When I received the phone call asking if I wanted to review Doogie
Howser, M.D.: Season One, I almost went through the roof. I was so
excited to watch this collection because it was a major staple in my memories
as a child. The thing that I was hesitant about was ruining those memories
by critiquing the show I had loved when the last episode I had seen was more
than a decade ago. More or less, it was the Karate Kid syndrome:
you have a memory of a movie or show you thought was great when you were a
child and when you watch it now, you sit back and wonder why? Why did you
like this? What were the people who made this thinking about? I didn’t
want to do that to Doogie Howser, but I wanted to see it
because I was feeling very nostalgic.
Doogie Howser, M.D.: Season One is a television show about
a 16 year old child prodigy named Douglas Howser (known to his friends and
family as Doogie). He went through high school in 9 weeks, graduated from
Princeton at age 10, and passed his medical board at 14. As a 16-year-old
Doctor in a busy hospital, Doogie, played by Neil Patrick Harris, has to figure
out how to be a professional and adult doctor, while dealing with adolescence
and his first experiences in life, such as his first kiss with Wanda Plenn
(Lisa Dean Ryan) and his horny best friend/neighbor, Vinnie (Max Casella).
On top of these, he is still a kid who lives with his parents played by James
Sikking and Belinda Montgomery.
In the pilot episode, the show starts with Doogie taking his driving test
with his Mom (Montgomery) in the back seat. He seems like a normal kid, driving
nervously, taking forever to turn right when there are no cars coming in either
direction, and driving slowly through a neighborhood. This view of Doogie's
persona as a regular teenager changes rapidly when he comes across an accident
and pushes cops out of the way to help the man laying unconscious on the street
because he was hit by a car. He shows the cops his medical license and makes
them hold the man down so he can reset his leg to bring blood-flow back, or
else the hospital would have top amputate it. The cops look on in awe and
the driving instructor asks, “Who is this kid?” Doogie’s
mom replies, “That’s my son.”
Throughout the rest of the season, Doogie learns lessons in each episode
ranging from birth to death. The end of each episode has Doogie sitting at
his computer writing a small passage of what he learned in the episode. The
passages are cheesy, but are also meant for children so they fully understand
the point of the episode.
The television show as a whole is still good. In fact, it’s better
than some of the shows that are on now. I enjoyed watching all 26 episodes
on the four DVDs in the set. The shows are spectacular and if you have children,
I would recommend this as a good investment. If you do not have children and
you are young enough to remember this show when you were growing up, I still
recommend it because I guarantee you will notice more jokes that you never
caught when you were a child. I was surprised when I saw Vinnie in the first
episode spouting off jokes about sex that I never understood as a child. I
just though he was funny because of his strong New York accent.
On disc four, there are two extra features: interviews with Co-Creator/Producer
Steven Bochco and Neil Patrick Harris. Both of these interviews are short,
but give good background to how they started in the industry and why they
chose the project. I enjoyed watching these just as much as the episodes themselves.
Throughout the interviews, clips of season one are shown to highlight what
they are talking about. I suggest watching the episodes first and then watching
the commentaries. It was enjoyable to sit back and watch the highlights of
the season.
On the whole, I think this DVD is a good investment, even if you have never
seen the show. If you are new to it, you can lie to your friends and say,
“Hey, do remember that episode of Doogie Howser...” If you don’t
want to buy it, at least rent it. Doogie Howser, M.D.: Season One
is a good time for all.
Season Score: A
Extra Features Score: B-
Overall DVD Score: B+
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