Animation is an increasingly popular genre to turn to for streamers. The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy is the latest star-studded, animated series landing on a streaming service – in this case, Prime Video – but it’s hard to imagine the series being anything but a perpetual runner-up.
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy is basically Scrubs animated and in outer space/the future. We’re introduced to two best-pal doctors, Dr. Sleech and Dr. Klak, who are both different species of alien. Klak is the rule-follower with anxiety, while Sleech is the rebel with commitment issues, but together, they make a leading surgical team at the second-best hospital in the galaxy. Each episode presents us with some new sci-fi medical issue while the pair struggle through personal relationships, conducting an illegal experiment on a creature that eats anxiety and confronting various alien diseases of the week.
The eight-episode first season debuts on Amazon on Feb. 23 and brings with it a cast of voice actors that reads like a whose-who of folks you’d want in an animated comedy. This includes series regulars Stephanie Hsu, Keke Palmer, Kieran Culkin, Sam Smith, Maya Rudolph, and Natasha Lyonne. There’s also a slew of guest stars, including Tracee Ellis Ross, Bowen Yang, Abbi Jacobson, Jay Ellis, Andrew Dismukes, Lennon Parham, Gary Anthony Williams, and John Waters. There’s also a fantastic bit of fun casting with Macaulay Culkin, Rory Culkin, Christian Culkin, and Shane Culkin all coming in to play the brothers of Kieran Culkin’s character in one episode.
However, it’s not the stars that make animated comedy great – it’s the comedy itself. These characters could truly be played by anyone, and if the series worked, then the show would work, whether or not big-name stars were voicing them. That’s where Second Best Hospital fails… slightly. The series is a tale of two halves, and unfortunately for it, the bad half of the show comes first. The first few episodes of the series feel like a slog as we’re thrust into the story of Dr. Sleech and Dr. Klak with little setup for the characters. That in media res style can, of course, work, but it’s tough going when neither the comedy nor the characters are there. The problem is that the show’s humor, as it starts, is entirely based on its setting and premise. Its idea of comedy is mostly taking ER but asking what if it’s in space and the future. The jokes, half of which feel like Futurama already did it, are mostly centered around aliens being weird and future technology being different. It never feels clever when the punchline is “sex… but with aliens” or “surgery… but with aliens” or “mental health… but with aliens.”
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While there are elements that succeed here and there, such as a fast food joint that serves fully sentient, crunchy snacks, it feels like a bit of a slog to get going in. This is especially true when the series seems to be rushing on from its best gags (like the aforementioned sentient snacks) in order to deliver yet another alien surgery gag.
However, for those who stick through the first few episodes of The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, there’s a rewarding series hiding behind the unfortunate early humor. As the series settles in and actually starts focusing on its characters over its comedy, it becomes so much better. While the “aliens are weird” humor continues to play out, it’s far more subdued as the humor pivots into situational comedy and clever plays on sci-fi and medical show tropes. A time travel episode is particularly clever, delivering a series of time loops where everyone is aware and, for at least some of the staff, the loop is intentional. It’s here where the series comedy can shine, but it may not be enough to save it for every viewer.
The show should also be applauded for its breathtaking scope in approaching mental health and its open view of sexuality, gender, and… well, everything. Placing the series in a universe full of aliens makes it pretty easy to be liberally open with these things, and the series doesn’t shy away from it at all. It makes it feel quite refreshing, especially Klak and Sleech’s entirely platonic womance.
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy feels pretty much exactly that. The series is an also-ran of animated comedy, which never seems to really be achieving greatness but overcomes its biggest weaknesses in the end. There’s a tiny alien egg inside the stomach of this show waiting to burst out into full-blown life, but it never does in these first eight episodes.
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy begins streaming on Feb. 23 on Prime Video.
