Every few years (seemingly), a new medical drama comes along. The 18-episode first season of The Good Doctor aired in the 2017/2018 TV season. It starred Freddy Highmore, Antonia Thomas, Paige Spara, Richard Schiff, Hill Harper, Nicholas Gonzalez, and Chuku Modu. Tamlyn Tomita, Christina Chang, and Will Yun Lee. had recurring roles during the first season. To an extent, this one is centered around Doctor Shaun Murphy's character, played by Freddie Highmore (best known for his role as a young Norman Bates in Bates Motel). I say "to an extent" because his role is as a surgical resident, so he is a lower-level character in the hospital. While he is certainly the main character in the series, his character is sometimes in the background in the hospital scenes, not having much of a say in things. Without giving away too much, his character is an autistic savant, a longtime friend with an almost father-son relationship with the hospital president, Dr. Glassman (played by Richard Schiff). Glassman makes a deal with the hospital board to bring Shaun on, saying he will resign if Shaun does not excel.
The show was created by the creative team behind House. Like that show, it is an ensemble cast, but not as centered around Murphy as House was around its titular character. The remaining cast is rounded out with a mix of recognizable character actors and relatively unknown actors and actresses. Hill Harper plays the head of surgery, Nicholas Gonzalez plays the surgical attending who is assigned to be Shaun's immediate boss, Antonia Thomas is another one of the surgical residents, and Tamlyn Tomita, who played the female lead in Karate Kid Part 2, plays one of the board members of the hospital. It is a case-of-the-week procedural drama with serial storylines like many prime-time dramas. Unlike House, the focus is not always on one medical case in each episode. Some episodes are like that, and others focus on things like the personal lives of the various characters and the medical cases in the background. There are definitely themes that run throughout the season, with prejudice against Shaun because of his autism being front and center. Given the cast's ensemble nature, I think the show does a good job of giving all the characters storylines to generate interest in them. Although some characters get more material than others. There is at least some and for some characters a lot, of character development for pretty much all the characters over the course of the 18 episodes.
For those who get the DVDs, the extras include deleted scenes for most episodes, a gag reel, and a couple of behind-the-scenes features. Good for what is there, but not a ton. So if you only get DVDs or Blu Rays (which this is not available on) when there are a lot of extras, you may just want to stream this. Overall, though, it is a very good, but not necessarily great (although that is subjective) medical drama. The season ends with more than one character's storyline up in the air going into the second season, and if it continues to be well-written and acted, it can be even stronger in season two. Definitely worth checking out.
The show was created by the creative team behind House. Like that show, it is an ensemble cast, but not as centered around Murphy as House was around its titular character. The remaining cast is rounded out with a mix of recognizable character actors and relatively unknown actors and actresses. Hill Harper plays the head of surgery, Nicholas Gonzalez plays the surgical attending who is assigned to be Shaun's immediate boss, Antonia Thomas is another one of the surgical residents, and Tamlyn Tomita, who played the female lead in Karate Kid Part 2, plays one of the board members of the hospital. It is a case-of-the-week procedural drama with serial storylines like many prime-time dramas. Unlike House, the focus is not always on one medical case in each episode. Some episodes are like that, and others focus on things like the personal lives of the various characters and the medical cases in the background. There are definitely themes that run throughout the season, with prejudice against Shaun because of his autism being front and center. Given the cast's ensemble nature, I think the show does a good job of giving all the characters storylines to generate interest in them. Although some characters get more material than others. There is at least some and for some characters a lot, of character development for pretty much all the characters over the course of the 18 episodes.
For those who get the DVDs, the extras include deleted scenes for most episodes, a gag reel, and a couple of behind-the-scenes features. Good for what is there, but not a ton. So if you only get DVDs or Blu Rays (which this is not available on) when there are a lot of extras, you may just want to stream this. Overall, though, it is a very good, but not necessarily great (although that is subjective) medical drama. The season ends with more than one character's storyline up in the air going into the second season, and if it continues to be well-written and acted, it can be even stronger in season two. Definitely worth checking out.
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