The Good Doctor Season 1

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

Every few years (seemingly) a new medical drama comes along. This one, to an extent, is centered around the character of Doctor Shaun Murphy, played by Freddie Highmore (best known for his role as a young Norman Bates in Bates Motel). I say to an extent because his role is as a surgical resident, so in the hospital, he is a lower-level character. While he is certainly the main character, his character is sometimes much in the background, not having much of a say in things. Without giving away too much, his character is an autistic savant, a longtime friend with an almost father-son relationship with the president of the hospital, Dr. Glassman (played by Richard Schiff). Glassman makes a deal with the hospital board to bring Shaun on, basically that he will resign if Shaun does not excel.

The show was created by the creative team behind House. Like that show it is an ensemble cast, but not as centered around Murphy as House was around its titular character. The remaining cast is rounded out by relatively unknown actors and actresses. Hill Harper plays the head of surgery, Nicholas Gonzalez plays the surgical attending that is assigned to be Shaun’s immediate boss, and Tamlyn Tomita is another one of the surgical residents. It is basically a case of the week serialized drama like many of the network prime-time dramas are. Unlike House, the focus is not always on one medical case. Some of the episodes are like that, and others focus on other things and the medical cases are kind of in the background. There are definitely themes that run throughout the season, with prejudice against Shaun because of his autism being front and center. Given the ensemble nature of the cast, I do think the show does a good job giving all the characters storylines to generate interest in them. Although some characters get more material than others. There is at least some and for some characters a lot, of character development for pretty much all the characters over the course of the 18 episodes.

For those who get the DVDs, the extras include deleted scenes for most episodes, a gag reel, and a couple behind the scenes features. Good for what is there, but not a ton. So if you only get DVDs or Blu Rays (which this is not available on) when there are a lot of extras, you may just want to stream this. Overall though, it is a very good, but not necessarily great (although that is subjective) medical drama. It ends with more than one characters storylines up in the air going into the second season, and if it continues to be well written and acted, it can be even stronger in season two. Definitely worth checking out.

– Mike S.

I love this show so, so much! The cast is brilliant and the story is moving and interesting! Freddie Highmore has been on my radar since “August Rush” and when I saw that he was playing a doctor, I was intrigued. Not only is Shaun (Highmore’s character) an intern surgeon, but he also has Autism. He has savant syndrome, which makes him brilliant, but he struggles with social cues and situations. This series is about the fight to overcome handicapped prejudice, not just in the workplace, but everywhere.

– N.L. White

At first blush, this may seem to be the usual medical drama: far-fetched scenarios, angsty melodrama, self-absorbed doctors with type A personalities who are in supervisorial positions and are out to get our young heroes…. You get the picture. What sets this apart, though, is the spectacular performance given by Freddie Highmore and the sweet doctor he plays whose autism upsets the dynamic of the typical medical drama. ‘The Good Doctor’ resuscitates the medical drama in much the way ‘House’ did before it.

As long as you don’t watch this for the procedural accuracy – it’s no more a documentary than any other procedural, be it medical or crime – I think you’ll find this enjoyable. While Freddie Highmore stands out in particular, the rest of the cast give good performances, too. I didn’t find anyone to be lacking. Production standards are high and while a few episodes are slower than others, pacing is usually pretty good. One of the only things I would change would be the tedious my-supervisor-is-out-for-my-blood scenario. What an eye-roller that has become.

This is one I highly recommend to fans of TV dramas of any kind. I don’t feel it would only be of interest to fans of medical procedurals/dramas.

-Jane b.

DVD Wholesale Main Features :   

Actors: Freddie Highmore, Richard Schiff, Beau Garrett, Nicholas Gonzalez, Tamlyn Tomita
Producers: Freddie Highmore, Min Kee, Konshik Yu, Shawn Williamson
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: French, English, Spanish
Dubbed: French
Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 5
Rated: NR Not Rated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: August 7, 2018
Run Time: 773 minutes
ASIN: B07C8ZPWKQ