Disney releases teaser for Doogie Howser reboot, Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.

Disney+ begins streaming Doogie Howser reboot, entitled Doogie Kaemaloha, M.D. on September 8

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  August 4, 2021 | 4:20am
TV News Doogie
Disney releases teaser for Doogie Howser reboot, Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.
Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. Image: Disney

Disney is throwing a lot of things at the wall for Disney+. Sure, a Falcon And Winter Soldier series makes sense if you have to do something with the Bucky Barnes character. But Turner & Hooch? Who knows why that was at the top of the heap.

Speaking of the top of the heap, Doogie Howser, M.D.was Neil Patrick Harris’ claim to fame before Harold & Kumar allowed him to side-step onto Tony Awards stages and How I Met Your Mother. The show about a 10-year-old physician kind of lingers in the zeitgeist—though it would feel weird to make a Doogie Howser joke in the year of our lord 2021. Still, people love smart kids, don’t they?

This brings us to Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. The Disney reboot of Doogie Howser is about a 16-year-old child prodigy practicing medicine in Hawai’i while dealing with the pressures of being a teenage girl. Created by Kourtney Kang from How I Met Your Mother and Fresh Off The Boat, the series stars Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Lahela “Doogie” Kamealoha. Here’s how Disney describes the reboot:

“Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” – a coming-of-age dramedy inspired by the hit medical series “Doogie Howser, M.D.” – follows Lahela “Doogie” Kamealoha, a 16-year-old prodigy juggling a budding medical career and life as a teenager. With the support of her caring and comical ‘ohana (family) and friends, Lahela is determined to make the most of her teenage years and forge her own path.

Guiding Lahela (and also complicating things) is her career-driven mother Dr. Clara Hannon who’s also her supervisor at the hospital, her doting father Benny who helps keep her connected to what matters most, her free-spirited older brother Kai, her gregarious younger brother Brian Patrick, her best friend Steph, her surfer crush Walter and her fellow hospital colleagues, Dr. Lee, Charles and Noelani.

Unlike other reboots that attempt to cash in on nostalgia in hopes of getting millennials to watch, Doogie Kamealoha seems pretty focused on a family audience, as it should. After all, the child doctor premise is a rich vein that must be tapped. Who doesn’t love a smart kid? Hey, maybe they should reboot Smart Guy!

Doogie Kamealoha, M.D., begins streaming on Disney+ on September 8.

 
Join the discussion...