‘Women Docs’: It’s the Real Thing

Forget those made-up, fallible femmes on “ER” and “Strong Medicine.” Authentic struggles with real life and death are taking place on “Women Docs,” a compassionate and captivating series premiering tonight at 10 on Lifetime.

Each week, this one-hour program will profile some of the country’s most formidable physicians, women working in fields where every second counts.

The opener is set at St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers in New York, where we meet four gifted healers.

Neonatologist Mary Marron delivers a 26-week preemie who weighs less than 2 pounds. “When I’m called in,” she declares, “things are expected to be bad.”

Chief cardiologist Nikki Kantrowitz attempts to save a 49-year-old man who has suffered a massive heart attack.

Susan Lovelle, one of two dozen female African American plastic surgeons in the country, performs reconstructive surgery on a woman with breast cancer.

And obstetrician-gynecologist Po Ching Fong treats a friend in need of an emergency C-section after going into early labor with her first child.

Faced with suffering every day, these doctors go about their jobs with remarkable patience and attention to detail, sometimes forsaking their families because of long, grueling hours at the hospital.

For the average person, a tough afternoon is getting dressed down by the boss or bombing at a big meeting.

For patients and their loved ones, it’s 10-hour surgeries and agonizing vigils.

“I’m so grateful this job has taught me what your priorities should be,” says Marron, “what a bad day really is.”

Surf Report

SERIES

Melissa Etheridge returns as host for a third season of “Beyond Chance” (tonight at 11, Lifetime), the unscripted show featuring spiritual and supernatural tales.

MOVIES

Luke Perry, Dan Cortese and Olivia d’Abo enter “The Triangle” (Sunday at 7 p.m., TBS), a thriller set in the Bermuda Triangle.

Based on Pete Hamill’s novel, “Snow in August” (Sunday at 8 p.m., Showtime) focuses on the bond between a Catholic boy and a rabbi (Stephen Rea).

SPECIALS

Discovery’s 14th annual “Shark Week” includes four premieres. First up: “Air Jaws: Sharks of South Africa,” airing Sunday at 9 p.m. Ever popular with viewers, the event ends Aug. 19 with a seven-hour marathon.