Married to Medicine Houston

Married to Medicine Houston reality stars are revealed in dramatic way

Married to Medicine Houston cast, from left, Rachel Suliburk, Ashandra "Shan" Batiste, Elly Pourasef, Erika Sato, and Monica Patel.

Photo courtesy of Bravo

For months, rumors have swirled about just who exactly are the women who will star in Married to Medicine Houston. Now, Bravo has revealed them, along with a dramatic video touting the reality series that premieres on November 11 in back-to-back episodes, before settling into its regular slot at 8 pm Fridays (see the video below).

While there are five stars, Cindi Harwood Rose, the mother of The Bachelor Season 9 villainess Erica Rose and the wife of famed plastic surgeon Franklin Rose, is a featured player, and from the sneak peek, seems to know how to keep the action going. "I am part African-American," Rose tells a surprised Ashandra Batiste in the video.

Rose's dubious boast notwithstanding, the cast is diverse — one of the most diverse casts Bravo has ever had — and the stars seem accomplished, so we're kind of wondering why they would agree to do this (must be the chance at TV reality fame). As in most reality shows, each star is pegged to provide a certain role (the fun one, the serious one, the bitch, the saint, etc.). Here's what we can ascertain in revealing the cast:

Monica Patel: The Ready-To-Get-Married One

Occupation: Quadruple board certified cardiologist.

Training: After receiving her bachelor of science degree in biology and chemistry at Houston Baptist University, Patel attended the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. She completed an internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship at the UTHealth McGovern Medical School in Houston.

Drama: As a first-generation Indian American raised in Houston, Patel comes from a very tight-knit and traditional family. But in the series, the glamorous cardiologist seems more concerned about getting her hunky boyfriend to propose.

Quote: "Say you're going to marry me right now," she shouts at him while she madly drives a golf cart and he holds on for dear life. "Say it! Say it! Say it!"

Erika Sato: The Conflicted One

Occupation: Cosmetic surgeon.

Training: With a doctorate of medicine from the University of Missouri – Columbia, Sato completed her general surgery residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, where she also completed her plastic surgery residency. She now practices at the Houston Plastic Craniofacial & Sinus Surgery where she specializes in cosmetic surgery and breast reconstruction. Her husband is completing his general surgery residency.

Drama: Sato seems conflicted over whether to start a family.

Quote: "We're going to freeze the baby for one year, " she announces at a dinner party. She is also featured in another scene where she says, "I never wanted to be the trophy wife."

Ashandra "Shan" Batiste: The Happily Married One

Occupation: "Batiste is a feisty dental surgeon who will drill your teeth in six-inch heels," according to the Bravo website.

Training: Batiste graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and Howard University College of Dentistry. She her own dental practice, Elite Dental Wellness. She is married to a medical device sales representative. They are parents of a 3-year-old and Batiste's daughter, 10, from her previous marriage.

Drama: All seems happy with Batiste and her too-perfect-to-be-true husband, although she's not always so nice around her other reality colleagues, at one point threatening to take off her stilettos and "whip your ass."

Quote: When Batiste's husband is asking for something from her (sex, we think) four times a week, she responds, "What you're asking for I'm willing to give."

Elly Pourasef: The Google-able One

Occupation: Audiologist.

Training: Pourasef received her bachelor degree and doctorate in audiology at the University of Texas at Austin. She owns Memorial Hearing, a private practice in Houston. Her husband works in the automotive industry.

Drama: A first generation American, Pourasef moved to Houston from Iran at age 5 with her parents and younger sister. She also has an event-planning side business that caters to the Persian community in Houston. But the video preview shows her more concerned about gaining the respect of the other doctors.

Quote: "There is a hierarchy. I'm not as high up as some of the other doctors," she admits. At another point, she shouts, "Did I ever say I was a medical doctor?" And, to confirm her credentials, she says,"You can Google me."

Rachel Suliburk: The Social Climbing One

Occupation: Suliburk is a nursing student at Chamberlain College of Nursing. She is married to Dr. James Suliburk, a surgeon who works in Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at Ben Taub Hospital.

Drama: Bravo describes her as a "sassy Southern Belle" and as an "aspiring socialite." In the first episode, Rose enlists Suliburk to co-chair a charity gala but later offends her, causing a rift with Sato, who originally brought them together.

Quote: "Do not turn the situation on me."

See the Married to Medicine Houston video here:

Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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