Doctor Doctor

pentax12101 hit it right on the head. I still clearly remember the night my wife and I watched the "Doll" episode as it came to be known in our house. We laughed so hard we were crying. Our sides hurt for days. We were on the floor, literally! It was the funniest television scene ever. Nothing from Seinfeld, Cheers, MASH, All in the Family or The Dick Van Dyke Show can top it, and I have greatly enjoyed all these shows (and I'm showing my age as I did not need to watch them on Nick at Night).

CBS in its infinite bureaucracy and mediocrity canceled this show so quickly. As soon as anyone hears of a DVD release, please send me an email. I have only bought three other TV shows, Star Trek, Monty Python and The Prisoner, so you can see that I don't generally buy TV shows. But I'd be willing to plunk down good money to be rocked by this great show again.

Matt Frewer, best known for his "Maxx Headroom" Coke commercials, had a great series going with "Doctor, Doctor". I was pretty young when it was on, but I remember my Dad and I used to laugh and laugh. It was one of those shows he'd anticipate watching (a big deal, as he's someone who regards watching T.V. as a huge waste of time). If you have an opportunity to see it, you should. Personally, I'm emailing networks that air reruns and suggesting DD. Funny stuff. Makes you wonder: how does a great show like DD get canceled, yet insipid tripe like "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance" is a huge hit. To quote Sideshow Bob, TV has become a "chum bucket". Bring back shows like DD and let's obliterate 95% of "reality" shows.

CBS has been the number three network for a long time and a major reason for that is their poor use of excellent shows. Doctor, Doctor is a prime example of that. This sitcom was hidden at 10 o'clock on (I think) wednesday night after a full night of bad programming. This was however the funniest sitcom ever. Where shows like Friends entertain me and make me laugh out loud, this was the only show to ever make me laugh so hard that tears ran down my face. This show was taken off the air after only a short time in CBS' Witness Protection Program, so I never saw a rerun of any of the episodes, but I can still remember whole scenes. Matt Frewer came to do this show shortly after the Max Headroom craze he started and this was where his comedic skill really showed through. This show will never be on DVD and I will never get to see any of these episodes again, because the same genius that took this show off the air has thrown these tapes all the way to the back of the vault, where they will never be found; but I will never forget the scene where Matt Frewer's character was on the news explaining what happens in an accident that causes whiplash. He had this little girls' doll and was showing how the accident makes the head go back and then forward which is what causes the injury. The thing is that the dolls head came off in his hand. With a news anchor sitting next to him wondering how to get him to just shut up and the cameras on him he proceeded to try to put the head back on and "professionally" finish his segment. It didn't work. The next segment (when I finally was able to control my laughing) showed him in his office with the doll trying to figure out how to put the head back on and obviously feeling like an idiot because of what he had done on live TV. He then gets too frustrated with the doll and drops the head on the table, and next he uses the doll to kick the head off the other side of the table. It is of course impossible to explain a visual joke well, but the tears started coming down again.

I'm remembering all of this after seeing this scene once 14 years ago. It says something either about the quality of the show or the state of my mind. I think it's the show. My dream DVD list includes this series, but I guess I'll only keep the part that's in my head.

I, unfortunately, have really poor quality copies of the episodes on VHS and I wasn't able to get any of the original summer replacement episodes, but I have to say this was the funniest sitcom I ever saw.

This was one of those rare shows where you got the feeling that the actors raced out of bed to get to the studio because it was just too much fun. They managed to combine some serious social issues with the outright insanity of improv in a way that did not stretch credibility. I especially liked the interactions between Dr. Stratford and his brother Richard. Richard's open homosexuality was a source of some of the most cutting, and honest, brother to brother humour I have ever seen. Even by todays "Will and Grace" gay humour standard, this stuff still far-and-away exceeds it in wit and spontinaity.

Matt Frewer has never really seemed to capitalize on his amazing talents, and more is the shame. While the show centered on him and his amazing energy, none of the other characters seemed like set dressing. Each of the supporting cast seemed to draw energy and inspiration from Frewer's antics and together they were (and in my mind still are) the best comic ensemble ever to come out of TV

CBS cancelled the show because the then president of programming said his wife thought is was stupid and didn't understand the humour ... you may notice they have gotten a new president who actually has that network back on track

This is an excellent series. I'm too young to have remembered the first run, but now that it appears on the USA Network in re-runs, I can see what all the fuss is about.

Matt Frewer is excellent in his portrayal of a wacky doctor. Yet, he's not as goofy or lame as the stereotype may suggest.

A good word to describe this series is certainly "manic," but in a very good way. Here's hoping USA keeps running the repeats.