Rumbling for ratings: Some new TV doctors are in the neighborhood

Observations. By Bonnie Booth, AMNews staff. Sept. 16, 2002.

Watch your back Dr. Carter. And by the way, Dr. Dorian, the same goes for you.

Two of television's most popular physicians will be duking it out for viewers this season with several new good-looking, hard-headed, highly principled but slightly flawed colleagues when the new television season kicks off at the end of the month.

In the nine-year history of Dr. John Carter's "ER," no single medical drama has been able to knock it off its perch. The most recent attempt, ABC's "Gideon's Crossing," lasted less than a season after premiering in fall 2000.

Over the last several years, the only other show with medicine as a major character that has had any true success was last season's "Scrubs," in which Dr. John Dorian and his fellow residents gave us a humorous and poignant look at life as a brand new physician. (While the Ted Danson vehicle "Becker" has stunk up the CBS schedule for several years, I'm excluding it because medicine is a supporting character at best.)

"Scrubs," which was nominated for two Emmy Awards and a People's Choice Award, is the highest-rated new comedy series to return this season. NBC has enough faith in the show to position it between "Friends" and "Will & Grace" in hopes of finally boosting its viewership in a time slot that has seen some clunkers in recent years and dragged down a lineup that is otherwise a ratings bonanza for the network.

The challengers, while fresh and new, apparently aren't stupid. They may be circling NBC's "Must See TV," but they aren't taking it on head-to-head. For the moment, at least, they are going to practice up on each other. [...]