Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989–1993) User Reviews

A Good Show, but the novelty of the Child M.D. wore off quick

[gah015 · 6/10 · 29 July 2006]

Sprung from the typewriter of Emmy award winning Steven Bocho, (Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, NYPD Blue) "Doogie Howser, M.D." is a good show from the very late 80s and early 1990s. As you probably know the series is about 16 year old Douglas "Doogie" Howser, the boy genius who is a medical doctor. I just bought the DVD and this is the first time I've watched the series since it went off the air in 1993. I'm watching the 1989 episodes now, and surprisingly it doesn't seem all that dated. I mean sure it's dated in that you can tell it's from 1989, but it's not dated in that cheesy way. It's dated the same way Miami Vice is dated. When viewed through the lens of this show, the fashions and styles of that era seem simply more like something that's time has passed, rather then a horrible campy memory. Make no mistake though, this is no half hour sitcom with a laugh track. Steven Bocho went through great pains to make this an accurate, mature show with humorous elements in it rather then a screwball comedy. In the 1989 episodes Neil Patrick Harris is 16 years old, but he looks and acts like a 12 or 13 year old, 14 tops. Neil wasn't very emotionally mature for 16, and he had his this odd nerdy quality to him----which actually helped the series because it made Doogie seem even younger then he really was. But this was basically only the case for the 1st season.

The series wasn't without it's faults though, the show started going down the toilet when the child physician started sporting a 5 o'clock shadow. If I remember correctly, a big problem with the show was that "the joke" of the series, the child prodigy kid doctor who walked around in acid washed blue jeans, Nike high top sneakers and an over-sized lab coat wore off pretty quickly. After the 1st season Doogie was already a typical adult height of 5'6 to 5'8 inches tall. Sure he looked really young because he was a 17 year old teenager, but it wasn't too outrageous to see him in a hospital setting. But Doogie kept on growing unlike his best friend Vinnie Delpino. By 1992 and 1993 Neil Patrick Harris was a 19 and 20 year old grown man who was now standing around an amazing 6'4 inches tall. Doogie was no longer a cute kid trying to be a doctor, he now looked like any medical school student and there was nothing at all weird about him being a physician. By 1991, Doogie had turned into a legal 18 year old adult. He moved out of his parents house and into an apartment with Vinnie. They both started having regular sex. OK, so there goes the concept of the "child prodigy". After 2 years we were treated to watching an over 6ft guy and his friend living an apartment and dealing with older teenager/young adult problems. The premise behind Doogie was gone after 2 seasons, and truth be known it was on shaky ground by the 2nd season anyways.

Perhaps if they had started the series in 1987 when Neil was 14 it would have given the series more longevity. Or cast someone who was a little younger, like 14 or better yet 12 or 13 back in 1989. It really was a shame they didn't start Doogie off in the age range of 12-14 instead of 16. But otherwise, this is another well written series from the acclaimed TV writer Steven Bocho. The 1st and 2nd season are well worth checking out.

Digging Doogie the Doctor

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 14 March 2020]

Before there was Dr. Sean Murphy on "The Good Doctor," there was "Doogie Howser M.D." Doogie Howser was the child prodigy that was a doctor by the time he was 14-years-old or so. I just remember thinking how cool that was. Plus, I liked how at the end of each episode he'd type in his computer journal what he'd learned that day about life.

Good for the first one-and-a-half seasons

[Mike-DD · 6/10 · 18 March 2014]

I suppose it must be different when you first watched this, but I only started watching this in 2013 when there were suddenly a few cultural references to Doogie Howser on TV and in the movies.

It was fun watching it at first - a boy genius who is a doctor. It's a show about growing up pains, with the quirk that the growing boy is smarter than his father and is an accomplished and respected doctor. I enjoyed the episodes where he is saving lives and learning adult perspectives in a medical setting, but the normal growing pains part are too normal to be interesting. I actually liked Vinny better as the normal kid with the genius friend - if you think it is easy being a genius, try being his friend!

By the second half of the second season, the show did not interest me as much as it initially did. I would have given it a 5, but thought 6 was more appropriate for the excellent first season.

One of my all time favorite shows

[c_l_lance · 28 January 2005]

Doogie Houser, MD. Just the name brings a smile of remembrance to me. In the tradition of such television classics as L.A. LAW, NYPD Blue and Hill Street Blues, Doogie Houser, MD was a wonderfully funny with a touch of life. As a 30 something adult when I first watched Doogie in late night reruns, I was hooked by its' humor and wit while watching this "kid" with a adult mind, yet the hormones and maturity of a teenager, grow into independence. Memorable episodes include his first day, the late night skinny dip (as mentioned by another viewer), the practical joke he played on other hospital staff only to have it ruthlessly reciprocated, and the apartment with his best friend Vinny. There is some risqué humor but it is nothing when compared to today's standards. I always enjoyed seeing the relationship he had with his dad(James Sikking) and mom(Belinda Montgomery). I had the entire series recorded but sacrificed them for NFL games. BIG mistake!! Doogie Houser, MD will long be cherished by this now 40 something dad and his now 20 something daughters. I look forward to seeing Doogies journal again.

Neil Patrick Harris

[safenoe · 6/10 · 7 September 2021]

I remember Doogie Howser, a sitcom that ushered the world into the 90s. It had its charms and fantasy element, and a young Neil Patrick Harris who would become a massive star later on in life. There's one minor character in the series, an African-American, who befriended Doogie and his Italian friend, but I forget his name. I look forward to watching the Disney reboot Doogie Kamealoha, M. D.

Interesting and unique show that quickly flat-lined

[steve-575 · 8/10 · 23 March 2008]

When it first came out, "Doogie Howser M.D." was one of the more unique shows to grace the airwaves. It centered around a 16-year old child prodigy, Douglas "Doogie" Howser, who was a doctor at a Los Angeles area hospital. He lived with his parents and had a girlfriend, Wanda, and an obnoxious best friend who often came into his house via a window. Each episode ended with Doogie typing up an entry in his personal computer diary. The entry was usually a wise proverb from a lesson learned in the episode.

The show was developed by Steven Bochco who created ground-breaking shows like "L.A. Law" and "Hill Street Blues". Although not nearly as acclaimed as those two shows (the only Emmy awards it was nominated for were for Sound Mixing and Cinematography), it had a satisfying blend of comedy and drama that kept the show interesting but not too serious. Since the two main characters were both teenagers, this lead many people to dismiss it as a kid's show. However, it was much deeper than a kid's show as most of the episodes centered on adult themes such as AIDS, death, and racism. The acting was also very solid. Long before he gained recognition for the show "How I Met Your Mother", I always felt that Neil Patrick Harris was a very underrated actor. Very few teenage actors could have pulled off playing a child prodigy the way he did. It would be hard to imagine anyone else playing the Doogie Howser role.

The first and second season were terrific as they focused around Doogie's struggles to be a normal teenager despite the demands of his job. A common theme was discrimination as he was often discriminated based on his age by patients and even other doctors. He was not afraid, though, to express his views, even if it meant clashing with more seasoned and respected doctors. By the third or fourth season, the show had lost some of its novelty as Doogie was no longer a child prodigy but just a very smart adult. This must have really made it hard for the writers to come up with interesting story lines and it showed. The show began to focus more on Doogie's personal life and Vinnie quirky adventures and less on the hospital. By this time, Doogie had moved out of his parent's house to live in an apartment which meant that less time was devoted to his parents who were an integral part of the show. The ratings declined and a show that seemed like it would be on the air for many years was canceled after only four.

Smug Smarmy & Annoying Kid

[Johnny_West · 1/10 · 20 July 2020]

Little Doogie Howser graduated from medical school at the age of 12. He graduated college at the age of 9. He graduated High School when he was 7. He finished Middle School at the age of 5. He whizzed through Elementary School at the age of 3. He did Pre-K when he was two years old. Why didn't any of the older kids beat him up every day?

Doogie, at age 16, is running the ER at a really bad inner-city hospital. The patients there have very few options, so they are willing to sign disclaimers to let a teenager practice heart surgery on them. Many die, but Doogie finds the humor in every horrible situation. Do the patients attack him with their crutches and bedpans? Do the nurses try to seduce the young bud?

It's better than greys anatomy or something

[calvinharrisq · 10/10 · 19 December 2020]

NPH is a genius even if he's not a 16 year old doctor in real life. He's a phenomenal actor since young age and this series shows that. It's really simple and 80s series without laugh track or anything. Very raw footage too not too much work just good acting

Cute When It Originally Aired, Creepy Now

[vcrainatm · 5/10 · 19 February 2022]

You really don't realize just how much our collective consciousness has changed until you watch some of the 80s-90s shows and cringe. Doogie Howser is no exception. I love NPH in this role, he was perfect for it. But some of the storylines wouldn't work in today's environment. Like the episodes where much older women come on to Doogie, even though in the original storyline it was probably meant to be amusing. Now it's downright creepy. Then there's Max, the constantly thinking of sex next door neighbor. Funny back then, but now comes across as a potential later-in-life sexual predator. Some shows age well (think Friends) but not Doogie. If you want to see NPH, watch How I Met Your Mother instead.

anyone born in the 70's probably has pretty fond memories of the show.

[nigger · 15 April 1999]

Doogie Howser has got to be one of the coolest shows of the 80's. Anyone born in the 70's probably has pretty fond memories of the show. As for me, I grew up watching the show and was a loyal viewer. Doogie was a show about a teenage kid who is a genius and finished school at an early age and became a doctor during his teen years. Most people would expect a guy like Doogie to be a nerd but this guy wasn't. He displayed a true side to himself, and while he had insecurities, his strengths easily outweighed them. In the show, he was a good friend, with a good heart and was in touch with his family who was pretty supportive of him. Basically, Doogie juggles his life as a doctor along with his social life and growing up as a teenager. He has a best friend named Vinnie and a girlfriend named Wanda played by Lisa Dean Ryan. Although Doogie doesn't have a clique like many teenagers, he trades in that part of being a teen for helping people as a doctor. Doogie is often found to go the extra mile in helping his patients or anyone in general. I remember one episode of Doogie, where Doogie is caught up in a convenience store robery; and Doogie ends up befriending the robber while held hostage, and ends up giving the robber a job at the hospital. This is truly a good show and is definitely a part of my childhood. I will always remember it fondly.

Great show

[delpino · 10/10 · 6 February 2001]

This American series influenced me quite a lot, Doogie Howsers best friend is called Vinnie Delpino. I liked his character so much, that i took over his nickname and now call myself in the internet "delpino".

"Doogie Howser" is one of my favourite series. I don't know why, maybe because I can see myself in Doogie and Vinnie, or its the atmosphere it has.

It also sends out a positive message, there is no violence or explicit sex. Its funny, touching, and you can learn something. At the end of each episode Doogie writes a small note into his diary about what he learnt.

I also like the music of the series.

my opinion on Doogie Howser, M.D.

[racetracklover_newsies · 10/10 · 7 April 2012]

i love this show, even though i was born after it ended, and now its only on at two a.m. but i still love it!

the plot is great because it combines a normal teenage life with the life of a hospital worker, both lines sticking extremely close to the truth.

oh, and of course, i love the characters! my favorite is Vinnie Delpino, Doogie's best friend and neighbor. he is the more typical teen, who is obsessed with girls, sex, and other more normal... hobbies, i guess? he brings a sense of balance to Doogie's hectic life, though he succeeds at getting the both of them in trouble on numerous occasions.

i was disappointed how the last season came to a end the way it did, but otherwise, i give this series a 10. *Racetrack*(abby)

Simply unbelievable.

[flackjacket · 1/10 · 25 March 2015]

I only recently saw this show for the first time when Antenna TV started to show it in reruns. After a few times, I was eventually able to get past the opening theme song, which sounds a lot like a generic ring-tone on a cheap cell phone.

Once past that hurdle, I watched an episode. I thought at first, due to the raving reviews, that maybe it was just a bad episode. So I tried to watch it again.

I guess the problem for me is "suspension of disbelief" which is critical for enjoying any play, movie or TV show. I find it impossible to suspend disbelief and enjoy this show. First of all is the premise that some young skinny kid is accepted as a doctor in a hospital. It might be more believable if at least the patients were in disbelief, or at least pretended to be a bit surprised.

But even if that were the case, there's Max Casella playing the role of "Vinnie Delpino". I was born and raised in New Jersey. Maybe people that aren't from the area can buy into his extremely fake Italian-American accent, but when if you grew up here, you too would also be a little sickened by how extremely fake he sounds. Turns out, Max Casella is from Washington DC. So it's no wonder his accent sounds almost like a stereotyped mockery of New Jersey Italians.

For this reason alone, his "Vinnie" character is extremely annoying. And "Vinnie"? Really? Why not go for the gold and use the name "Antney"? I can see how the people who wrote and directed this abomination would completely miss the fact that "Vinnie" is like nails on a chalkboard every time he appears. They live in California and most likely think people from New Jersey actually say "New Joisey". Truth is, they don't. In fact, I've yet to meet somebody who says "Fah get abowt it". And so far the only person from New Jersey I know of that says "How ya doin?" is Wendy Williams.

Sorry to go against all the positive accolades of the other reviews, but this show is not unlike smelling fresh vomit in that it makes you want to vomit too.

Great Program Wrongly Dismissed As A Kids' Show

[nycovom1 · 9 October 1999]

I loved this show! I used to watch it every week. Unfortunately, I think too many people dismissed "Doogie Howser, M.D." as kids' or teens' faire because of the main character(Doogie) and the premise(boy genius becomes m.d. at age 14).

The truth is, the writing was consistently sharp and witty, and pretty mature. Plus, this program was one of Steven Bochco's creations, as in Steven Bochco, the man behind Hill Street Blues(which won something like, I don't know, 2,000 awards). I'm surprised this last fact alone didn't get Doogie Howser more respect. Oh, well. If you get a chance,definitely check out the reruns.

A classic tv series Doogie Howser MD

[unitedbmx2012 · 10/10 · 19 January 2020]

Growing up in the late 80s early 90s. This show is a cult classic. If you like wonder years. Check out this one.

Show was too cliché!

[daveevad · 1/10 · 7 February 2017]

This could have been an outstanding show had it not been designed to be some sort of "example" of how to still live the normal society expected lifestyle while still being a genius.

A kid with this level of mind would not function at home with parents telling him what to do. He was able to work as a doctor with a healthy income and should have left home soon as he started working as a doctor. It was a joke seeing his parents trying to help guide his life. Most parents suck with that part of the job in the first place. Parents always try and hold their kids back based on their own generational and society expectations from 30 years ago when they were kids. Parents have no damn clue how to raise kids in the current time period. Doogie would have better off on his own, but they just had to find a way to restrain him and make him some society expected kid who obeyed his parents and restrained his lifestyle even though he was wealthy and extremely capable of handling his own life. They had him make all the normal mistakes any kid would make when we know that wouldn't be the case being he is above his years in his thought process.

The show just had too much sugar, not enough spice.

Yes friend enjoy yes yes yes

[JKerb_McMaster · 10/10 · 5 August 2017]

Yes friends its me again, you may remember me from my previous review. I was very satisfied by doogie howser first doogie rhymes with groovy and groovy rhymes with chetcuti who is my idol critic cheticuti rhymes with blue ray and blue ray rhymes with movie. I was very un-sure about this seeing it did not happened to have Adam Sandler in it.

My first argument would be that its great because of the time period its set in, I then enjoyed many different other aspects "spoilers" It had vin diesel look a likes in a few episodes which was more enough for me to be happy, at one stage I depicted that I had seen the rock but on many levels of life may I appeared to be wrong.

My second argument is that it nver runned out of original yet indiviual content and that played a big role in the movie, Like I implemented before it is a solid movie and a must watch if you enjoy Vin Diesel. - Regards the LU WIZZAR foundation