"Doogie Howser, M.D." (1989) TV series 1989-1993

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Creators:

Steven Bochco
David E. Kelley

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

19 September 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family

Plot:

A teenaged genius deals with the usual problems of growing up: having a girlfriend, going to parties...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Best Friend | Genius | Sitcom | Medical

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 8 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Neil Patrick Harris	...	Douglas 'Doogie' Howser / ... (90 episodes, 1989-1993)
Max Casella	...	Vinnie Delpino (90 episodes, 1989-1993)
Lawrence Pressman	...	Dr. Benjamin Canfield (89 episodes, 1989-1993)
Kathryn Layng	...	Nurse Curly Spaulding (86 episodes, 1989-1993)
James Sikking	...	Dr. David Howser (86 episodes, 1989-1993)
Belinda Montgomery	...	Katherine O'Brien Howser / ... (85 episodes, 1989-1993)
Lucy Boryer	...	Janine Stewart (61 episodes, 1989-1993)
Markus Redmond	...	Raymond Alexander (58 episodes, 1990-1993)
Mitchell Anderson	...	Dr. Jack McGuire (51 episodes, 1989-1991)
Lisa Dean Ryan	...	Wanda Plenn (48 episodes, 1989-1992)

Runtime:

30 min (97 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Star Neil Patrick Harris reportedly drew inspiration from watching Robert Young in "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1969). Learning that Young was ill and pondering death, Harris visited Young with tapes of "Doogie Howser" and helped cheer him up.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the opening credits, the article discussing Doogie graduating from high school says that he is 12-years-old in the first line. The next article, however, says that he graduated from Princeton, a college, at age 10.

Quotes:

Patient: You're a kid.
Douglas 'Doogie' Howser: True, but I'm also a genius. If you have a problem with that I can get you someone who's older but not as smart as me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: The Old and the Restless (#2.12)" (2008)

Great Program Wrongly Dismissed As A Kids' Show

I loved this show! I used to watch it every week. Unfortunately, I think too many people dismissed "Doogie Howser, M.D." as kids' or teens' faire because of the main character(Doogie) and the premise(boy genius becomes m.d. at age 14).

The truth is, the writing was consistently sharp and witty, and pretty mature. Plus, this program was one of Steven Bochco's creations, as in Steven Bochco, the man behind Hill Street Blues(which won something like, I don't know, 2,000 awards). I'm surprised this last fact alone didn't get Doogie Howser more respect. Oh, well. If you get a chance,definitely check out the reruns.