Wednesday, September 28, 2005

These doctors make house calls...

If you go back 4 decades or more you can trace any specific genre of TV show whether it be the first Western, Crime, Comedy or Quiz Show, you name it, every type of show had a beginning. The Medical Profession had its beginning on this date in 1961 when "Dr. Kildare" came calling with a pleasing bedside manner and a handsome Hollywood actor to play the good doctor in Richard Chamberlain who would make female viewers swoon for 5 years from 1961 to 1965...

Lo and behold, just 4 days later on October 2nd, Vince Edwards would offer Richard Chamberlain some stiff competition over the next 5 years as "Ben Casey" debuted. These 2 doctor shows would run neck and neck in the ratings with both making the top 10. The closest they would come in head-to-head competition came in the '62-'63 season when "Ben Casey" would edge "Dr. Kildare" by 2.5% in ratings with a 28.7-26.2% advantage at the end of the year. Both shows were similar in that they had good looking leading actors with both having mentors, Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Raymond Massey) for Dr. Kildare and Dr. David Zorba (Sam Jaffe) for Ben Casey. Both shows would even have hit records with Richard Chamberlain's "Three Stars Will Shine Tonight" winning the chart battle at #10 to Valjean's "Ben Casey" which would peak at #28. In fan mail, give the edge to Richard Chamberlain who got 3 times as much fan mail as Vince Edwards...

"Dr. Kildare" and "Ben Casey" paved the way, for better or worse, for such "doctor" shows to follow as, "Grey's Anatomy", "Scrubs" and "E.R." They even made it possible for a show about a 16-year old doctor, "Doogie Howser" that somehow lasted 4 years, just barely cracking the top 25 in ratings once. Well, it was different, wasn't it ???

More September 28 Memories...

1941) Ted Williams finishes with a .406 batting average after getting 6 hits in 8 at bats in a doubleheader. No hitter has ever batted .400 since...

1951) The Yankees' Allie Reynolds pitches his second no-hitter of the season as the Yankees clinch the pennant by beating the Red Sox...

1955) The World Series is televised in color for the first time...

1957) "Honeycomb" tops the charts for Jimmie Rodgers...

1958) "To Know Him Is To Love Him" by the Teddy Bears is released. The song is written and composed by 18-year old Teddy Bear singer Phil Spector...

1960) "The Millionaire" airs its last episode on CBS-TV...

1961) "Dr. Kildare", TV's first "Doctor" show premieres (feature story)...

1961) "Hazel" debuts on NBC-TV...

1968) Janis Joplin leaves Big Brother and the Holding Company...

1972) David Bowie sells out Carnegie Hall...

1976) Muhammad Ali beats Ken Norton in 15 rounds for the heavyweight boxing crown...

1991) Miles Davis plays his last note at 65...

1997) Bob Dylan, wearing a cowboy hat gives new meaning to having an audience with the Pope at a Bologna, Italy concert attended by Pope John Paul. Dylan sings "Knocking On Heaven's Door"...

Happy Birthday to...

1923) William Windom...

1925) Arnold Stang...

1934) Brigitte Bardot...

1943) Lou Piniella...

1967) Moon Zappa...

1987) Hilary Duff...

Commentary...

Some "Dr. Kildare" and "Ben Casey" factoids: Intern Kildare cut his medical teeth at "Blair General Hospital" while Casey, a young resident surgeon was a cut-up at "County General Hospital". "Dr. Kildare" was taken from a series of movies in the '30s and '40s starring Lew Ayres while "Ben Casey" was a new concept...

Vince Edwards was discovered by Bing Crosby whose production company produced the show. The Kildare stories were also shown in a 1972 syndicated series called "Young Dr. Kildare" which did not star Richard Chamberlain...

"Dr. Kildare" would "retire" in August of 1966 while "Ben Casey" took a permanent medical leave in March of 1966. Both doctors must have had great medical and retirement benefits but then again HMOs didn't exist back then...