# Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989)

> A 16-year-old genius doctor practices medicine in Los Angeles while navigating the ordinary worries of being a teenager.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/1648

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 97
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, drama
- Created by: David E. Kelley, Steven Bochco
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Max Casella, Belinda Montgomery, Lawrence Pressman, Mitchell Anderson, Kathryn Layng, Lisa Dean Ryan, Lucy Boryer
- TMDB rating: 6.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096569/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: upbeat, sentimental, earnest, lighthearted, warm

## What critics say

Audiences broadly regarded the series as a charming, lighthearted take on a teenage genius balancing medical work with adolescence, with a mixed overall reception.

## Synopsis

Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-1993) is an American network sitcom created by David E. Kelley and Steven Bochco for ABC. Neil Patrick Harris plays Doogie Howser, a 16-year-old prodigy who graduated college at ten and finished medical school at fourteen, and who is still a teenager with friends and problems of his own. Max Casella plays his friend Vinnie Delpino, and Belinda Montgomery and Lawrence Pressman play his parents, Katherine and Benjamin Canfield, anchoring the household scenes. The engine of the show is the tension between a gifted young doctor's professional duties and his ordinary adolescent life. Each episode pairs a serious medical case, such as a heart transplant, with everyday concerns like learning to drive and navigating school and dating. The series runs four seasons across ninety-seven episodes, structured as a standalone case-of-the-week sitcom with recurring characters. Set in contemporary Los Angeles, it carries a earnest, upbeat family-comedy register with a sentimental streak. Fans of Scrubs, Blossom and Diff'rent Strokes will find resonance in its blend of workplace medicine, teen life and warm household humor.

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