includes David Alan Grier (who plays a doctor) and Allison Tolman (the hospital’s head nurse). She jokes that the hospital set looked so real that she was afraid to touch any of the props. Medical consultants were brought in to help with certain scenes. Former doctors also appear as background actors.

Producers Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin have two cult workplace comedies under their belts in NBC’s “Superstore” and “American Auto.”

McLendon-Covey raves about the experience. “When your (executive) producers love their families, you get to go home at night,” she says, stunned. “The hours are better. Everyone can see their families.

“I know everyone comes here and says, ‘Oh my God, we’re getting paid to have fun’. But I think it comes across in the final product that we’re really having the time of our lives.”