"Becker" (1998) TV series 1998-2004

Creator:

Dave Hackel

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Release Date:

2 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

His bedside manner is no manners at all!

Plot:

Dr. John Becker goes through his daily routine of being a doctor, stopping at his favorite diner, and other various situations, all the while hating life and everything around him.

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | New York City | Medical | Blind Man | Sitcom

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. Dec. 28	6:00 PM	WGNAMER	Pilot	#1.1
Mon. Dec. 28	6:30 PM	WGNAMER	Tell Me Lies	#1.4

Cast

Ted Danson	...	Dr. John Becker (129 episodes, 1998-2004)
Hattie Winston	...	Margaret Wyborn / ... (129 episodes, 1998-2004)
Shawnee Smith	...	Linda (129 episodes, 1998-2004)
Alex Désert	...	Jake Malinak (127 episodes, 1998-2004)
Saverio Guerra	...	Bob (108 episodes, 1998-2003)
Terry Farrell	...	Regina "Reggie" Kostas / ... (94 episodes, 1998-2002)
Nancy Travis	...	Chris Connor (39 episodes, 2002-2004)

Runtime:

30 min (including commercials - 129 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:12 (some episodes) | UK:PG (some episodes) | UK:U (some episodes) | Australia:PG | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Dave Hackel Productions

Trivia:

Nancy Travis was originally hired to play Chris for just four episodes, and at the end of Season 4 was to disappear after John Becker (Ted Danson) chose to be with Reggie Kostas (Terry Farrell). But the producers decided to fire Farrell and keep Travis on as a full time character.

Quotes:

Ruth: We need a new strategy.
Dr. John Becker: Does it involve me taking the bailiff's gun and blasting my way out of here?
Ruth: No, that's plan B.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: David Spade/Eagle-Eye Cherry (#24.5)" (1998)

AKA "Harvey Pekar, M.D."

This show is hilarious.

I never understood the scorn the critics heaped on this show over its time on the air.

It's about as realistic a comic portrayal of our nation's largest city as will ever be seen on broadcast TV. It's certainly more realistic than "Friends", which show a New York almost completely devoid of minorities, or "Will and Grace", an allegedly "gay" show in which the gay characters have almost no sex lives. (Could we at least hear some moaning from behind a locked door once in a while?)

But back to "Becker". It's as though someone at CBS said, "What if Harvey Pekar, the grumpy file clerk from 'American Splendor', had a medical degree from Harvard?" Fiction, you say? You must belong to the Shangri-La HMO.

A divorced, single50-something man in a job he really doesn't like, in a city he'd rather not live in, working with people he's not that crazy about, eating every meal in a diner that looks like a roach motel, going home every night to a peeling, cramped apartment that looks like it reeks of cigarette smoke, in full self-pity mode, wondering what that whoop-di-doo college education was worth if all it got him was THIS!? You see that type every day, and that includes doctors.

The only thing that could make it funnier would be if Wanda Sykes were the owner of the diner (and his love interest). Or maybe Whoopi Goldberg. Ted Danson and Whoopi Goldberg as a romantic couple!? Nah ;)