I’ve started a love affair with Showtime recently, but now I think it’s getting serious. It started with Californication, when I was quickly swept off my feet. And then came Secret Diary of a Call Girl. I wasn’t so sure about it, but it ended up winning me over. Now I’ve fallen for Nurse Jackie and I’m starting to think things can’t get much better than this.

I watch a lot of TV, so I’ve seen tons of previews for Nurse Jackie and was instantly intrigued…which, in a serious TV relationship, can either lead to being completely fulfilled or completely disappointed. I always like Edie Falco (Jackie Peyton) as Carmela on The Sopranos, always making baked ziti, but when you can identify someone so much as one role, you’re afraid they won’t translate into another. But Jackie seemed mean — not in a cruel way, but in an honest way — and for some reason, I always find myself drawn to characters like that. While I wondered how many redeeming qualities she would have in order to make myself feel attached to her, this show has done its job –- she has heart and love, and admits to actually wanting to help people. Jackie and I were at the start of a beautiful relationship.

I’ve found it very easy to fall in love with the show as a whole because Jackie is surrounded by so many others who are just as easy to fall for. Personally, one of my favorites is Dr. Eleanor O’Hara (Eve Best), who has an attitude like Jackie while adding a lack of caring and very few redeeming qualities. She’s funny and does and says whatever she wants but is never really harmful. Also, she and Jackie seem like complete opposites based on appearance and style but are actually close friends –- one friend who Jackie actually confides in, making her a friend we trust as well.

From other doctors (Peter Facinelli as “Coop”) and administrators (Anna Deavere Smith as Gloris Akalitus), we see the challenges Jackie is up against, all while also teaching a young, hopeful nursing student (Merritt Wever as Zoey Barkow). Without giving away too many of the secrets to look forward to, she has a life outside the hospital — one that no one (but Dr. O’Hara) knows about –- one that could lead to a horrible mess down the road. There is a lot to look forward to in this first season.

What makes the relationship with this show so wonderful and enticing is that the creators (Evan Dunsky, Liz Brixius and Linda Wallem) have given us someone who has a heart but many problems on top of it, including a slight addiction to pain killers. With most people who were addicted to painkillers, I would write them off, but with Jackie, it’s different. I feel like it’s just a part of who she is, and while she is saving lives and keeping the hospital running, she has these flaws that I think she is trying to deal with in time. She wants to be better, but just not yet. That’s one of the most honest thoughts I’ve heard in a while, because while we all want to be great and giving -– and we could –- sometimes we don’t do it just yet.

Nurse Jackie is funny and strange, and I hope you won’t think it’s just another doctor/hospital show because it is so much more than that. It’s the kind of relationship that intrigues you with what it may encompass and what possibilities it holds. And then, without you realizing it, it becomes exactly what you were hoping for and you find yourself watching episode after episode. This is not a fling — it’s a relationship where you want to go on the journey and be there for everyone involved because you’ve formed a (maybe slightly unnatural) attachment to a TV show. But don’t worry — while you are supporting it, it will give back to you.

Nurse Jackie brings us a lot of what we’ve been missing from TV –- a hard lead woman who has a heart for doing generally good things, hospital humor without being all about the drama and wacky patients, and a supporting cast who you also care for and want to succeed in the ways they need to. So open up to watching Nurse Jackie. You’ll fall for it too.

Nurse Jackie premieres tonight on Showtime at 10:30 p.m.