Nip/Tuck pushed medical drama into darker territory — all six seasons on Hulu

FX’s controversial medical drama Nip/Tuck, which premiered in 2003 and ran six seasons, pushed the boundaries of the genre by blending medical realism with psychological horror, Collider reports. All six seasons are currently available to stream on Hulu. According to Collider, the series follows Miami plastic surgeons Dr.

Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon), with each episode opening on the line, “Tell me what you don’t like about yourself,” setting a tone obsessed with self-image and insecurity. Nip/Tuck retained a procedural framework through weekly surgical cases but leaned into serialized arcs that grew darker and more extreme, tying graphic surgical procedures to characters’ emotional and moral unraveling.

The show earned a Golden Globe in 2005 for its second season and featured high-profile recurring guests including Rosie O’Donnell, Peter Dinklage, and Bradley Cooper. Collider notes Nip/Tuck was Ryan Murphy’s breakout, revealing the creative instincts that would resurface in projects like American Horror Story and his FX series The Beauty.

The series also distinguished itself from contemporaries like ER by drawing on makeover culture and mixing crime, black comedy, family drama and psychological thriller elements.

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