Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Forgotten TV Shows



This follows the format of other medical shows of the time--and of all times. Brilliant doctor, grateful patients who seem a bit too close to the doc. I loved it at the time.
Chad Everett, who died last week, was a hunk. He was a fixture on TV for many years. He got his start in Detroit at Wayne State University. Not much more to say about Medical Center. Ben Casey, Marcus Welby and Medical Center were all popular at the time.

11 comments:

Todd Mason said...

BEN CASEY was a few years earlier...I was half-expecting your MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT review given the posting-title...I can still hum the MEDICAL CENTER opening theme...

Anonymous said...

I was going to echo Todd - BEN CASEY and DR. KILDARE were earlier than MEDICAL CENTER or MARCUS WELBY. Since Jackie has always been a huge fan of almost any medical drama I've seen most of them - sometimes under strong duress - over the years. MEDICAL CENTER was definitely one she watched. I remember little if anything about it - it was basically generic - other than the hunky Chad Everett.

It was no ST. ELSEWHERE or ER.


Jeff M.

George said...

I was never a big fan medical programs until ST. ELSEWHERE.

Ron Scheer said...

We were never much into hospital dramas, but just watched the first season of ST. ELSEWHERE, partly in a hunt for material with David Morse. With a big surgery coming up for a member of the immediate family, we decided to give it a rest for a while. They were losing too may patients.

Deb said...

We never missed Marcus Welby or Medical Center at our house. Perhaps only us gals we appreciate this, but my friends and I used to refer to Chad as "Buns" Everett because not an episode went by that we didn't get a shot of him from the back. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Todd Mason said...

Deb, you might not be surprised that Everett's last series was one of Cinemax's softcore soap operas, CHEMISTRY (co-created and produced by Richard Christian Matheson, and sort of costarring in a supportive role Sally Kellerman). Though he was a father figure rather than primary/starring stud.

Anonymous said...

Patti - Oh, I remember this show!! Wow! I remember thinking it was terrific.

Yvette said...

And I watched them all. :)

I think my favorite was BEN CASEY.

Would I watch them today? Probably not. Though I did watch ER for awhile.

GREY'S ANATOMY? No.

Todd Mason said...

Well, Yvette, GREY'S was pretty dire from the pilot, which I managed to get through because I like some of the cast. While ER was pretty good till about the tenth season or so, and intermittently decent afterward.

ST. ELSEWHERE was better. And SCRUBS, though Patti could never enjoy the last too much. CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL is better now...

Todd Mason said...

Also, I was fond of the 1984 CBS sitcom ER, also with George Clooney, starring Elliot Gould and Mary McDonnell. The sitcom cast averaged even prettier than the Michael Crichton dramatic hour. Even the men, though I didn't note that so much.

Erik Donald France said...

When I was a wee kid, doctors still made house calls. Can you imagine that now?