I’m not talking about dating options right now so much as television preferences. I understand that, a long time ago, someone looked at a bunch of polls of American audiences. They noticed that people said their favorite professionals were doctors; their favorite president was Abraham Lincoln; their favorite animal was, naturally, dogs. The theory went that it followed that the most popular U.S. program of all time would be entitled “Abraham Lincoln’s Doctor’s Dog.”
Of course, at the movies we’re about to see “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” which isn’t really all that far off considering the popularity of vampires these days. Still, when it comes to television, the popularity of shows about police, legal professionals and young doctors in oddly alluring medical scrubs saving lives and falling in love on a regular basis remains about unchanged. I suppose it makes sense as these are inherently dramatic professions that quite often directly impact our lives. Perhaps for many of us, who are barely able to explain what we do to people outside our own industry, we secretly would like to have a job with clear goals whether it’s saving a life, catching a perp, or winning the big case.
Still, I admit to having a soft spot for medical shows from the States like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “House,” “ER,” and even the dearly departed comedy, “Scrubs.” Alas, they seem to be almost an endangered species. “House,” “Grey’s” and its spin-off, “Private Practice,” remain, but we’re not seeing too many successful new doctor shows and they seem to be going out fashion on the networks.
As for ultra-gritty U.S. cable, with the possible exception of “Nip/Tuck,” they don’t seem to have found a way to get an actor of the quality of handsome Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”), ultra-talented Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”) or the just plain yummy Timothy Olyphant (“Justified”) into some medical scrubs. Hugh Laurie shouldn’t be the only great actor wearing them.
Or, since I also love westerns and comedies, maybe they can get Olyphant — who was also on “Deadwood” and can be very funny — to play a western doctor treating Native Americans and make it a comedy. They could call it “Cherokee Scrubs.” (Sorry, for the inside joke!)
