During this pandemic, the safety and welfare of all the doctors and nurses out there trying to keep people alive is certainly on my mind as I’m sure it’s on yours as well. But that doesn’t mean we can’t all get lost in the messy personal lives of some fictional hospital staffers. Here are some of the best medical dramas to lose yourself in.
- House- Basically, Sherlock Holmes but he’s a modern medical doctor. Not the most complicated of hooks, but it doesn’t have to be. Hugh Laurie’s acting is more than enough to keep bringing you back for more.
- Nurse Jackie– Not your typical medical drama. In fact, it would best be described as a dark comedy. But a show about a nurse with a pill addiction is going to deal with some serious issues as well. Edie Falco (of Sopranos fame) is excellent as the show’s titular nurse.
- The Knick– A medical and period drama following happenings at New York’s Knickerbocker Hospital in the year 1900. For Clive Owen fans and those of you fascinated by the history of medicine.
- St. Elsewhere- Ignore the most infamous ending in television history and focus on the show, which was as gritty and real as they let you be on network television in the ’80s. Often balancing multiple, ongoing stories at once with a large ensemble cast; this series was well ahead of its time in terms of serialized storytelling and subject matter.
- E.R.- E.R. is to medical dramas what Friends is to sitcoms. It wasn’t the first, it wasn’t the best, but if you ask somebody to name a medical drama this is probably the first one that pops into their head. Come see the show that launched dozens of careers including George Clooney’s.
- Doogie Howser MD- It’s hard to remember a time when Neil Patrick Harris was this innocent. It’s also hard to explain why in the ’80s every show had to have a child genius. Despite the clichéd trope Harris’ performance carries the show and makes it not just watchable but enjoyable. Extra points for a sixteen-year-old not being played by someone in their thirties.
- Royal Pains– One of those feel-good dramedies the USA network used to push out in the mid-aughts. A funny, patient-of-the-week show, where the illness is usually a mystery until some genius insight at the end saves the day. Empty calorie TV but it will definitely pass the time.
- Northern Exposure– A New York doctor who let the state of Alaska underwrite his medical school expenses gets dumped in a tiny village in the Alaskan Wilderness as a general practitioner to pay off his debt. They don’t like him, and he doesn’t like them. A fish-out-of-water dramedy with one of the quirkiest casts this side of Twin Peaks.
- Doc Martin- This British series features another culture-clash between a doctor and his patients with an added twist: this doctor has a crippling fear of blood. A dramedy to serve you well if you’re a fan of the English seaside.
- Dr. Kildare: The show that introduced America to medical dramas, and to Richard Chamberlin. An amazing snapshot of 1960’s Hollywood that features a veritable Who’s Who of acting legends pass through the series as guest stars over the course of its run. The medicine may not hold up today, but the stories do. Worth a look when you’re feeling nostalgia for a bygone era.