COURTESY ABC
Neil Patrick Harris, left, stars as the title role in the 1989 sitcom “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” with Alan Fudge, center, and Lawrence Pressman.
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There’s been no official word from Disney but another television series could be making its home in Hawaii.
Mainstream entertainment industry media outlets are reporting that Disney+ is planning a reboot of “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” the ABC television network medical drama about a teenage genius with a photographic memory who finished medical school at the age of 14 and then balanced the responsibilities of practicing medicine with the challenges of being a teen. The show starred Neil Patrick Harris in the title role and ran for four seasons between 1989 and 1993.
In the reboot, the teenage genius physician is described as a “16-year-old half-Asian, half-white feminine lead” who works for a health care provider here in the islands, according to Variety.com. The show’s working title, “Doogie Kealoha, M.D.,” indicates that the new Doogie might be part Native Hawaiian as well.
Credit for the reboot is being given to veteran writer and showrunner Kourtney Kang, who is herself Hawaii-born and of Korean and Irish ancestry, and working with 20th Century Fox TV on the project. Television aficionados know Kang first and foremost for her work on “How I Met Your Mother” and “Fresh Off the Boat,” and also for her advocacy of shows with strong female characters.
Efforts to contact Kang were unsuccessful at press time.
