I'm an Anti-AA activist, so I'm coming to the series with a bias. I agree that the acting is excellent and that the show strives for realism. However, 12 Step is not realistically portrayed in this show. Nurse Jackie makes it seem as if 12 Step is the only available treatment for alcohol/drug addiction, when there are 9 other major treatments, with the leaders being HAMS and SMART, but with the Sinclair method for alcohol gaining adherents steadily.AA has only a 5% success rate for alcohol and it is lower for other drugs. AA also has more than a few cult-like ideas like "powerlessness" and the dependence on sponsors, and "acceptance" that, of course, can't be presented realistically because then no one would want to go to AA who wasn't already steeped in the ideology.Indeed, the medical profession is probably the profession that has the most trouble accepting AA ideology because 12 Step is entirely faith based and denigrates all accomplishments not connected to one's sobriety in AA. There is a slogan in AA for anyone of an even slightly more intellectual bent and that is "Keep it Simple, Stupid" which is said to anyone who actually tries to use logic to understand AA. This is because, as a logical person, I would say it is cult-like and illogical and 500 times more contradictory than even the contradictions that some find in organized religions. Indeed, virtually everything in AA is contradictory. For example, it is supposedly a "simple program" that educated people tend not to understand and that also takes 20 years to "get," with lack of intelligence being an aid to "getting" program. Also, liars tend to best in 12 Step even though it is supposedly a Program of honesty.Thus, it is irresponsible for Showtime to present a program that is propaganda for AA, even if it is more entertaining propaganda than most. At the very least, present the idea that there are other sobriety programs and that those that fail in AA tend to better in them. One of the great complaints against 12 Step is that because it claims that it is "jail, institution, death" for anyone that can't work their program, even though 95% can't, that this idea of AA or death becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.If Showtime and Nurse Jackie want to strive for greater realism, have a greater fail to stay sober with 12 Step and then be able to get and stay sober with SMART or HAMS and have Jackie struggle with this as she finds out that AA is not the only way to stay sober.

Edie Falco is just superb in this TV drama. She makes the character of Nurse Jackie very realistic. She has human flaws like all of us.The show has a perfect combination of lightheartedness, drama and reality to make it absorbing. I think they have done the right thing by keeping it to 30 minutes - it leaves you wanting more. Had it been an hour long show you would need a lot more characters to keep your interest.Knowing people in the nursing profession, Edie does a splendid job in portraying a fully qualified Nurse. She sounds like one and she looks like one (and I don't mean that in a stereotypical way!).She shows the challenges of mixing a home and personal life and dealing with all the periphery that entails. This is a well scripted, well acted TV drama - one of the few that I look forward to each episode! I've not enjoyed a TV drama as much since Friends and Dexter. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. Do watch it from the start though!!!

Drugs, drugs, drugs! Interesting and funny show/drama about a drug addicted nurse. You can easily recognize the drug addict that you know in real life. Always coming up with excuses, or trying to fool everybody just to get their next fix. The constant lying to their entourage and themselves just to hide their addiction. Then trying to stop their drug habit but relapsing over and over again. People trying to help but not really understanding how an addict thinks and behaves. Edie Falco puts down a very good performance. The other characters are all very well played. Normally I do not like hospital series but this one is the exception. Watch this series and you could get addicted to it.

6 seasons in and the show has lived up to its early promise. Admittedly there have been a few ups and downs, and in my opinion unfair comparisons with the more dramatic hospital shows however this show continues to stand firm as a solid counter to those overly 'OMG! drama of the week' types with its lighter form of dark humour very effectively countering the inherent saddening, and sometimes negative moments that cannot, and should not be avoided by the makers of such shows.Eddie Falco as the titular Nurse Jackie is the headline name but I give my honours to Merritt Weaver (Zoey Barkow) and Anna Deveare Smith (Gloria Akilitus). Without these two who match our heroine on every level, and sometimes fly above her, the show would come to nought.Along the way other characters have come and gone, grown and developed, or been the ever present stalwart. A couple have been grating or wearisome at times but overall thankfully there no one who has been truly cringeworthy.The question now is where does the show go next? What will season 7 bring?Imo a little tighter writing schedule could have utilised the existing story lines to wind the show up at a grand season 6 finale. I'm concerned that by continuing the show may rely on pushing the TV vs reality boundaries too far following Jackie's inevitable fall from grace as the 'Angelic' nursing figure she so often conveys in public but fails to live up to in her personal life.I'll keep my fingers crossed and in the meantime recommend this show to all who are fed up with the usual doom and bloom and unrealistic portrait of hospital life. Take a chance with a less hyped half hour viewing...you may well enjoy it more than you thought, I know I did!