The Cast of Nurses (Links Updated 8/1/18) - Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

Nurses aired from September 1991 until June 1994 on NBC.

Miami's Community Medical Center, right around the corner from Empty
Nest and The Golden Girls ( both on NBC, on the same night), was the
setting for this rather standard medical sitcom. The center of the
action-which was mostly talk-was the third floor nurses station,
manned by 5 harried , underpaid R.N.'s: working mom Annie ( Arnetia
Walker), the nurse in charge; dedicated, cynical Sandy (Stephanie
Hodge); neurotic newcomer Julie ( Mary Jo Keenan), who was deathly
afraid of germs; worldly wise immigrant Gina ( Ada Maris) and flaky
Greg ( Jeff Altman), an anti-authority type with a penchant for
physically attacking the doctors. Most of the incompetent M.D.'s
deserved it , with the exception of financially strapped good-guy Dr.
Hank ( Kip Gilman). Paco ( Carlos LaCamara) was the
sees-all-tells-all orderly.

Among those joining the cast in later years were Luke ( Markus
Flanagan), a wacky loner; Jack (David Rasche), a crooked financier ,
sentenced to perform community service at the hospital; and Casey
(Loni Anderson), the new, ambitious administrator who arrived when the
hospital was sold to a large HMO. In the final year, Gina became
pregnant with Dr. Hank's child.

The show maintained modest ratings its freshman year thanks to the
still-solid Saturday lineup that included both The Golden Girls and
Empty Nest. As the NBC lineup changed and Saturday became less of a
prime ratings destination, Nurses struggled to maintain its audience
base. Changes in the cast, as well as the show's soundtrack, for both
the second and third seasons led to some inconsistency that likely
furthered the diminishing ratings. Despite considerable media
attention in 1993 when Loni Anderson joined the cast, Nurses was
canceled at the end of its third year.

An Article from Tulsa World

Stephanie Hodge Leaves Stand-Up for Sitcom // `Nurses' Star Terrified of Hospitals

Sep 29, 1991

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Stephanie Hodge had to overcome her terror

of hospitals to get ready for her role in the new NBC comedy "Nurses."

"I was a candy striper in my hometown, but I fainted a

lot," she says. "Put me in the emergency room, and I'd

pass out again and again. I had to get over my fear of hospitals."

As a stand-up, the twice-married, twice-divorced Hodge is

noted for her smoky voice, blue material and shoot-from-the-hip

zingers on the battle of the sexes.

Hodge, an actress and stand-up comedian, stars in the hospital

comedy created by writer Susan Harris. Like two of Harris'

other creations, "The Golden Girls" and "Empty Nest,"

it's set in Miami and characters from the three shows will

visit each other. She plays Sandy, who apparently has no

last name.

"Nurses" also stars Arnetia Walker, Mary Jo Keenen, Ada

Maris, Kenneth David Gilman, Carlos LaCamara and Jeff Altman.

"The show was created for me in a way," says Hodge, who

previously starred in six episodes of "Sugar and Spice."

"I had a deal with the producers, and when this came in

they put me together with the concept. Susan gets to the

truth with her characters.

"Sandy's dealing with a lot of hurt and pain and bitterness,

but she has a will to survive. Listen, without pain and

bitterness I wouldn't have a stand-up act. Bitterness and

hostility are the key to my success. It makes me so happy

to be bitter. It's so much fun."

Hodge says in the beginning her stand-up act relied on props.

"Louie Anderson was very blunt and sweet," she says. "He

said I was too cute. That I should get out and relate to

people. Jay Leno saw me in Minneapolis and said I had to

talk more about myself and to get rid of the props.

"There's a difference between me and other comics who are

bold. I think the most shocking thing about me is that people

say I hit it right on the money. Joan Blondell, Bette Midler

and Carole Lombard all had an influence on me."

She compares her character on "Nurses" with the persona

she projects in her comedy act. Sandy is partly based on

her own experiences, yet humorously exaggerated. She spent

time with nurses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to get some insight.

"Sandy's been dumped by her husband," she says. "I know

all about that, but I did the dumping. She's a nurse because

she wants to help people and care for people. But nurses

are the most dumped-on people in a hospital. Nurses are

always expected to be there with the bedpan."

Hodge was in the movies "Big Top Pee Wee" and "Almost

An Angel," the series "Sugar and Spice" and the pilot

"Morton's By the Bay." She's also starred in several television

comedy specials and a syndicated series called "My Talk

Show." She received an ACE nomination for her appearance

last year on the Showtime special "Just For Laughs: Montreal

International Comedy Festival."

Hodge was raised a Quaker in Ohio, the daughter of a college

professor and schoolteacher. Although they encouraged her

acting, she was also persuaded to get a teaching degree.

After college she and her first husband moved to Minneapolis,

where she stayed for the next nine years.

"I studied acting, did stand-up comedy, worked in a regional

theater with experienced actors, did industrial films and

commercials," she says. "It was a phenomenal experience.

I got a lot of encouragement in Minneapolis and I learned

a lot from people like Paul Reubens, Morey Amsterdam and

Jay Leno. I never thought those people would talk to me,

but they really leveled with me.

"Finally, I felt I had done everything I could there. There's

really a point when you have to challenge yourself. The

only thing I didn't do was act at the Guthrie Theater. I

moved to Los Angeles 4 1/2 years ago. I spent the first year

on the road to pay for an apartment I couldn't afford."

Her stand-up appearances are on temporary hold while she

works on the sitcom.

For the first time, she says, no one asked her to change

her hair color, which is light brown, for her role in "Nurses."

"For `My Talk Show' I had to bleach my hair blonde," she

says. "I was a blonde for eight years. By the time I stopped

bleaching it I had a bald spot. My hair stylist said if

I bleached it again it wouldn't grow back. For `Sugar and

Spice' I had to wear a fake rear end. I played the Southern neighbor.

"I found it funny. I'd sit down and then realize. The other

cast members pinched me a lot and I never knew it."

A Review from Variety

September 24, 1993 12:00AM PT
Nurses the Eagle Has Landed

By Todd Everett

Nurses” begins its third season with two former regulars missing in action and a new topliner who’s been getting an inordinate amount of publicity unrelated to the show. Still, fans shouldn’t have any problem recognizing the program.

When the episode opens, original cast member Stephanie Hodge and last year’s Marcus Flanagan have hit the road without explanation, and the Community Medical Center has been purchased by a conglomerate. Otherwise, things seem to be proceeding as normal when patient Casey McAfee (Loni Anderson) appears. Cranky and picky, she accuses most of the staff of malingering, and arouses the lust of Jack Trenton (David Rasche), whom she immediately spots as an inside-trader fulfilling a community service sentence.

In the meantime, nurse Gina Cuevas (Ada Maris) is extremely pregnant, courtesy of Dr. Hank Kaplan (Kip Gilman), who’s less than enthusiastic about owning up to the situation.

McAfee turns out to be an inspector for the hospital’s new owner, which throws the nurses — many of whom are malingering, from all appearances — into a tizzy. And then — will the hilarity ever stop? — McAfee, who was planning to leave in two days, is named hospital administrator by corporate topper Cooley Waits (Leslie Jordan). Show is played broadly under Gilbert Junger’s direction, and Anderson fits in nicely as the prim McAfee, who (like Jennifer Marlowe in “WKRP in Cincinnati”) can spot a prospective sugar daddy from a mile away.

Into that category falls Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan, stepping over from “Empty Nest”), whose first reaction to the stupefying Anderson is, “Wow! That’s some nose!”

Jordan’s portrayal of Ross Perot-like Waits may be the episode’s high spot, and vet comic actor Sid Melton contributes a funny two-line bit as an aging patient who stumbles into McAfee.

Nurses the Eagle Has Landed

(Sat. (25), 9:30-10 p.m., NBC-TV)

Production: Videotaped in Los Angeles by Witt/Thomas/Harris Prods. in association with Touchstone Television. Exec producers, Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas, Susan Harris, Tom Straw; supervising producer, Boyd Hale; producers, Danny Smith, Gilbert Junger; director, Junger; script, Straw.

Crew: Lighting, Andy Kassan; editor, Art Kellner; production designer, Michael Hynes, Edward Stephenson; sound, Ed Epstein; music, Mike Post.

Cast: Cast: Loni Anderson, Arnetia Walker, Mary Jo Keenen, Ada Maris, Kip Gilman, Carlos LaCamara, David Rasche, Richard Mulligan, Leslie Jordan, Sid Melton.

To watch clips of Nurses go to https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nurses+tv+show+full+episodes

For the Nurses Tribute Page go to https://web.archive.org/web/20000307121729/http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/4318/Nurses.html

For Tim's TV Showcase go to https://timstelevisionshowcase.neocities.org/nurses.html

For a page dedicated to Nurses go to http://emptynesttv.com/home/show-info/nurses-the-spinoff/

To watch the opening credits go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2khCQRDjhkI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2oejeA0124 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ce8ctzdQT4