FOXRed Band Society is the happiest sad show you'll watch this fall.
It's set in the pediatric wing of a hospital. But it's brightly lit and adorably decorated. It centers on a group of kids all battling various diseases. But they are by no means victims, occasionally making you want to slap some sense into them or making you forget completely that they are sick, thanks to their already messy love lives and typical teen antics.
To some, it may sound unrealistic. To me, it was pretty relatable.
When I was 12, I had to undergo an ablation, a procedure to remove an extra pathway in my heart that was causing it to beat extra fast (we're talking close to 200 beats per minute), even if I was just sitting down. I only had to be in the hospital for a relatively short stay, but I was still nervous (and annoyed I couldn't eat for up to 12 hours before. Yes, I totally binged on sweets right before, as if I was never going to see a Chips Ahoy cookie again).
But right before the procedure started, it wasn't the catheter or anesthesia I was worried about; it was my hair and makeup. You see, right before I went in, another patient was having the same procedure done. A boy my age named Evan. And now you can see what I was nervous to be wearing nothing but a hospital gown and hair net.
As I was wheeled into the hallway, waiting to go in, he came out, crazy delirious from the anesthesia, looked at me and said, "You'll have the time of your life!" Words cannot describe what a relief it was to laugh just before heading into the operating room.
After the procedure, when the anesthesia wore off (but not before I went on and on to my nurse about how much I loved Michael Jackson. True story, according to witnesses!), Evan and I would do laps on the hospital floor together, slowly walking as we awkwardly attempted to make small talk the way 12 year-olds attempt to do. (The catheter is inserted in your upper leg, hence the laps, in case you were curious.)
A crush was formed (on my end, at least), AIM screen names were exchanged and a few online conversations later, that was that. And we never spoke again.
But still, over a decade later, I remember and look back on that hospital experience fondly. (And I remember actually liking the food, for what it's worth.) I remember details from it more vividly than I do school dances or soccer games.
Which is exactly what the Red Band Society represents: hope, friendship, and all the horrible and glorious moments that come from being a teenager.
Of course, my hospital experience was fortunately a short-term one, pretty different from that of the characters in Red Band Society, as well as executive producer Margaret Nagle. At the 2014 Summer Press Tour, she revealed that her brother Charlie was in a coma for about a year when he was 3 years old, and she spent a majority of that time in the hospital.
When I talked to Margaret at Fox's party later that day (we had met and instantly bonded earlier at the valet, oddly enough), I shared my small story with her during our 30-minute conversation, during which she gave me the red band off of her wrist.
Consider me a lifetime member.
Red Band Society premieres Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 9 p.m. on Fox.