The Good Doctor (TV series)

The Good Doctor is an American medical drama television series based on the 2013 South Korean series of the same name. Actor Daniel Dae Kim noticed the original series and bought the rights for his production company. He began adapting the series and, in 2015, eventually shopped it to CBS, his home network. CBS decided against creating a pilot. Because Kim felt so strongly about the series, he bought back the rights from CBS. Eventually, Sony Pictures Television and Kim worked out a deal and brought on David Shore, creator of the Fox medical drama "House", to develop the series.
The show is produced by Sony Pictures Television and ABC Studios, in association with production companies Shore Z Productions, 3AD, and Entermedia. David Shore serves as showrunner and Daniel Dae Kim is an executive producer for the show.
The series stars Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy, a young autistic savant surgical resident at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Antonia Thomas, Hill Harper, Christina Chang, Richard Schiff, Will Yun Lee, Fiona Gubelmann, and Paige Spara also star in the show. Nicholas Gonzalez, Chuku Modu, Beau Garrett, Tamlyn Tomita, and Jasika Nicole used to also star or having recurring roles in the show, but their characters were written off. The series received a put pilot commitment at ABC after a previous attempted series did not move forward at CBS Television Studios in 2015; "The Good Doctor" was ordered to series in May 2017. On October 3, 2017, ABC picked up the series for a full season of 18 episodes. The series is primarily filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The series debuted on September 25, 2017. "The Good Doctor" has received generally mixed reviews from critics, who have praised Highmore's performance and the series' strong television ratings but criticized the storylines. The portrayal of autism has also divided critical opinion. In May 2021, the series was renewed for a fifth season.
Premise.
The series follows Shaun Murphy, a young autistic surgeon with savant syndrome from the mid-size city of Casper, Wyoming, where he had a troubled past. He relocates to San Jose, California, to work at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.
Production.
Development.
In May 2014, CBS Television Studios began development on an American remake of the hit South Korean medical drama "Good Doctor" with Daniel Dae Kim as producer. Kim explained the appeal of adapting the series as "something that can fit into a recognizable world, with a breadth of characters that can be explored in the long run". The story of an autistic pediatric surgeon was to be set in Boston and projected to air in August 2015. However, CBS did not pick up the project and it moved to Sony Pictures Television, with a put pilot commitment from ABC in October 2016. The series is developed by David Shore, who is executive producing alongside Kim, Sebastian Lee, and David Kim. ABC officially ordered the series to pilot in January 2017.
On May 11, 2017, ABC ordered to series as a co-production with Sony Pictures Television and ABC Studios, and it was officially picked up for a season of 18 episodes on October 3, 2017. On March 7, 2018, ABC renewed the series for a second season. On February 5, 2019, during the TCA press tour, ABC renewed the series for a third season which premiered on September 23, 2019. On February 10, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a fourth season which premiered on November 2, 2020. On August 6, 2020, it was reported that the fourth season opener is set to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 3, 2021, ABC renewed the series for a fifth season.
Casting.
On February 17, 2017, Antonia Thomas was cast as Dr. Claire Browne, a strong-willed and talented doctor who forms a special connection with Shaun. A week later, Freddie Highmore was cast in the lead role as Dr. Shaun Murphy, an autistic surgeon; and Nicholas Gonzalez was cast as Dr. Neil Melendez, the boss of the surgical residents at the hospital. The next month, Chuku Modu was cast as resident Dr. Jared Kalu (originally Dr. Jared Unger); Hill Harper as head of surgery Dr. Marcus Andrews (originally Dr. Horace Andrews); Irene Keng as resident Dr. Elle McLean; and Richard Schiff was cast as Dr. Aaron Glassman (originally Dr. Ira Glassman), the hospital president and Shaun's mentor. Schiff was shortly followed by Beau Garrett as hospital board member Jessica Preston and a friend of Dr. Glassman. In September 2017, Tamlyn Tomita was promoted to the principal cast as Allegra Aoki.
In April 2018, it was revealed that Will Yun Lee, Fiona Gubelmann, Christina Chang, and Paige Spara had been promoted to series regulars for the second season, after recurring in the first as Alex, Morgan, Audrey, and Lea, respectively. In addition, it was announced that Chuku Modu would not return for the second season. On September 19, 2018, it was announced that Beau Garrett had left the series ahead of the second-season premiere.
In January 2019, it was announced that executive producer Daniel Dae Kim had been added in a recurring role during the second season. In July 2019, it was announced that Jasika Nicole was promoted to series regular for the third season. In October 2020, Noah Galvin, Summer Brown, Bria Samoné Henderson, and Brian Marc were cast in recurring roles for the fourth season.
Filming.
Production on the pilot took place from March 21 to April 6, 2017, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Filming for the rest of the season began on July 26, 2017, and concluded on March 1, 2018. Filming for season two began on June 27, 2018, and concluded on February 12, 2019. Filming for the third season began on June 19, 2019 and concluded on March 3, 2020. Filming for the fourth season was originally scheduled to begin on August 4, 2020 and conclude on April 13, 2021, but was later postponed to begin on September 2, 2020 and conclude on May 28, 2021.
Music.
Emmy-nominated Dan Romer serves as the primary composer for the series. He won an ASCAP Screen Music Award for his work on the show.
Release.
Broadcast.
"The Good Doctor" began airing on September 25, 2017, on ABC in the United States, and on CTV in Canada. Sky Witness acquired the broadcast rights for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Seven Network airs the series in Australia. Colors Infinity acquired the rights to the series for the Indian Subcontinent in October 2017, airing each episode 24 hours after its US broadcast. Wowow, the largest Japanese private satellite and pay-per-view television network in Japan acquired the rights to broadcast the series beginning in April 2018. In the Netherlands, the series began airing on January 29, 2018, on RTL 4 and on video-on-demand service Videoland. In Italy the series premiered on Rai 1 on July 17, 2018 setting a record of 5.2 million total viewers from 9:30 pm to 11:45 pm, reaching a share of 31,7% in the third episode and entering the Top 10 of Most Watched Foreign TV Series in Italy at No.5, an event since the leaderboard never changed again after the last entry on November 14, 2007 with an episode of House. In Brazil, the series was the first international production to be released at the TV Globo's video-on-demand service Globoplay. On August 27 the two first episodes was aired at Globo free-to-air television network to announce the launch of the series in the streaming service. On March 20, 2020 the Chilean public broadcaster Televisión Nacional de Chile announces the arrival of the series, with a "Coming soon" advertisement. In Bulgaria, the series began airing on July 13, 2020, on bTV.
Marketing.
A full-length trailer was released for ABC's May 2017 Upfront presentation, which /Film's Ethan Anderton described the concept as feeling like ""House" meets "Rain Man", that just might be enough to make it interesting". However, he questioned "how long can audiences be entranced by both the brilliance of [Highmore's] character's savant skills and the difficulties that come from his autism in the workplace." Daniel Fienberg of "The Hollywood Reporter" felt the trailer was "both kinda progressive and really dated". He added, "Too much felt on-the-nose—especially Hill Harper as the main character's detractor and Richard Schiff as his noble defender", while also commentating that "On-the-nose/premise is how you have to trailer a show like this, and maybe spaced out over 43 minutes it won't grate." Ben Travers and Steve Greene for IndieWire called it "a serious trailer for a serious subject. The first glimpse of Highmore's character hints that they're toeing the line between presenting a thoughtful depiction of his condition and using his perceptive abilities as a kind of secret weapon." The trailer had been viewed over 25.4 million times after a week of its release, including over 22 million views on Facebook.
The pilot was screened at ABC's PaleyFest event on September 9, 2017. On March 22, 2018, members of the cast as well as executive producers Shore and Kim attended the 35th annual PaleyFest LA to promote the series, along with a screening of the season finale of the first season.
Streaming.
In May 2018, Hulu acquired the SVOD rights to new and past episodes of the series to air exclusively on Hulu, with future episodes becoming available the day after their original broadcast on ABC. In New Zealand, the show is available exclusively for streaming on Lightbox. The pilot episode was made available for viewing on February 5, 2018 with the newer episodes coming express from the US.
Home media.
Region 1
Region 2 (UK)
Region 4 (Australia)
Reception.
Ratings.
The series premiere earned a 2.2/9 rating in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic, with 11.22 million total viewers, making it the most watched Monday drama debut on ABC in 21 years, since "Dangerous Minds" in September 1996, and the highest rated Monday drama in the 18–49 demographic in 8.5 years, since "Castle" in March 2009. Factoring live plus seven-day ratings, the pilot was watched by a total of 19.2 million viewers and set a record for DVR viewers with 7.9 million, surpassing the record of 7.67 million set by the pilot of "Designated Survivor" in 2016. According to "TV Guide" November 13–26 issue, the October 9 episode attracted 18.2 million viewers, beating out both high-rated CBS shows "NCIS" and "The Big Bang Theory" for the most viewed primetime show that week.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 63% based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 5.65/10. The website's consensus reads, ""The Good Doctor"s heavy-handed bedside manner undermines a solid lead performance, but under all the emotionally manipulative gimmickry, there's still plenty of room to improve." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Giving his first impression of the series' pilot for TVLine, Matt Webb Mitovich stated, ""The Good Doctor" boasts great DNA... [and] has the potential to be a refreshingly thought-provoking hospital drama, based on the buttons pushed in the pilot alone." He enjoyed the "warm dynamic" of Schiff and Highmore, while describing Thomas' character as "our emotional 'in' to Shaun [Murphy (Freddie Highmore)]'s distinct, distant world". He noted that "it takes a while to build up momentum", but concluded that "the very final scene packs quite a punch, as Dr. Murphy unwittingly puts a colleague on notice".
"The New York Times" television critic James Poniewozik notes in his Critic's Notebook column that, for the most part, the drama is a "hospital melodrama with whiz-bang medical science, a dash of intra-staff romance and shameless sentimentality." Discussing the main characters Shaun and Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff), Poniewozik writes that "Mr. Schiff is convincing in the role and Mr. Highmore is striking in his."
Speaking of Freddie Highmore's Golden Globe nomination on Monday, December 11, 2017, for his role in "The Good Doctor", Laura Bradley, writing for "Vanity Fair" says: "... Freddie Highmore received the awards recognition that has long and unjustly eluded him..." Bradley feels that Highmore's performance has been "the central key" to the show's enormous success and while the show received lukewarm reviews, most critics have praised Highmore's work.
Christy Duan, Vasilis K. Pozios and Praveen R. Kambam wrote in their critique for "The Hollywood Reporter" that "The Good Doctor" presents a belief that autistic individuals only benefit society when they possess savant abilities. This is similar to arguments made by Douwe Draaisma that directors look to make an authentic representation of autism and create a character with savant skills.