Steven Pasquale as Dr. Jeffery Kohl/Ian Price on NBC’s “Do No Harm.” (Matthias Clamer/NBC)
TV doctors used to be a dime a dozen.
Shows like “Chicago Hope,” “ER” and “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” were long-running hits in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
Then, “Nip/Tuck,” “House” and “Grey’s Anatomy” elbowed their way onto the schedule to make lasting impressions on fans.
But, since that heyday, no medical dramas have really stuck. (Remember “Three Rivers,” “Mercy,” “Trauma” or even “Combat Hospital?” Didn’t think so.) Chalk up the disappearance of the TV medical drama, says industry analyst Brad Adgate of Horizon Media, to their lack of quality compared to cop and lawyer shows.
“They’re just not as good as some of the legal, police or investigation dramas. . .There’s no Dr. McDreamy or Dr. House.”
It’s either that, or “the fact that we’re all getting older and we don’t want to be reminded of the hospital,” Adgate jokes, although he notes that the media viewer age for dramas is the mid-50s, so, “Why do you want to sit and see something you want to avoid?”
With “House” over and “Grey’s Anatomy” renewed for two seasons, networks are scrambling to land the next big medical drama.
“If you put on a really solid [medical] drama with a great cast and great storyline, there’s potential to be a huge hit this TV season, because there really isn’t any competition in that genre,” Adgate says.
Coming this fall:
The Mob Doctor (Fox)
Jordana Spiro (“Harry’s Law”)plays a young thoracic surgeon who finds herself in debt to the South Chicago mafia and has to balance her work at one of Chicago’s most illustrious hospitals with moonlighting as a “mob doctor.”
First Cut (The CW)
Mamie Gummer (“The Good Wife”) stars as a newbie doctor who discovers there isn’t a heck of a lot of difference between life at a hospital and being in high school.
Do No Harm (NBC)
Steven Pasquale (“Rescue Me”) stars in this Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde-like series about a neurosurgeon who’s losing his ability to control his alternate personality, which could cause problems in the doc’s personal and professional existence.