Doc (TV series)

Doc
Genre	Medical drama
Created by	Dave Alan Johnson Gary R. Johnson
Starring	Billy Ray Cyrus Andrea C. Robinson Richard Leacock Paula Boudreau
Theme music composer	Billy Ray Cyrus
Opening theme	"Stand Still"
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	88
Production company(s)	Pebblehut Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	PAX
Original run	March 11, 2001 (2001-03-11) – November 28, 2004 (2004-11-28)

Doc is a medical drama/family drama with strong Christian undertones starring Billy Ray Cyrus as Dr. Clint "Doc" Cassidy, a Montana doctor who takes a job in a New York City medical clinic. It ran from March 11, 2001 to November 28, 2004 on PAX. Although set in New York City, all the episodes were shot in and around Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Summary

Doc follows rural doctor Clint "Doc" Cassidy who has taken a position at Westbury Clinic, a small medical center in New York City. Doc is a young Christian bachelor from the mountains of Montana, who brings his small-town values and ideology to an environment that seems to lack familiarity with them.

Supporting characters include the doctors, nurses and other staff of Westbury Clinic; a 10-year-old orphan, Raúl García; and a young couple, Nate and Beverly Jackson, who live in the same apartment building as Clint.

Format

Each episode has three interconnecting plotlines; the predominant plotline follows Clint and his involvement in the lives of his patients. Another plotline involves Clint's relationship with his clinic coworkers, and the third involves the Jackson Family. In later seasons, the Jackson family plotline or the clinic plotline are occasionally left out in preference to the predominant Clint one. The plotlines are then resolved at the end of each episode, when Clint writes an email to his guardian, Doc Johansson, back in Montana.

Broadcast history

Doc was broadcast on PAX TV and had strong Christian undertones. It was written by Dave Alan Johnson and Gary R. Johnson. The producers and writers were also involved with the series Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye. PAX, now ION Television, resumed airing Doc reruns October 1, 2007 — only to take it off the air again November 16, 2007.

It was rebroadcast throughout 2005 on Network Ten in Australia on Saturday mornings at 4:00am.

During 2006, Doc was shown on the Canadian Showcase cable television specialty channel, Monday through Friday at 10:00am and 6:00pm. It also aired in Spanish on Mexico's National Broadcast channel at 10:30 pm Sunday through Friday.

In the United States, Doc airs on Gospel Music Channel and began airing on Hallmark Channel in late July, 2010.

Major characters

Westbury Clinic

• Billy Ray Cyrus plays Dr. Clint "Doc" Cassidy - a kindhearted doctor from Montana who has moved to New York to work at Westbury Clinic, a medical center adjacent to the local hospital. Clint has a love for God and for people, making him a popular doctor at the clinic. He often likes to insert little bits of wisdom from Montana into the clinic team's activity. It is mentioned in some episodes that Clint's parents died when he was young; he was taken in by his hometown's doctor, Doc Johansson. This adoption leads to Clint's love for medicine. He is the show's main character.
• Andrea C. Robinson plays Nurse Nancy Nichols - a young nurse who is smart, energizing, and a little bit vain. She possesses good bedside manners, common sense, and a sharp wit. She isn't afraid to speak her mind. Nancy's parents divorced when she was twelve, and Nancy had a touching reunion with her mother, who had cancer at the time. This reunion, and the mother eventually succumbing to her cancer were the focuses of two episodes of the shows. She and Clint have a mutual relationship, much like Sue Thomas and Jack Hudson in Doc 's predecessor, Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye. This is the focus of several episodes.
• Derek McGrath plays Dr. Derek Hebert - a portly, witty, but insightful doctor who is a very good friend of Clint's. Derek is friends with all of the clinical team (with the exception of Dr. Crane) and, despite his soft-spoken personality, never afraid to get involved in anything the clinic is involved in. Derek has a wife, Nellie, and a child, Gracie. He has a phobia of small rodents, especially rats and mice.
• Ruth Marshall plays Donna Dewitt - Ms. Dewitt is the clinic/hospital administrator. Ms. Dewitt combines a warm heart with a focus on the bottom line. Her occasional role as an antagonist as a result of her goal of cutting costs contrasts with her warmth, approachability and unfailing support of the rest of the staff.
• Ron Lea plays Dr. Oliver Crane - Dr. Crane is frequently the antagonist of the series. He is egotistical and selfish, and usually more concerned with his personal convenience and getting recognition from peers (especially outside of the clinic) than with his patients. He is also a schemer in a sense, trying to get money and compliments, but these almost always fail. But despite his mean and outspoken demeanor, Oliver has a soft side which was revealed in a few episodes (most notably the episode in which Nellie gave birth to Gracie), as well as in the series finale.
• Paula Boudreau plays Tippy Williams (later Tippy Doss) (2002–2004). Tippy appears in the pilot episode, and joins Westbury later in the first season. She thinks differently than most people, and often comes across as a bit of a dimwit. She keeps the team on their toes in a silly, geeky way. However, shining through Tippy's somewhat woolly mind is a heart of gold that loves, sacrifices, and longs to learn.

Jackson Family

• Richard Leacock plays Nate Jackson, an officer with the New York Police Department. Nate Jackson is initially skeptical of Clint's country ways, but the two become close friends quickly. Nate is also a building supervisor, and arranges an apartment for Clint.
• Tyler Posey plays Raul Garcia, an orphaned boy who is 8 years old when the series starts and around 11-12 when it ends. He and his single mother were homeless, and they slept in the basement of a New York Church before Mrs. Garcia grew sick and died. Despite attempts to take Raul into custody by his abusive father, Raul ends up getting adopted by Nate and Beverly Jackson. He is a basic pre-teen boy who gets instruction on making wise choices from and his parents and from Clint, among others.
• Tracy Shreve plays Beverly Jackson, Nate's caring, conscientious wife who teaches at Raul's school. She gives birth to a baby, Matty, late in the fourth season.

Other supporting characters

• Demetrius Joyette plays Justin, Raul's best buddy from school. They're good friends who often hang out together. Justin is a bit younger than Raul and sometimes lacks his older friend's good sense.
• Taylor Abrahamse plays Elliot, an apsiring violinist but somewhat of a nerd. Raul and Justin are reluctant to hang out with him at first, but they soon come to learn that he's a good friend indeed, despite his nerdiness.
• Kevin Jubinville plays Steve "The Captain (later 'Major')" Doss, a soldier in the U.S. Army who falls in love with Tippy and eventually marries her. He is generally good-natured and very army savvy (he speaks in the manner of a soldier on duty), but he has a tendency to be turgid and act irrationally.

Guest stars

• Actress Kim Poirier guest starred in the episode "Second Time Around" as Denise.
• Singer Jaci Velasquez appears in the season five episode "Nip, Tuck & Die".
• Cyrus' daughter, Miley (credited as Destiny Hope), appeared as Kylie in the pilot episode, one more episode in 2001 and then again in a season four episode as Raul's friend in 2003.
• Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman appears in the season two episode "Fearless", as Raul's music teacher, Daniel Parson.
• Cyrus' daughter, Noah, appeared in six episodes as Gracie Hebert.
• CeCe Winans appears as Rosalyn Franklin, a poor widow whose young son has leukemia.
• A young Michael Cera appears in two episodes as Max, a distraught preteen boy whose parents are on the brink of divorce.

Reactions

• Focus on the Family declared that "Doc has restored families' hope that there are still TV programs they can watch together."^[1]
• Parents Television Council declared "Episodes of Doc consistently reinforce family-friendly themes such as honesty, compassion, hope, and reconciliation, making it a perfect fit for its family-hour time slot."^[2] Doc was also named the best show on TV in their 2001-2002 Top 10 Best and Worst Shows on Network TV.^[3]

DVD release

On February 3, 2004, PAX Home Entertainment (Distributed by Ventura Distribution) released Season 1 of Doc on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. [1]

References

1. ^ http://www.pluggedinonline.com/tv/television/a0001349.cfm
2. ^ http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/shows/main.asp?shwid=417
3. ^ http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/top10bestandworst/2002/top10bestandworst.pdf

External links

• Doc at the Internet Movie Database
• Doc at TV.com