"Marcus Welby, M.D." (1969) TV series 1969-1976

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Creator:

David Victor

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Release Date:

23 September 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The show is about doctors Marcus Welby, a general practitioner and Steven Kiley, Welby's young assistant...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Nurse | Title Ends With Period | Medical | Period In Title

Awards:

Won 4 Golden Globes. Another 5 wins & 25 nominations

Cast

Robert Young	...	Dr. Marcus Welby (170 episodes, 1969-1976)
James Brolin	...	Dr. Steven Kiley (170 episodes, 1969-1976)
Elena Verdugo	...	Consuelo Lopez (170 episodes, 1969-1976)

Also Known As:

Robert Young, Family Doctor

Runtime:

60 min (169 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

The exterior of Dr. Welby's office was the same building used as the Cleaver family home on "Leave It to Beaver" (1957) with only Welby's shingle as the new addition to the set.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sanford and Son: A Matter of Life and Breath (#1.5)" (1972)

Great TV medicine

Unlike "ER", "Marcus Welby, M.D." played it straight. No silliness. No irony upon irony stacked unrealistically tall.

Unlike "House", "Marcus Welby, M.D." had pleasant, instantly likable, lead characters.

There are only three regular characters in "Marcus Welby, M.D." but watching it is not a limitation.

The highly skilled experienced MD.

The dashing young new MD.

The caring helpful nurse.

Each is played in a perfect ultra-idealistic way. The lead characters offer a limitless aura of security, competence, and high ethics. In the history of TV, I cannot think of any series with benevolent elders exuding such a sense of personal strength and security. One hour of "Marcus Welby, M.D." is the polar opposite of watching one hour of 9-11 World Trade Center attack footage.

The series employed doctors and scientists to give the medical activities ample grounding.

Each episode is a morality play centering on one main problem. To its credit, the series often attempted to show both sides of a controversy or at least go deeper into the "wrong" side to explain its origins. "Problems have two side," as Dr. Welby often says.

The main weakness is the same with any weekly TV series: production shortcuts. With casting, for example, in the Ngyun episode, a 1/2 Viet-Nam / 1/2 black war orphan is rescued and flown to the USA, but the young actor looks to be a white boy with an American accent with his hair dyed black and skin darkened.

However, shortcuts can be seen in the greatest of weekly TV series. However, taken as a whole, "Marcus Welby, M.D." is America's greatest medical drama. Better than "Medical Center". Better than "ER". the best.