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Medical Drama




A medical drama is a Television Drama in which events center upon a Hospital , an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. In the United States , most medical dramas are 1-hour in length, and more often than not are set in a hospital. Most current medical dramas go beyond the events pertaining to the characters' jobs and portray some aspects of their personal lives. For example, a typical medical drama might have a storyline in which two doctors fall in love. Popular medical dramas include ''E.R.'' , ''House'' , '' St. Elsewhere '', '' Grey's Anatomy '', '' Scrubs '' and '' Nip/Tuck ''.

'', chap. 31: "One of the most vivid examples of the tactile quality of the TV image occurs in medical experience. In closed-circuit instruction in surgery, medical students from the first reported a strange effect-that they seemed not to be watching an operation, but performing it. They felt that they were holding the scalpel. Thus the TV image, in fostering a passion for depth involvement in every aspect of experience, creates an obsession with bodily welfare. The sudden emergence of the TV medico and the hospital ward as a program to rival the western is perfectly natural. It would be possible to list a dozen untried kinds of programs that would prove immediately popular for the same reasons. Tom Dooley and his epic of Medicare for the backward society was a natural outgrowth of the first TV decade."


HISTORY

'' Dr. Kildare '', which first aired in 1961, is generally considered to be the first medical drama. The show was a success, and soon medical dramas were a common phenomenon. The BBC series '' Dr. Finlay's Casebook '' (1962-1971) is an early example of another common variant of the genre in which a medical practice is used as a focus for stories detailing the life of a (usually small) community. The long running Australian series '' A Country Practice '' (1981-1993) is a later example of this sub-genre.
  • A---S---H_(TV_series)" class="copylinks">M---A---S---H '' aired; the show's tone was generally comedic, but dark, poignant moments emanating from the death caused by war were not uncommon. This trend of comedy with undercurrents of darkness in medical TV shows can also be seen in '' Doogie Howser, M.D. '' and '' Scrubs '', a current-day medical Sitcom on NBC.



LIST OF TV MEDICAL DRAMAS


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United Kingdom



Australia/New Zealand



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