Reviewing "Doogie Howser, M.D."

I had been familiar with the series, Doogie Howser, M.D., for nearly all of my life, but with the exception of some peeks at a few minutes of some episodes (usually the ending), I had never really watched the series. That is, until about a few weeks ago. Disney+ had the series, and I binge-watched it on the platform. I knew I liked this show in spite of what little I watched prior to the bings, but I do leave this binge very fascinated with the show as a whole.

So here was the premise. The series focused on the titular Dr. Douglas "Doogie" Howser, a child prodigy. The articles that kicked off every episode of the series told the story. At the age of six, Doogie aced the SATs, and ended up graduating high school in only nine weeks. He graduated from Princeton University at only the age of 10, and finished medical school at age 14. This led to my favorite of the articles, which said that Doogie "can't buy beer, can prescribe drugs." I did know all of this entering the binge, but here's what I didn't know until I watched: Doogie survived leukemia...twice. The disease was discovered by his father, Dr. David Howser, and it was that experience that inspired Doogie to enter the world of medicine.

Each season began on Doogie's birthday; the series as a whole began on Doogie's 16th birthday. Basically, the series deals with Doogie's life and times as a prodigy and as a doctor at such a young age, while also dealing with the usual things that come with being a teenager. The series premiered on ABC on September 19, 1989.

The series starred Neil Patrick Harris as the title character; he was 16 when he began his run and had already done a few projects prior to the series. However, this series put Harris on the map, and his popularity continued long after the show's abrupt cancellation in 1993. Harris would strike gold again a dozen years later when he began his nine-year run as playboy womanizer Barney Stinson on the hit CBS series, How I Met Your Mother, and would reprise the role in a few episodes of the spinoff, How I Met Your Father. This came a year after Harris appeared as a satirized version of himself in the comedy, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, and he would return in the two sequels that followed.

Regarding Doogie's personal inner circle, Max Casella played Doogie's longtime best friend, Vinnie Delpino, who was a street smart, wisecracking typical teenager who was always, well, concupiscent. Lisa Dean Ryan played Doogie's on-and-off girlfriend, Wanda Plenn, and I couldn't help but notice how hypocritical and (mostly) one-sided she acted towards Doogie on several occasions. Lucy Boryer played Janine Stewart, another friend who would end up becoming Vinnie's girlfriend, though it definitely wasn't easy. For one, Janine's parents couldn't stand Vinnie, and Janine is actually worse than Wanda--she actually took her parents offer of a car in exchange for dumping Vinnie. She went back on it, but even so.

The aforementioned Dr. David Howser was played by James B. Sikking, best known for Hill Street Blues, though this Hogan's Heroes uber fan loved his appearances on that show. Doogie's mother, Katherine Howser, was played by Belinda Montgomery, and regarding the parents, I found David to be full of himself at times, but he did mean well. As for Katherine, I enjoyed her. She was a delight for the most part. Regarding the staff at Eastman Medical Hospital, Mitchell Anderson played Dr. Jack McGuire for the first two seasons of the show, Lawrence Pressman played the hospital's head, Dr. Benjamin Canfield, and Kathryn Layng played nurse Curly Spaulding; I absolutely loved her, she was a sweetheart. Robyn Lively (who later starred on the WB series, Savannah) recurred on the series as nursing student Michelle Faber, who became Doogie's girlfriend in the fourth and final season.

However, there's one staff member I have to talk about.

Part of the cast also included Markus Redmond as Raymond Alexander. The character debuted in the Season One episode, "Use a Slurpy, Go to Jail," and was actually a criminal, holding up a convenience store, which had Doogie and Vinnie as unintentional hostages. The duo's attempt to talk some sense into Raymond actually results in a friendship being formed, and while he does end up arrested after the episode's events, Raymond returns in the second season, having been released from prison and ends up as an orderly at Eastman, with the help of Doogie.

So Raymond debuted as a criminal, and despite the circumstances of how they first met, Doogie sees genuine goodness in him and helps him get on the right path and get him hired at Eastman. That's big. We need more of this in real life. Doogie did not see a criminal in Raymond, even during the robbery. He knew that all Raymond needed was a chance, that's it. In real life, there are a lot of people of color who just want a chance, but we are denied that for slanderous and biased reasons. Amazing that a fictional kid doctor has more compassion for his fellow human being than a vast majority of real people.

I do have to talk about this. The series featured Rif Hutton as Dr. Ron Welch, also part of the Eastman staff. Though there's one thing I couldn't help but notice: he's a bit on the sexist side. Amazing. The one Black doctor on the show just happens to be the biggest misogynist. Seriously, why? For decades, Black (and Latinx) men have been slandered as being disrespectful towards women; even now, society has been indoctrinated into falsely believing that Black and Latinx men are the biggest misogynists. This portrayal definitely doesn't help matters.

Speaking of racism, that was one of the many social topics/problems that the show discussed. The list also included AIDS awareness, homophobia, sexism, and gang violence, among many other things. It's not surprising. The show aired in the late 80s/early 90s, which was the tail end of the era of PSA-type episodes, so topics like those were often brought up on TV shows, regardless of genre.

Doogie Howser, M.D. was a big hit on ABC during its run, but by Season Four, the ratings started to decrease. The show's creator, the late, great Steven Bochco (who gave us L.A. Law, Hill Street Blues, and NYPD Blue, among others) planned to end the show with a fifth season that details Doogie's departure from medicine to become a writer. The fourth season finale, which aired on March 24, 1993, saw Doogie resign from Eastman and head on a plane to Europe to begin his new aspirations, but the show ended up abruptly canceled, turning that episode into the overall series finale. 97 episodes of the show aired, and all of them ended with Doogie writing in his journal--an attribute that has been homaged on a number of occasions, including an episode of Family Guy and even an episode of How I Met Your Mother.

The series spawned a reboot series, Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., which premiered on Disney+ on September 8, 2021 and stared Peyton Elizabeth Lee as the title character, a 16-year-old prodigy who became a doctor. Season One released all ten episodes weekly, while Season Two was released in its entirety on March 31, 2023, after which Disney+ cancelled the series.

I enjoyed watching Doogie Howser, M.D.; the show is absolutely amazing, wonderful, emotional, and hilarious. If you haven't even seen an episode yet, I suggest you do so. I haven't seen the reboot yet; I truly need to do so.