MarketThe Good Doctor (American TV series)
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The Good Doctor (American TV series)

The Good Doctor is an American medical drama television series, a remake of the 2013 South Korean series of the same name, which aired on ABC from September 25, 2017, to May 21, 2024, lasting seven seasons and 126 episodes. The series stars Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy, a young surgical resident with autism at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Christina Chang, Richard Schiff, Will Yun Lee, Fiona Gubelmann, Paige Spara, Noah Galvin and Bria Samoné Henderson also star in the show. Nicholas Gonzalez, Antonia Thomas, Chuku Modu, Beau Garrett, Hill Harper, Tamlyn Tomita, Jasika Nicole, Osvaldo Benavides and Brandon Larracuente used to also star or had recurring roles in the show, but their characters were written out of the storyline as the series progressed. Modu reprised his role in the sixth season and became a series regular once again in the seventh season.

Premise
The series follows Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism from the small 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. ==Cast and characters==
Cast and characters
Overview MainFreddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy, an autistic and troubled surgeon. His skills include near-photographic recall and the ability to note minute details and changes. His hiring created a divided opinion among the board. At the end of season 5, he marries Lea Dilallo. In season 6, he becomes a surgical attending after having completed his residency. At the end of season 6, Lea gives birth to their son Steven Aaron Murphy. In a flashforward in the series finale, Shaun becomes the Chief of Surgery and runs the Dr. Aaron Glassman Foundation for Neurodiversity in Medicine with Claire. Shaun and Lea also have a daughter together (named Maddie after Dr. Glassman's deceased daughter). He is portrayed in flashbacks to his teen years by Graham Verchere (season 1, guest seasons 2, 3, 5) and his child years by Kashton Brostl (guest season 7). guest seasons 5 and 7 His niece Dr. Olivia Jackson is one of the surgical residents in season 4. and he is reinstated as hospital president after the Ethicure acquisition is called off. It is also revealed in the same season that he is dyslexic. At the end of season 6, he resigns his position when the board calls for a meeting to discuss his questionable decisions while entering a relationship with nurse Villanueva. In season 7, he is mentioned to be touring the world. • Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman, former President of San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital and now attending neurosurgeon, who has been a mentor and good friend of Shaun since he was 14. In season 2, he steps down as hospital president when he is diagnosed with cancer and Shaun tries to help improve his health. In season 3, he is reinstated after Andrews is fired and marries barista Debbie, but they divorce in season 4 following a series of arguments. In season 6, Shaun finds out that Glassman suffered a ministroke that leaves him unable to perform further surgeries, but Glassman feels betrayed and hurt when he tries to intervene and is absent when Lea gives birth to Steven, but still sends a gift for the baby. In season 7, he and Lim become the co-interim presidents of the hospital following Andrews' departure, while making amends with Shaun. His cancer also returns in the penultimate episode, and he eventually dies of it in the series finale. • Tamlyn Tomita as Allegra Aoki (seasons 1–2; guest, season 3), Chairwoman of the San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital Board and Vice President of the foundation that controls the hospital's funding. In season 4, she switches from surgery to internal medicine due to the damage she inflicted on her hands at the end of season 3. In season 6, Morgan works on becoming a mother, eventually adopting an orphaned baby named Eden in the series finale. In "Unconditional", she and Park get married. • Will Yun Lee as Dr. Alex Park (seasons 2–7; recurring, season 1), a surgical resident and a former police officer from Phoenix, Arizona who decided to become a doctor. In season 4, he starts a relationship with Morgan before breaking up with her in season 6 after she turns down at the last minute a job offer at New York. He also becomes a surgical attending along with Shaun. In "Unconditional", he and Morgan get married. • Christina Chang as Dr. Audrey Lim (seasons 2–7; recurring, season 1), an attending trauma surgeon in charge of the ER and surgical residents and later the Chief of Surgery. In season 4, she develops post-traumatic stress disorder from her experiences with treating the COVID-19 pandemic. In the season 5 finale, Lim is stabbed and severely wounded and, although Andrews, Glassman, Shaun, Jordan, Jerome and Lea manage to save her life, Lim is left paralyzed from the waist down, likely as a result of Shaun's risky surgery to save her liver. After another surgery, Lim regains the ability to walk, albeit with the aid of a cane. In season 7, following the departure of Andrews, she and Glassman become the co-interim presidents of the hospital. Lim also no longer needs her cane, having fully recovered her ability to walk. In the series finale, Lim leaves the hospital to help out with medical treatment in Ukraine. • Paige Spara as Lea Dilallo-Murphy (seasons 2–7; recurring, season 1), Shaun's love interest until she left to pursue her dream. Later after she returned, they decide to be platonic close friends and roommates, but they finally became a couple in the season 3 finale. In season 4, she and Shaun were expecting a baby girl together before she has a miscarriage due to a medical problem. In the season 4 finale, Lea gets engaged to Shaun. In the season 5 finale, they get married. In season 6, she and Shaun are expecting a baby boy and she gives birth to Steven in the finale. In a flashforward in the series finale, Shaun and Lea have a daughter together as well. Lea worked as an automotive engineer in the first two seasons before becoming Glassman's assistant in season 3. In season 4, she has become the head of the hospital's IT department. • Jasika Nicole as Dr. Carly Lever (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2), the hospital's head and board certified pathologist introduced in season 1 who becomes Shaun's co-worker in season 2 and girlfriend in season 3. However, Carly breaks up with Shaun near the end of season 3 after realizing that he is in love with Lea. • Bria Samoné Henderson as Dr. Jordan Allen (seasons 5–7; guest season 4), a Mexican-American surgeon whom the team meets in Guatemala and who decides to return to the United States afterwards. He begins forming a romantic relationship with Lim during their time together in Guatemala. He is soon transferred to San Jose General by Salen Morrison and loses touch with Lim shortly afterwards. • Brandon Larracuente as Dr. Daniel "Danny" Perez (season 6; and later dreams and visions. He also portrays Evan Gallico, a boy in the present (Season 1) that resembles Shaun's brother and is suffering from stage 4 osteosarcoma. • Elfina Luk as Nurse Dalisay Villanueva. In season 5, she is revealed to be domestically abused by her partner Owen, which makes her fail to catch up to her shifts. At the end of season 5, she is stabbed by Owen, but Andrews and Glassman manage to save her life. Owen is arrested for her attempted murder, but he expresses remorse for his actions to Asher Wolke, almost committing suicide by cop out of guilt. She is shown to have fully recovered and returned to work by the time of Lim's return three months later. In season 6, she and Andrews develop a romantic relationship. • Teryl Rothery as Dr. Jan Lancaster (seasons 1–5, 7), an anesthesiologist and one of the doctors who is often seen helping out in surgery. In "Claire", her full name is given as Jan Lancaster. • Marsha Thomason (season 1) and Golden Brooks (guest season 6) as Dr. Isabel Barnes, a doctor at St. Bonaventure and the ex-wife of Andrews. In season 1, they are shown to have trouble having kids and go to a therapist for help. At the end of season 4, during the trip to Guatemala, Andrews reveals that he and Isabel are getting a divorce as she is seeing someone else. In season 6, she returns to take over the case of a woman pregnant with sextuplets. • Eric Winter as Dr. Matt Coyle (season 1), an attending surgeon who sexually harasses Claire when they work together on a case, resulting in Jared getting fired when he finds out and assaults him. He is also revealed to have done the same to other female employees who haven't spoken against him out of fear of risking their jobs. Without any evidence of his actions, Coyle is transferred to another department and two of his former residents, Morgan Reznick and Alex Park, are incorporated into Melendez's team. Jared also files a lawsuit against the hospital for racism when they refuse to rehire him, which he wins, but ends up losing the respect of Melendez and Andrews in the process. • Chris D'Elia as Kenny (season 1): Shaun's new neighbor, who moves into Lea's apartment. Shaun mentioned that he was arrested when Lea returned. • Kirby Morrow (season 1) and Michael Trucco (guest season 3 and 7) as Ethan Murphy, Shaun's abusive father. In season 3, he is reunited years later with his son when he is diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer to make amends, but after Shaun forgives him, Ethan throws hurtful words at Shaun before succumbing to his cancer thirty minutes later. • Rebecca Husain (season 1), Joanna Going (guest season 3) and Patricia Cullen (guest season 7) as Marcie Murphy, Shaun's mother, who despite loving her son, never did anything to help Shaun and stand up to her abusive husband. In season 3, she is reunited with Shaun years later when Ethan is diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. She ends up becoming a widow after Ethan dies, and Shaun cuts her out of his life for good. In season 5, after Shaun and Lea get engaged and start mailing the invitations for their wedding, Lea decides against inviting Marcie, not wanting Shaun to be reminded of his traumatic past. • Sheila Kelley as hospital barista Debbie Wexler (seasons 1–4), a love interest for Dr. Glassman and later his fiancée and wife. After getting fired in the third season, she becomes Glassman's office manager. In season 4, they separate after a series of arguments. In real life, Kelley is married to Richard Schiff, who plays Glassman. • Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Marina Blaize (season 2), an oncologist • Holly Taylor (season 2) and Audrey Wise Alvarez (guest season 1 and 6) as Maddie Glassman, Aaron's estranged daughter who died of a drug overdose at 19. • Daniel Dae Kim as Dr. Jackson Han (season 2), is a Neonatal Cardiac Surgeon and former Chief of Surgery of San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital, who had trouble with Shaun's behavior and autism, especially his inability to communicate. Against Shaun's wishes, he has him transferred to Pathology where he can help patients without interacting with them, but Han fires him when he keeps on demanding his old job as a surgeon back. Andrews, as president of the hospital, eventually fires Han to save Shaun, but gets himself fired as well. Lim takes over his vacant position in season 3 and rehires Andrews as an attending surgeon. • Karin Konoval as Donna Petringa (season 2–4), a scrub nurse at St. Bonaventure who is often seen assisting in surgeries or monitoring patients. She dies of COVID-19 in "Frontline Part Two" in season four. She has been a nurse for forty years and has a son and granddaughter. • April Cameron as Alyssa Hawks (seasons 3, 5–7; guest, season 4), a young nurse who works at the hospital. As revealed in season 6, she suffered from an addiction of some sort in the past as she attends Danny Perez's NA meeting. • Brian Marc as Dr. Enrique "Ricky" Guerin (season 4): One of the new surgical residents who has a laid-back attitude and is polyamorous. He is assigned as one of Claire's junior residents. Enrique eventually decides to leave St. Bonaventure in order to join a program that will allow him to help out in needy areas of the world. • Hollis Jane Andrews as Sophie (season 5), a documentarist with a form of dwarfism who takes an interest in Shaun and Lea • Giacomo Baessato as Jerome Martel (season 5–7), a male nurse who begins dating Asher. As revealed in "Second Chances and Past Regrets", he has been HIV-positive for years. In "Who at Peace", he intended to propose to Asher, who was killed by two anti-semites that very same night. In the series finale, he is shown to have moved on from Asher's death and married another man. • Savannah Welch as Dr. Danica "Danni" Powell (season 6), one of the new residents in season 6. She is a former US Navy Lieutenant who lost her right leg following a flight deck accident. In "The Good Boy", especially due to her constant pattern of disobedience, she is fired after an unauthorized surgery to save her friend on parole Vince, which she had dragged Asher into, who gets a two-month probation, along with Perez for his relapse. • Michael Patrick Thornton as Dr. Clay Porter (season 6), a disabled pediatrician whom Powell sets Lim up with. They start a relationship and proposes to Lim, only for her to turn him down and suggest they move in together instead. In season 7, it is revealed that because of Lim's indecisiveness to marry Clay, he broke off the relationship and moved to Chicago for a fellowship. • Kayla Cromer as Charlotte 'Charlie' Lukaitis (season 7), an autistic medical student who idolizes Shaun and was inspired to become a surgeon by the video of Shaun saving a young boy in the series premiere. While she isn't a savant like Shaun, she can hyperfocus. She seems to have a special interest in Taylor Swift. In a flashforward in the series finale, Charlie has become an attending at the hospital. • Wavyy Jonez as Dominick 'Dom' Hubank (season 7), a medical student who is squeamish around blood. In a flashforward in the series finale, Dom has opened his own clinic and is no longer has a fear of blood. • Bess Armstrong as Eileen Lim (season 7), Audrey's mother • Ruby Kelley as Hannah (season 7), a patient with a drug addiction who bonds with Dr. Glassman as Hannah reminds Glassman of his deceased daughter Maddie. Ruby Kelley is the daughter of Richard Schiff and Sheila Kelley who play Dr. Glassman and his former wife Debbie. ==Episodes==
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". 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 which premiered on September 27, 2021. On March 30, 2022, ABC renewed the series for a sixth season which premiered on October 3, 2022. On May 13, 2022, executive producer Liz Friedman was promoted to co-showrunner alongside Shore for the sixth season. On April 19, 2023, ABC renewed the series for a seventh season which premiered on February 20, 2024. On January 11, 2024, it was announced that the seventh season will be its final 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. The next month, Chuku Modu was cast as resident Dr. Jared Kalu (originally Dr. Jared Unger); 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. city hall serves as the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital in exterior shots. 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. In May 2021, Galvin and Henderson were promoted to series regulars for the fifth season. In June 2021, Osvaldo Benavides was promoted to series regular for the fifth season. On November 8, 2022, Larracuente had been promoted to a series regular for the sixth season. On February 22, 2023, it was announced that Modu is set to reprise his role as Dr. Jared Kalu in recurring capacity for the sixth season. On April 28, 2023, it was reported that Larracuente would not return as a series regular for seventh season. On November 20, 2023, it was announced that Harper is not returning for the seventh season as he is bidding for a Senate seat. On January 9, 2024, it was reported that Modu is set to return as a series regular for the seventh season. On January 18, 2024, Kayla Cromer and Wavyy Jonez joined the cast in recurring capacities for the seventh season. On March 18, 2024, it was reported that Thomas and Larracuente are back to guest star while Ruby Kelley was cast in a recurring capacity for the final season. Filming Production on the pilot took place from March 21 to April 6, 2017, in Vancouver, British Columbia. 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 September 2, 2020, and concluded on May 14, 2021. The fifth season began production on August 16, 2021, and concluded on April 29, 2022. Filming for the sixth season began on August 3, 2022, and concluded on April 6, 2023. Filming for the seventh and final season began on December 5, 2023, and concluded on April 5, 2024. 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==
Release
Broadcast The Good Doctor began airing on September 25, 2017, on ABC in the United States, 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. 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 announced 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." 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 Australia the show's first 5 seasons streams on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Stan as well as Disney+ through its Star hub as the show is produced by ABC Signature and Sony Pictures Television and is part of the Disney/Sony deal that was struck in 2021. 6 Seasons also stream for free with ads on 7plus. In New Zealand, the show is available exclusively for streaming on Neon. The pilot episode was made available for viewing on February 5, 2018, with the newer episodes coming express from the US. In Canada, the series streams on Crave and Netflix. In India, the series streams on SonyLIV and Netflix. ==Home media==
Home media
Region 1 • Season One: August 7, 2018 • Season Two: August 6, 2019 • Season Three: August 4, 2020 • Season Four: August 31, 2021 Region 2 (UK) • Complete Season One: October 8, 2018 Region 4 (Australia) • Season One: August 15, 2018 • Season Two: July 10, 2019 • Season One–Season Two: July 10, 2019 • Season Three: July 15, 2020 • Season Four: August 25, 2021 ==Reception==
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. The Good Doctor was the most watched show in Canada during the 2020-2021 broadcast season. Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 63% based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads, "The Good Doctors 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'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". 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. Representation of autism Sarah Kurchak criticized the portrayal of autism in the series, describing it "as more of an amalgamation of non-autistic people’s misconceptions, fears, and fantasies about autism than a nuanced exploration of what it’s actually like to be [autistic]", noting that until the final season, none of the writers, cast, or consultants were autistic. Kurchak also accused the use of autism as a reason for Shaun demonstrating "a level of ignorance and transphobia toward a patient", noting the overlap between autistic, transgender, and non-binary people, a criticism noted by others too. Others have criticized a scene where Shaun accuses a Muslim patient of being a terrorist. 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. A scene of Shaun having a meltdown was also criticized "about the way that the show represents people with autism". Awards and nominations ==Canceled spin-off==
Canceled spin-off
In August 2022, it was reported that a planned spin-off titled The Good Lawyer was in development at ABC. It was introduced in a backdoor pilot during the sixth season. In January 2023, it was announced that ABC had received a backdoor pilot order for the spin-off with Kennedy McMann, Felicity Huffman and Bethlehem Million set to star. In November 2023, as a consequence of the 2023 Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes, ABC announced that it would not be moving forward with the spin-off. == Notes ==
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