A Sketch Comedy Reunion Lands in an Oregon ER
More than three decades after trading sketches on Fox's In Living Color, Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier are sharing a screen again — this time in the halls of a fictional, underfunded Oregon hospital. NBC has confirmed that Wayans will guest star in the Season 3 premiere of St. Denis Medical, the network's mockumentary comedy, airing November 2. [1]
Wayans will play Dr. Highland, described officially as "a charming but pompous new doctor at St. Denis" who arrives to cover while Grier's character, grumpy emergency physician Ron, recovers from surgery. [2] The twist: nearly everyone in the building is immediately smitten. "All the patients and staff, besides Alex," played by Allison Tolman, "have fallen head over heels for him and his insights," according to the character description. [1] Tolman's Alex, it seems, will be the lone skeptic keeping the new doctor's ego in check.
Revisiting a Long Comedy Partnership
The guest appearance carries genuine history. Both Wayans and Grier were breakout cast members on In Living Color, the influential Fox sketch series created by Wayans' brother Keenen Ivory Wayans, which ran from 1990 to 1994. [2] Grier appeared across all five seasons of the show, while Wayans starred in the first three and recurred in Season 4. [1]
Their on-screen partnership didn't end there. The two previously reteamed for the short-lived Fox sitcom Damon, which debuted in 1998 and ran for a single season of 13 episodes. [2] More recently, Grier joined the Wayans family on stage at the 2025 NAACP Image Awards to help induct them into the NAACP Hall of Fame — a moment that underscored how intertwined their careers and personal histories remain. [2]
What 'St. Denis Medical' Is
For viewers less familiar with the series, St. Denis Medical is a mockumentary built around the controlled chaos of an understaffed, underfunded Oregon hospital where the staff struggles to care for patients while holding onto their own sanity. [1] The format — think The Office applied to emergency medicine — has given the ensemble cast room to build richly comic characters across two seasons.
Grier anchors much of the show's comedic tension as Ron, the perpetually exasperated ER doctor. He's joined by a deep bench that includes Wendi McLendon-Covey, Josh Lawson, Kahyun Kim, Mekki Leeper, and Kaliko Kauahi. [1] Allison Tolman leads the cast, and her character Alex's resistance to Dr. Highland's charms will likely be a central engine of the premiere episode's comedy. [2]
The series was co-created by Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin, with Ledgin serving as showrunner. Both executive produce alongside Simon Heuer, Bridget Kyle, and Vicky Luu. More Bees, Inc. and Spitzer Holding Company produce the show, and Universal Television serves as the studio. [1]
Wayans' Broader Career Context
Wayans arrives at St. Denis Medical with a television résumé that spans several decades and tones. He led ABC's My Wife and Kids alongside Tisha Campbell-Martin for five seasons from 2001 to 2005, and more recently starred in Fox's Lethal Weapon adaptation for three seasons between 2016 and 2019. [1] His most recent project was Poppa's House, in which he starred opposite his son, Damon Wayans Jr. [2]
The St. Denis Medical guest role, then, is less a comeback than a pivot — a chance for Wayans to step into an ensemble comedy setting and play a character whose pomposity is clearly designed for maximum comic deflation.
What to Watch For
The Season 3 premiere on November 2 will be the immediate test: whether the Wayans-Grier chemistry, dormant on television for more than 25 years, still crackles in a new context. Beyond the nostalgia factor, the Dr. Highland arc raises questions about how long the character's run will extend — whether this is a one-episode cameo or a recurring presence across the season has not been confirmed by either network or production. [1][2] Viewers should also watch how the show uses Tolman's Alex as the foil to Highland's charm offensive, since that dynamic appears to be the structural spine of at least the premiere. How St. Denis Medical balances the guest-star spotlight against its established ensemble will be the real measure of whether the reunion earns its moment.