Doogie Howser, M.D.

When it first came out, "Doogie Howser M.D." was one of the more unique shows to grace the airwaves. It centered around a 16-year old child prodigy, Douglas "Doogie" Howser, who was a doctor at a Los Angeles area hospital. He lived with his parents and had a girlfriend, Wanda, and an obnoxious best friend who often came into his house via a window. Each episode ended with Doogie typing up an entry in his personal computer diary. The entry was usually a wise proverb from a lesson learned in the episode.

The show was developed by Steven Bochco who created ground-breaking shows like "L.A. Law" and "Hill Street Blues". Although not nearly as acclaimed as those two shows (the only Emmy awards it was nominated for were for Sound Mixing and Cinematography), it had a satisfying blend of comedy and drama that kept the show interesting but not too serious. Since the two main characters were both teenagers, this lead many people to dismiss it as a kid's show. However, it was much deeper than a kid's show as most of the episodes centered on adult themes such as AIDS, death, and racism. The acting was also very solid. Long before he gained recognition for the show "How I Met Your Mother", I always felt that Neil Patrick Harris was a very underrated actor. Very few teenage actors could have pulled off playing a child prodigy the way he did. It would be hard to imagine anyone else playing the Doogie Howser role.

The first and second season were terrific as they focused around Doogie's struggles to be a normal teenager despite the demands of his job. A common theme was discrimination as he was often discriminated based on his age by patients and even other doctors. He was not afraid, though, to express his views, even if it meant clashing with more seasoned and respected doctors. By the third or fourth season, the show had lost some of its novelty as Doogie was no longer a child prodigy but just a very smart adult. This must have really made it hard for the writers to come up with interesting story lines and it showed. The show began to focus more on Doogie's personal life and Vinnie quirky adventures and less on the hospital. By this time, Doogie had moved out of his parent's house to live in an apartment which meant that less time was devoted to his parents who were an integral part of the show. The ratings declined and a show that seemed like it would be on the air for many years was canceled after only four.

I loved this show! I used to watch it every week. Unfortunately, I think too many people dismissed "Doogie Howser, M.D." as kids' or teens' faire because of the main character(Doogie) and the premise(boy genius becomes m.d. at age 14).

The truth is, the writing was consistently sharp and witty, and pretty mature. Plus, this program was one of Steven Bochco's creations, as in Steven Bochco, the man behind Hill Street Blues(which won something like, I don't know, 2,000 awards). I'm surprised this last fact alone didn't get Doogie Howser more respect. Oh, well. If you get a chance,definitely check out the reruns.

I remember Doogie Howser, a sitcom that ushered the world into the 90s. It had its charms and fantasy element, and a young Neil Patrick Harris who would become a massive star later on in life. There's one minor character in the series, an African-American, who befriended Doogie and his Italian friend, but I forget his name. I look forward to watching the Disney reboot Doogie Kamealoha, M. D.

Doogie Howser has got to be one of the coolest shows of the 80's. Anyone born in the 70's probably has pretty fond memories of the show. As for me, I grew up watching the show and was a loyal viewer. Doogie was a show about a teenage kid who is a genius and finished school at an early age and became a doctor during his teen years. Most people would expect a guy like Doogie to be a nerd but this guy wasn't. He displayed a true side to himself, and while he had insecurities, his strengths easily outweighed them. In the show, he was a good friend, with a good heart and was in touch with his family who was pretty supportive of him. Basically, Doogie juggles his life as a doctor along with his social life and growing up as a teenager. He has a best friend named Vinnie and a girlfriend named Wanda played by Lisa Dean Ryan. Although Doogie doesn't have a clique like many teenagers, he trades in that part of being a teen for helping people as a doctor. Doogie is often found to go the extra mile in helping his patients or anyone in general. I remember one episode of Doogie, where Doogie is caught up in a convenience store robery; and Doogie ends up befriending the robber while held hostage, and ends up giving the robber a job at the hospital. This is truly a good show and is definitely a part of my childhood. I will always remember it fondly.

You really don't realize just how much our collective consciousness has changed until you watch some of the 80s-90s shows and cringe. Doogie Howser is no exception. I love NPH in this role, he was perfect for it. But some of the storylines wouldn't work in today's environment. Like the episodes where much older women come on to Doogie, even though in the original storyline it was probably meant to be amusing. Now it's downright creepy. Then there's Max, the constantly thinking of sex next door neighbor. Funny back then, but now comes across as a potential later-in-life sexual predator. Some shows age well (think Friends) but not Doogie. If you want to see NPH, watch How I Met Your Mother instead.