Three Rivers (TV Series 2009–2010) Poster

(2009–2010)

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Very Nice Start
Tactrix5 October 2009
Ahh yes it's review time and everyone's a buzzing. To start off getting Katherine Moennig to do this drama was brilliant, because in case every other series missed the memo the L word only did as good as they did because of her, also the love for Daniel Helley is self apparent.

Now onto the show, yes it's medical drama and of course as soon as that's said all the other shows spring to mind but wait! It really is different I promise... in this show we have the patients dying, people fighting over their organs, and of course a very young and eager intern running around hoping to deliver the organs first, sooo its kind of like a tom and jerry cartoon but instead a TV drama. Overall with this kind of cast makeup and the direction of the show I can see it going places.

Until next review, where we show how baby kittens can kill you in your sleep.. just kidding, nice job CBS. 10/10
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10/10
FINALLY! Something to fill the void of ER!
cynn391 November 2009
I've sat down and watched the first 1 episodes again *On Demand via Comcast Cable); and all I can say is BRAVO!!!!

I love this show, can't wait to see the next episode (which happens to be tonight). I love the cast, and the stories are just right, in every way!

I'm pretty good at figuring out plot lines before the midpoint of a show but TR keeps me guessing at times. And not only left be guessing but coming to terms that the right outcome did occur.

Thank you so much for this show! CBS, PLZ! I beg you...DON'T CANCEL 'THREE RIVERS'!
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8/10
Organ procurement not entirely correct here
ucaiii4 July 2011
Oh, I like this show very much. I am a fan of hospital shows and like to see how modern medicine can cure people. I like it that it that it does not revolve around the animal sex drives of the doctors and hospital staff like Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.

I do however disagree with how they represent the way organs are procured.

First of all, organs are very rarely every procured as fast as they portray and also the donor and recipient NEVER know each other.

How do I know this? I had cornea transplants in 1980 and 1982. I had to wait 6 months for a donor on the 1st eye and 5 months on the 2nd almost loosing my eyesight both times.

I was NEVER told who my donors were. A party to introduce donor families and recipients??? No way! Simply unheard of and illegal, at least in my state.

I have been president of the board of directors for my state eye bank and on that board for 4 years. I even do on Pony Express runs getting donated eyes to people who need them in a hurry and they will not even let ME find out who my donors were, even after all these years.

I have NO access to the list. Today, I see 20/30 and 20/25 thanks to my donors.

Love the show, just not entirely realistic in some areas.
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10/10
the chemistry between the main cast was amazing
canaryalive9 August 2011
As a whole the show was kind of boring because each episode was very predictable and there was no development of the main characters but the chemistry between the three main doctors, the little jokes they made and the depth of the performances in the serious, more personal conversations they had, no matter how rare they were, showed that this series had potential that probably was overlooked by the writers. Each main character was interesting and had potential to be more developed on the background of the main plot which was the organ donation. I especially like the character of doctor Miranda Foster which was outstanding and original female with big spirit and determination which is something we can rarely see in a female character on TV. Kate Moenning performance was unique and gave depth to the character and made her believable. she has the charm of Robert Deniro for me.
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4/10
Expecting more
as_santos20 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I was expecting much more of this show. Instead the pace is so fast that I can't feel sorry or like any character. Nor even the doctors (and I think Alex O'Loughlin is a great actor). I kept watching, hoping it would became better, but I'm getting tired of waiting. So soon and it's becoming predicable: we see someone have some kind of accident and soon the family knows they are organ donors and that they're brain dead, then we see someone waiting for that organ and getting it, then we see the doctors making the transplant with success. Hmmm... Where is the fun in it? Where is the drama?

We need to know more about the characters, about the doctors, or this show won't work. Besides, with this kind of storyline it can't take off to far enough. Add more patient waiting, let us know them, suffer for them, see their struggle, see the relationship appear between the doctors, the staff and the patients and then give an organ to one. Explore the happiness for getting an organ, the despair of the wait, the jealousy that "he's got a new organ and I don't", the relationship between the families of the organ candidates that are bound together by the same struggle. Let us know them throughout many episodes (remember Denny in Grey's Anatomy). Have many Dennys in Three Rivers! This show isn't a "Cold Case" that can survive fine with a story for episode. For it to survive is has to have a story arcs. It's getting late so they better worry.
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8/10
Great med show
sissy3006-179-64045418 September 2019
This was a different take on most medical shows. I liked it, loved Alex.i think this had promise, sad that it didn't go past 1 season
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1/10
Katherine Moennig's brilliance is wasted on this show
jain-s-grant19 November 2009
I noticed a couple of comments about this series and there was something very interesting about them: they both made a point of mentioning Katherine Moennig's character and stating how 'unlikable' her character Miranda was. Was this just a case of sockpuppet trolling? Who knows? What I do know, though, is that Katherine Moennig has consistently turned in one of the most genuine portrayals on the show.

It's just a shame that CBS decided to pull a bait and switch on her. It seems as though the show she originally signed up for, the one that the original pilot was meant to be, was a show where three very different doctors - each with their own issues and challenges - would help patients and learn more about themselves and how to fix their individual issues as the series went on.

As it turned out, though, when CBS gave the show a green light, they also made some decisions. Namely that they were going to make this show revolve almost exclusively around the hunky but otherwise completely useless Alex O'Loughlin as 'the star' of the show. CBS figured that in this day and age, it doesn't really matter who the lead is, so long as they're good looking and can lure in a lot of bored and lonely housewives. They figured, why bother with the development of three separate characters when you can scale those other two back as much as possible - so that they and their respective characters barely get a passing skim in each week's episode - so that you can focus on the attractive guy meat. Let's face it: that's all Alex O'Loughlin is. A piece of meat in a labcoat. He might as well be gyrating his hips at a Chippendales show, for all that he can make this character of Andy Yablonksy seem like a real human being, much less anything like the character who inspired Carol Barbee to create the character in the first place. And he was - is - a real human being, transplant surgeon Dr. "Gonzo" Gonzales.

CBS's attempt to skip straight to McDreamy status with O'Loughlin's character is painfully sophomoric, much like O'Loughlin's acting. Katherine Moennig repeatedly turns in brilliant performances and yet she is sidelined and stuck on the back burner with usually little to nothing to do, episode after episode, ever since having the 'gall' to be better than O'Loughlin and show him up in the original pilot. I'll just tell you right now, CBS: Kate wasn't your problem! Your sucky choice of lead'/'star' was! So Kate makes their golden boy look bad and her character - despite the fact that Ms. Moennig is SECOND in the credits, after O'Loughlin - is scaled back to an amount of screen time that is mere seconds shy of 'recurring character' status. Nevermind the fact that she is the best actor on the show and had just come off of the longest running series Showtime had ever produced - The L Word - and had to literally be begged by creator Carol Barbee to participate. Well, Carol, was this really worth begging Kate to take part in? As a Kate fan, it doesn't really look like it is from here.

Kate's performance on this show is solid and strong and she frequently makes Alex O'Loughlin look as though he's just some random putz on the street who just stumbled onto a set and someone handed him a stethoscope and clipboard and told him to go stand in front of the big shiny things with the lenses. In episode 1x06, there's a scene where the entire team of doctors at Three Rivers get together for a board meeting and for the entire scene, Kate's character Miranda is completely quiet for almost the entire scene - despite the fact that Miranda has always been written as very opinionated - and yet she says one line and still manages to be more believable than O'Loughlin, who's flapping his arms about and over-emphasizing everything to prove that he's acting. There is no bell curve in this cast. You're either brilliant (Kate, Daniel Henney, Alfre Woodard, Justina Machado) or you're Alex O'Loughlin.

I honestly do hope that this show gets canceled. Mainly so that Kate can move on to a series or movie that will finally allow her to shine - that won't elbow her back because she's a threat to the superficial (and I'm only just this far away from calling it sexist) and obviously inorganic machinations of an entire network to make a painfully untalented but good-looking (let's never, ever forget he's good looking, CBS insists!) guy a star, come hell or high water. Kate deserves much better and is a much better actor than that.

I've stopped watching Three Rivers on TV. I won't support a show that pulls a bait and switch on one of its own castmembers. This could have been a brilliant opportunity for Kate to have some wider exposure to more mainstream audiences. Instead, she gets shoved to the back of the line again so that the handsome guys can take center stage and mug and preen for the camera. Kate had really high hopes for this character and so did I, but it's getting to the point where I can't deny it anymore: they ripped Kate off. If you're a Kate fan, this show is just not worth supporting because CBS refuses to listen to the Kate fans and give us what we're asking for. You're better off not watching it and letting it die so that Kate can move on to something even better.
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9/10
This series hit home
aldo-renato5010 July 2010
I'm writing this post-mortem...the last original episode ran last weekend. The idea of a medical series about organ transplantation told from different viewpoints (doctors, patients, organ donors, etc.) really appealed to me because I've willed my body for medical research. After I go, my body gets turned over to a medical school! Originally I had signed for organ donation but some technical difficulties (a positive diagnosis for hepatitis B that later turned out to be false) forced me to change plans to whole body donation. This is something I have recommended to everybody who, for one reason or another, can't donate organs. Back to the series...this was a great series with great story lines (dedicated doctors, a person designated to get the organ/organs to be donated, the hospital administration, etc.) and a great cast(Alex O'Loughlin, Alfre Woodard, Katherine Moennig, etc...it deserved more of a chance than it got!! There seem to be indications in other reviews that CBS has been trying to create a series just for Alex O'Loughlin and/or that he can't act...he's just a handsome face!! What I seem to see is that he is from the Tom Selleck/James Garner/Gary Cooper acting school...he's just being himself! The running subplot of how Dr. Yablonski got through medical school (his uncle paid for college with what appeared to be "dirty" money) was also interesting. CBS should've tried this series on another night to see if it could build an audience or stuck with it on Sundays. CBS did that before with other series (Cold Case, also R.I.P.) but couldn't with this one...???!!!
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9/10
Good show with a lot of promise.
eggcentric5526 June 2010
I really thought this show had a lot of promise. It was an interesting premise. They just didn't give it enough time to flesh out the characters. I did think that Moonlight was a great show for Alex O'Lachlin. That was a shame that it got cancelled. I don't like any of the other vampire shows on TV. I don't watch any of the movies (too juvenile for me.) He did a great job on this show as well. I do not understand why all the complaints about him. Can't wait to see him in Hawaii Five-O.

I think a lot of the complaints are from males. They gave all the low rates. I guess there weren't enough hot women, i.e. ER and Grey's Anatomy, to keep men around watching an interesting show. That is a shame.

I do think Katherine Moennig is a good actress, but I don't see her as something spectacular that overwhelms Alex or any of the other cast.

I was sorry to see this one cancelled. I got bored with Grey's Anatomy. Too much sex. Not that I don't love sex, but in a hospital atmosphere it is not realistic at all. Now, sexual conversations and constant double entendres of a sexual nature are very realistic in hospital atmospheres. I know that from experience! I am more interested in the medical situations. That is fascinating. I wish they brought back live operations that they used to show on TV in the late 1960's, early 1970's!!
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The show is dead in the water
ltremaine6 October 2009
What a turkey! I adore Alex O'Loughlin. Loved him in Moonlight as Mick St. John. But this show is so dull and lackluster. I don't expect it last more than few weeks at best. Sorry Alex. Its pretty bad IMO.

Its not the right format for him. Maybe a vampire surgeon would be more interesting? CBS, don't try to steal House M.D.'s thunder.

Alex could be a major breakout star with the right vehicle, but this isn't it! So far, the biggest drawback to both his series, is they try to be too flashy and stylish in their production values. Go back to the drawing board please. Alex deserves better than being given this crap to star in!
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10/10
Improving and improving
natalia-shif28 November 2009
The reason I've started to watch this show was Alex o'Loughlin. I've seen him not only as Mick St-John at "Moonlight", but also playing other roles, and I'm convinced that he is a very good actor and he is a person which continues to develop. First episodes of "Three Rivers" were more or less disappointment for me: too straightforward plots, no deep characters, difficult to believe acting. Alex o'Loughlin was so great at "The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant" and at "Moonlight", I couldn't forget his touching performance at "Criminal Minds", but here! - Dr Andy Yablonsky was too sweet, too humane and not real human. It was like he and the other actors were confined to the two-dimensionality by the whole two-dimension framework of the show. Starting from somewhere fourth episode I've noticed the incredible improvement. The last episodes till now were really good and enjoyable, they revealed creative thinking and talented actors. I hope the show continues this way and wish it be long living with its good heart pace.
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Is there a DR in the house?
MistressKitty5 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I don't even know where to begin with how awful this show was.I didn't expect much from the previous bad reviews,but since I usually love medical dramas,I decided to give it a try.Big mistake.

First off,the actor Alex O Loughlin was the most unbelievable doctor in the history of TV.Whoever thought this guy was a good enough actor to carry a show needs a doctor themselves.The man simply cannot act and certainly cant act well enough to star in a show.

The whole feel of the show was bad,the acting,the writing,the stories,etc.I cannot express how unwatchable it was.I give this show two,,maybe three more weeks before it is rightfully canceled.

CBS needs to cut their losses and stop trying to make AOL a star. Also,the other person,the woman who diagnosed pica,which any one with half a brain watching could have done,was a very unlikeable character.

She has a very unpleasant demeanor about her. Her look,her voice and her so called acting.

I at least thought Daniel Henney might be some fun for the eye candy factor,but his one dimensional performance couldn't make him look good in any aspect. Who in the world cast this show? Alfrie Woodard had no role and neither did any of them really.We didn't get any feel of any person or their personalities on the show. I of course will not be tuning in again and if you have any sense,you wont either. 0/5
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6/10
flashy medical show
SnoopyStyle20 January 2019
In Pittsburgh, Three Rivers is the best transplant hospital. Dr. Andy Yablonski (Alex O'Loughlin) is the leader of the transplant team. Dr. Miranda Foster (Katherine Moennig) has daddy issues who is a legend at the hospital. Dr. David Lee (Daniel Henney) is the ladies' man. Ryan Abbott (Christopher J. Hanke) is the new assistant transplant coordinator. Dr. Sophia Jordan (Alfre Woodard) is the head of the department. Pam Acosta (Justina Machado) is Andy's assistant. Dr. Lisa Reed (Amber Clayton) is also a member of the team.

This CBS medical show didn't last long and really didn't have a chance to develop their characters. O'Loughlin plays a very similar note over and over again. He's the only one that I do remember from the cast. The most memorable aspect that I remember from its first airing is the overuse of CGI in a desperate attempt to modernize the show ER which went off the air the previous season. It's a lot of high-tech flash and noise which distracts from the characters themselves. The premise has potential but it is a more specific medical procedural which limits the scope of the stories being told.
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4/10
Horrible!
angb379 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I too, really liked Alex O'Laughlin in Moonlight, but in that show he needed a better female lead, someone who had chemistry with him and this show is no different. Katherine Moennig is an unlikable female lead and has absolutely no chemistry with AOL. The rest of the acting is terrible and unbelievable.

Three Rivers tries to be way too sappy and pull at your heart strings with sad stories, but it just isn't working. The forced sentiment left me disgusted instead of tearful. The other thing I hated about this show was the cinematography. Whoever was operating the camera needs to go back to school. I believe they must have ADD, because the camera couldn't focus on one person for more than a couple seconds and was very shaky.

I only watched 30 mins of this show and then changed the channel. Don't even bother watching this mess.
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Three Rivers good Moonlight better!
basscat213 October 2009
I feel that Three Rivers is a great show with a much needed message. But it is not one that is best given in a show.I have a life long friend that had a kidney transplant 3 years ago so I believe in what it is meant to tell us. I don't like the someone must die so someone can live story line for every show. True fact just boring. Now Moonlight was the show with it all. Drama, action, who done it?, crimes , good guy and bad guy, and romance. It had it all and Alex O., is one of the best actors around. I hate that he is being judged on what he is given. He takes every character he is given and sinks his teeth into researching his part. He has actually watched transplant surgery to prepare for the TR roll. The show just isn't really that good. Moonlight on the other hand was OUTSTANDING!!! I wish the TR show all the best and the cast as well, but in the real sense if it should fail I would hope that cbs will pick up one they know that works, Moonlight! It could be brought back, anything is possible!!!!!
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