Medical dramas have been a part of television for decades, shining a light on the men and women who on a daily basis make life-and-death decisions. They might have personal lives that are in a state of shambles, but once they start dealing with the sick and dying, they are saviors and saints.

At least, that's the way network TV programs have portrayed those in the medical profession – until now. The new Fox drama, "The Resident," reveals that not every doctor or nurse is a candidate for sainthood, mistakes happen that can lead to dire consequences and sometimes veteran doctors aren't just valuable sources of wisdom and knowledge, but can also be as deadly as any virus.

"The Resident" co-creator and executive producer, Amy Holden Jones, plus executive producers Antoine Fuqua and Todd Harthan, want the show to be about showing both sides of what happens in a hospital.

"This show has a balance, and I think what we are trying to do most of all is do something no other medical show does," Jones says. "We are trying to show things that you and the general audience don't know about what goes on in hospitals, partially so you can protect yourself and partially because we are tired of seeing the same thing that every show on television is doing, at least on network television.

"It's pretty rosy, in my opinion, on network television. And we have a balance. Every episode has a problem in medicine. It has some spectacular, heroic saves. It has comedic runners. It's not really one or the other. It's trying to draw more from real life than you've seen for a while on a medical show."

The idea of a medical show breaking the mold is new, but the team behind the show knows TV genres have modified over the years, especially those dealing with crime and punishment. Jones points out changes to the medical TV show blueprint should be accepted by viewers because police and medical dramas have a deep link.

"Doctors and cops are who you go to when your life is really on the line. You may need them to save your life. And in cop shows, they began showing us quite some time ago that it can be an ambiguous thing to have an encounter with a cop," Jones says. "That has never been shown in network medical shows, or very seldom been shown.

"It was more shown perhaps in the days of 'ER' than it has been in the recent years, and so we are trying to show you the more real complexity of what goes on in medicine today, which is something that actual doctors are writing volumes about."

In the series opener of "The Resident," an idealistic Devon Pravesh (Manish Dayal) faces the harsh realities of medical care when third-year resident Conrad Hawkins (Matt Czuchry) takes him under his wing to teach his unconventional methods for treating patients. Meanwhile, Conrad is in a constant battle with the chief of surgery, Dr. Solomon Bell (Bruce Greenwood), who uses power and intimidation to cover up his mistakes.

Czuchry, who has appeared on "The Good Wife" and "Gilmore Girls," was attracted to the project because of how it shows those being worshipped for their medical skills often have feet of clay, and in the case of Bell, shaky hands.

"It was the first time I'd come across a pilot like this. It was about pulling back that curtain a little bit and showing some of those things that we haven't seen before in the genre," Czuchry says. "What drew me to it as well is I had personal connections, whether it be family members or friends or extended family members who had experienced these situations, whether it be medical error or the aspects we address of life and death and health.

"And so I thought, if I had these personal connections just in my circle, there must be so many other people out there that have those personal connections, and that excited me about the potential of the show."

Many of the actors, including Emily VanCamp, never thought they would be working in a TV medical drama. She was won over after reading "Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won't Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care" by Dr. Marty Makary. As soon as VanCamp ("Revenge") finished the book, she knew she wanted to be part of a program that tells these kinds of revealing medical stories.

Many of the stories will orbit around Greenwood's character because Bell has stayed on the job even after the skills that made him the most popular doctor in the hospital began to fade. His story, according to Jones, reflects what happens in hospitals when doctors have a very hard time giving up their careers. That's because many are incredibly passionate about the work, and some die the day they have to leave.

Greenwood isn't certain how this will all play out in the series for Bell.

"He's a moving target for the people who want to bring him down because he's reached his best by day. But he's also a moving target for himself because as his faculties begin to diminish, it's hard enough to recognize, never mind admit, that you're going to have to redefine yourself," Greenwood says. "He's in the process of trying to redefine himself, and that obscures his ability to pinpoint when he's crossed the line.

"In terms of the ethical boundaries that he crosses, that's the kind of myopia that you can fall into when you're trying to defend yourself against something that's coming from both sides that you can't quite identify."

"The Resident" debuts on the East Coast Sunday after the NFC Championship game and at 7 p.m. on the West Coast. It moves to its regular time period of 9 p.m. Mondays starting Jan. 22.

'THE RESIDENT'

10 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. PT, Jan. 21, Fox

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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