Doogie Howser, M.D.
TV producer Steven Bochco has created some great programs over the years, notably gritty cop dramas like Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue, as well as intense legal dramas such as LA Law and Murder One. But he also introduced viewers to a couple of genuine oddities, like the short-lived Cop Rock, in which drug dealers broke out into sing and dance numbers upon being arrested. Far more successful was Doogie Howser, MD, based on the unlikely premise of a child genius turned teenage doctor. After a whirlwind first season of combined medical drama and teen comedy, the series became a hit and lasted for four seasons.
At age 17, Dr. Douglas “Doogie” Howser (Neil Patrick Harris, Undercover Brother) is now a third-year resident at a California hospital. On the one hand, he lives a normal teenage life, hanging out with his sleazy best friend Vinnie (Max Casella, Ed Wood), his girlfriend Wanda (Lisa Dean Ryan, Dead at 21), and his parents David (James B. Sikking, Hill Street Blues) and Katherine (Belinda Montgomery, Days of Our Lives). On the other, it’s all business at the hospital as Doogie saves lives with the help of Nurse Curly Spaulding (Kathryn Lang, The Marrying Man), his demanding boss Dr. Canfield (Laurence Pressman, American Pie), and Dr. Jack Maguire (Mitchell Anderson, Jaws: The Revenge), who gets even less screen time this season than he did in the last.
There are a few new faces in the regular cast this time around. Janine (Lucy Boryer, Sleepwalkers) is Vinnie’s incredibly patient girlfriend. Raymond (Markus Redmond, Fight Club), is a reformed gang-banger who gets a job as an orderly, thanks to Doogie’s help. Dr. Ron Welch (Rif Hutton, Single White Female 2: The Psycho) is another friend of Doogie’s at the hospital, who competes with Maguire in the “smallest amount of screen time” Olympics.
During the first season, the writers, actors and directors all pushed themselves to make the ludicrous idea of a teen doctor believable. They really stretched themselves to find ways to combine the typical high school hijinks with the usual hospital life-saving drama. By the time this season rolled around, though, it seems everyone had settled in, and gotten used to the concept. This attitude opened the door for less creative scripts. Scenes at the hospital come across as more ordinary, as though they could be taken from any regular hospital show. We see Doogie standing up for patients and learning valuable life lessons from them. These stories, however, could be told with any doctor character, not just a hormonal teenage one. As far as comedy is concerned, the writers fell back on standard sitcom plots. A bunch of comedy clichés get hauled out in front of audiences here. Trapped in an elevator with a pregnant woman? Check. Wrecking the car and going to great lengths to make sure dad doesn’t find out? Check. Mistaken identity leads to romantic jealousy? Check. It’s all the same old thing we’ve seen a dozen times over.
Fortunately, the actors do the best with what they’ve been given. Harris is earnest as always as the title character, whether he’s called on to be humorous or heartbroken. Casella downplays his constant horniness this season, showing a bit more of Vinnie’s human side. Sikking and Montgomery aren’t given much to do this season, and their characters are written as even more dull and conservative than before. The writers take a far too simplistic approach with the other characters. Wanda and Janine’s only roles here are to be “the girlfriends,” with too little character development for most of the season. The real surprise, acting-wise, is Pressman as Dr. Canfield, who drops the villainous boss shtick and instead lightens up and brings out the character’s fun side.
For more like Doogie Howser, M.D.: Season 2 visit Soap2day.
