CBS Debuts the Medical Drama 3 Lbs on November 14

Stanley Tucci is back and as sexy as ever starring as elite New York neurosurgeon Dr. Douglas Hanson, an intriguing ladies' man struggling with a massive God complex and an equally abrasive MRI-side manner in the CBS medical drama 3 Lbs, named for the weight of the adult human brain.

A midseason replacement filling the void left by the cancellation of the Ray Liotta-driven high-concept drama Smith, the 3 Lbs. pilot has been through its own share of hurdles. Penned by writer-producer Peter Ocko, 3 Lbs. was originally filmed for the 2005-06 season with a pilot that headlined Dylan McDermott.

But the stars shifted - McDermott was out and Tucci in, along with doe-eyed Mark Feuerstein, who acts as underling Dr. Jonathan Seger, a recent Big Apple transplant into "the most competitive surgical fellowship in the country."

Feuerstein is a big ball of hope and optimism set against the fashionable world of (mostly) pretty physicians in the highest echelons of brain surgery. With its sci-fi like medical equipment and stylized set designs, 3 Lbs. is a lot darker than its obvious inspiration, Grey's Anatomy, yet without Grey's seriously relatable dialogue and seriously needed comic relief moments interspersed within the world of heavy medicine.

The 3 Lbs. parallels to Grey's show up in the former's quirky soundtrack, abrupt segment breaks accompanied by swelling, dramatic music and the serious surgeon swagger of Drs. Hanson and Seger as they strut from the OR and swipe their deep blue surgeon's masks off their oh-so-serious faces.

The only question is: Does 3 Lbs. have enough of a compelling cast with witty dialogue and sexual tension to pull a reasonable audience share like other top hospital dramas?

Spoilers Ahead!
The premiere episode of 3 Lbs. opens on a room bathed in golden light from dangling chandeliers at a private violin concert, where a young girl and her mother play in a string ensemble. As the girl's fingers begin to twitch against her strings, 3 Lbs. shows an amazing sequence that takes viewers inside the nerve endings from the girl's fingertips and traces them all the way up to her brain, which is in the process of producing a grand mal seizure.

When Dr. Hanson opens the girl's skull later for an awake-brain language-mapping procedure and leaves her with no speaking or writing skills, ghosts from Dr. Hanson's own brain unfurl, along with a peek into the cutthroat competitive world of patient-stealing that pits the top doc against Griffin Dunne's Dr. Jeffrey Coles and places Hanson as the proselytizing protégé in the middle.

"Do you know what 'Ego' means? Self," Tucci's Dr. Hanson answers his all-knowing self, explaining his philosophy on life when confronted about his arrogance. "It's the thing that opens our eyes in the morning…and allows us to have an effect on the world.

"You are as dangerous as you are naïve," Tucci's character continues, mocking Dr. Seger's human-like interest in patients that extends beyond their medulla oblongatas.

"Then I should go take polyps off colons," Feuerstein's Dr. Seger counters, "because I can't go screwing around in someone's head without knowing whose soul I'm bumping up against."

The Women's Room
Thankfully, there are beautiful and smart females in 3 Lbs. to balance out all the hard-leg drama. Like the Indian-and-Swiss mixed Indira Varma, who plays the barefooted, toe-ringed neurosurgeon Dr. Adrianne Holland. Though Indira proves to be an interesting point on a love triangle developing between the two main docs, her supposed "sexually tense" scenes with Feueustein fall flat.

Zabryna Guevara also looks promising as the rough-around-the-edges and curly-haired Melania Ortiz, while Gloria Garayua could prove to be a scene stealer if her guest spot is ever upgraded to a recurrent role.

Last but potentially greatest is the gorgeous Tamara Taylor as Della, a sight for sore eyes that would send 3 Lbs. ratings through the roof if she's given enough lines to shine.

When to Watch
Premiering Tuesday, November 14th, 2006, at 10 p.m. et/pt, 3 Lbs. appears to be a formidable addition to the CBS lineup. But interested viewers don't have to wait that long: CBS says that everyone can "get a special preview of the full premiere episode on CBS.com starting Thursday, November 9th."

Happy viewing.