Sunday, March 22, 2009

Who is television's most lovable quack?

The medical field is a gold mine for television. Consider the various Doctor genres:
Doctor as God ("E.R.", which is still on. I'm as shocked as you.)
Doctor as whiny, self-possessed ineffectual ("Private Practice" and "Grey's Anatomy")
Doctor as Child ("Doogie Howser")
Doctor as Sociopath ("House")
And so on.

By far, my favorite Doc Genre; Doctor as Source of Comic Gold by way of Secondary Quack Character.

Consider some of the best. And vote for your favorite.

Candidate: Dr. Leo Spaceman of "30 Rock" as brought to life by Chris Parnell of "Saturday Night Live."
Personality traits: Unethical, incompetent, jovial, vengeful, generous with pills.
Medical advice: Science is whatever you want it to be.
Qualifications: Medical degree from Ho Chi Minh City School of Medicine.
Quote: (After dialing 411 in a medical emergency) "Uhh....diabetes repair?"





Candidate: Dr. Nick Riviera of "The Simpsons"
Personality traits: Unethical, incompetent, jovial, non-judgmental.
Medical advice: Instead of making sandwiches with bread, use pop tarts. Instead of chewing gum, chew bacon.
Qualifications: Graduated from Hollywood Upstairs Medical College
Quote: "Hi everybody!"


Candidate: Dr. Fishman on "Arrested Development"
Personality traits: Literal to a fault, terrible at delivering good/bad news.
Medical advice: Avoid blue paint, open windows and loose seals.
Qualifications: Unknown
Quote: "Yes. He's lost his left hand, so he's going to be 'all right'."

3 comments:

  1. Dr. Fishman gets my vote.

    Wait, is this a "vote" thing?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sure. It's a vote thing without the poll thing attached.

    My vote goes to Dr. Spaceman, I think. He got me when he ran around in the cape.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I vote for Spaceman also. Cape. Diabetes repair. 'nuff said.

    ReplyDelete