(This is a mostly spoiler-free article, but there will be a bit of spoilers. Whatever. They’re 7 seasons of this show. You’ll forget what I was talking about a season through anyway.)

Just so we’re all aware, I love Grey’s Anatomy. I’m behind like...a season and a half now, but there were more urgent Netflix shows to binge. I’ll come back to good ol’ Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, but for now….

I HAVE FOUND A HOSPITAL SHOW THAT HAS MADE ME FORGET ABOUT GREY’S. It’s got all the features we love, with so much less of the drama.

Grey’s Anatomy has a certain soap-opera aspect that some fans like. To me, it gets really boring and kind of predictable. I decided to watch Nurse Jackie because it was on my Netflix list for a while and it had already ended, so I binged the entire 7 season show in about a week.

Whoops.

Here’s some comparison to help the die-hard fans see why I so clearly needed this clearly inferior show (because what could beat Grey’s?).

DRAMA:

Grey’s has a constant spew of patients that have super interesting backstories and the doctors get super attached to them and it’s insane to watch as they struggle to take care of people that have the most obscure medical mystery of a disease ever.

Nurse Jackie has some of those patients, but we get a bit of a deeper look into more people, doctors and NURSES alike. It was refreshing to see that the doctors in Nurse Jackie are kind of rude at times to their nurses, but for the most part, they know how critical their nursing staff is.

There is just as much drama in the Showtime drama as the ABC one, but since it’s showtime, there is way more swearing, a little more nudity, and I think that adds some authenticity to the whole thing. How many times have we wanted someone to cuss someone else out when they’re a jerk on Grey’s, only to have them make a huge monologue and walk away?

Sometimes a simple “you know what? F*** you!” solves the issue, and we can all go on with our days.

THE HOT DOCTORS:

There are some very, very attractive doctors on Grey’s. After all, this show is made-for-fantasies, with doctors nicknamed McDreamy and McSteamy and other gorgeous names that make you feel warm inside.

Nurse Jackie has hot doctors without the forced sex appeal of it all. We’ve got Dr. Cooper, played by the actor that will grow up to still play a doctor, but be a sexy vampire in Twilight later on, who is dreamy as anything, but he’s also a dork and it’s adorable to watch at times.

We’ve got Dr. Prentiss, who is “oh, sweet god” level cute, and he’s Owen Hunt, with less crisis and just as many daring saves and romance value.

We’ve got Dr. Roman, who is hot, but dipsy, and really, I don’t see too many redeeming qualities, but we’re talking about hot, sooooo…..

Anyway, we’ve got great doctors that are played by excellent actors. By the end of the show, there was probably only one character I didn’t like, but that’s so much more of a “like value” than Grey’s, and that’s alright with me.

THE REPRESENTATION:

Grey’s Anatomy is championed for having LGBT representation, but I don’t really see as much of that compared to Nurse Jackie.

Where we have two lesbians and a transgender doctor on Grey’s, we’ve got a bisexual doctor who is totally fine with showing equal opportunity and no preference. We’ve got gay nurses that get storylines past one or two episodes and patients galore that are part of the identity without throwing it in your face too much.

I can appreciate that the characters look like real people all the time, not just another token minority to throw in.

There is plenty of diversity for a show that takes place in one of the most diverse cities on the planet (New York City). We see people of all colors and creeds, and there is a lot of religious undertone to some of the show, with some characters embracing it more than others.

Oh, and did I mention the main character, Jackie, is a drug addict?

DARK AND DEEP:

This show is dark and dramatic, but it is so easy to get swept up in the story and root for all the characters to do the right thing (because, like anything we hear about addiction, there are lots of other people swept up in the chaos). We see Jackie battle for sobriety and fight to keep her family together, all while trying to keep her work-life and personal life separate AND keep being a nurse. It’s a trip, folks.

I’m not saying we need to abandon Grey’s Anatomy in favor of a different show. I’m just saying that in the span on one episode of Grey’s, you could watch 2 of Nurse Jackie, and watching two or three episodes will have you hooked.