So, imagine if you will… you’re really, really sick and you wander into a hospital to see a doctor. Hours go by while you’re waiting and eventually you make it into one of the examination rooms. There you wait again for what seems to be an interminable amount of time, and then some kid walks in and starts asking you questions about what seems to be the trouble. Immediately you wonder why it’s any of his business, and where his parents are… until you realize that he IS the doctor! That’s primarily the situation many patients found themselves in when they visited Eastland Hospital in television’s “Doogie Howser, M.D.” “Doogie Howser, M.D.” starred Neil Patrick Harris as Douglas Howser, a 14 year old certifiable genius who opts to follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming a doctor. And while it’s great to be able to step up and help people, bypassing most of the required years of schooling, there’s something to be said about being able to grow up first.

You see, though ‘Doogie’ is a genius, he still has all the pent up emotional turmoil that goes along with being a teenager and he must learn to deal with it at a very early age. He has his friend Vinnie (Max Casella), whose friendship is both a blessing and a curse seeing as how despite their closeness, he always ends up getting Doogie into some kind of trouble.

This was another one of the long list of shows to come out of the mind of Steven Bochco. It hit the TV airwaves back in 1989 and was popular enough to stay on the air for a full four seasons. While I used to watch most of Bochco’s shows, this was one I missed. I’m not sure why, but it just never made it into my schedule. Last year, Anchor Bay released the 1st and 2nd season sets of the series, and is now following it up with the 3rd. So far I have been very impressed with these first three seasons, and am looking forward to catching the next final one when it is released.

I was familiar with Neil Patrick Harris by name from this series, but more so for his later work in the film “Starship Troopers”, and on Broadway in “Rent.” He also made his return to Network Television this season in the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother.” Watching him in the old “Doogie Howser, M.D.” series, I was surprised to see that he was as talented as he was at such a young age. Despite the excellent work of his co-stars, which also included James B. Sikking and Belinda Montgomery, it was pretty much fully on his shoulders to carry the series and make it as believable as possible.

For being so young, Harris did a terrific job of creating the character during the three seasons that I have seen so far. With each season, the storylines got a little heavier and more dramatic, and he took to the task admirably. In this 3rd season, we find Doogie facing more adult situations and through it all he finds that his childhood is becoming ever harder to grasp. He deals with the ever challenging world of personal relationships and questioning his virginity. He moves in with his best friend Vinnie, and even turns his back on his chosen profession and enters the world of flipping burgers.

Don’t get me wrong, “Doogie Howser, M.D.” is not some big, dramatic series, as it carries with it a quite a bit of humor to balance it out. Bochco really did a great job of telling a story of a young person in an adult’s world through the eyes of that person.

This new 3rd season set includes all 24 episodes as well as new interview footage with Harris and James B. Sikking. I’ll mention again that while Harris definitely looks like an adult now, he still carries with him some of the boyish features that will forever link him to the character of Doogie Howser. Both appear to have fond memories of the experience of working on the series, and it was fun hearing from them.

I wouldn’t say that “Doogie Howser, M.D.” was one of Bochco’s best series, but it was still good enough to rank pretty high. Watching these DVD sets, I really had to wonder again why I didn’t watch the series before.

Episodes:
The Summer of '91
Doogie Has Left the Building, Part 1
Doogie Has Left the Building, Part 2
It's a Damn Shaman
The Cheese Stands Alone
Lonesome Doog
When Doogie Comes Marching Home
Doogstruck
Room and Board
Doogiesomething
Truth and Consequences
It's a Wonderful Laugh
Dangerous Reunions
Mummy Dearest
Double Doogie with Cheese
The Show Mustn't Go On
If This Is Adulthood, I'd Rather Be In Philadelphia
What You See Ain't Necessarily What You Get
My Father, My Self
Educating Janine
Sons of the Desert
That's What Friends Are For
Thanks for the Memories
Club Medicine

Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Max Casella, James B. Sikking, Belinda Montgomery
Extras: James Sikking - The Other Dr. Howser, Neil Patrick Harris - Growing Up On the Set
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital Stereo
Studio: Anchor Bay
Release Date: 1/17/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Doogie Howser: Season 3 a B.