Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.’ On Disney+, A Gender-Flipped ‘Doogie Howser’ Where A 16-Year-Old Is A Top Doctor In Hawaii

We were unabashed fans of the 1989-93 Steven Bochco/David E. Kelley series Doogie Howser, M.D., where Neil Patrick Harris played a 16-year-old surgeon. At least in the show’s first couple of years, it did a nice job of balancing Doogie’s quest to become a respected doctor and still be a teen doing teen stuff (though we resented the fact that he had a hot girlfriend, even if her name was Wanda). It was big news when Disney said they were remaking the show with a female lead, but we really were intrigued when they decided to transfer the setting from Los Angeles to Hawaii. Read on for more.

DOOGIE KAMEALOHA, M.D.: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A father and daughter are carrying their surfboards as they approach a beach near their home in Hawaii. The sun is coming up.

The Gist: It seems like this scene between Lahela Kamealoha (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) and her father Benny (Jason Scott Lee) is a typical father-daughter moment. He even gets annoyed when they come across Walter Taumata (Alex Aiono), the “hottie” that Lahela is taking to the next dance. It’s Lahela’s sixteenth birthday, and she’s ready to get her driver’s license. But during her driving test, she sees and accident on the side of the road, pulls over, and helps save soneone’s leg.

That’s when we find out that Lahela is a 16-year-old doctor. As a child prodigy she sped through different levels of school at a record rate. Everyone at the hospital calls her “Doogie,” because, as Dr. Lee (Ronny Chieng), an immature but brilliant heart surgeon, points out, she reminds everyone of the old show Doogie Howser, M.D.

Lahela’s boss, Dr. Clara Hannon (Kathleen Rose Perkins), is also her mother, as we see in a scene where Clara calls Lahela out of a patient’s room to tell her that the dance she just posted on TikTok was too suggestive. Lahela has a patient (Barry Bostwick) who listens to CCR and has tie-dye all over his room, but he trusts her implicitly. Dr. Lee thinks he needs a new heart, but Lahela thinks the patient can be treated a different way. Clara makes the decision that it’s Dr. Lee’s call.

Lahela tells her vlog as well as her best friend Steph Denisco (Emma Meisel) that she’s ready to experience some firsts in her life, including a first kiss. Steph is ready to glom her way into a date with Lahela’s older brother Kai (Matthew Sato) to the dance, though he wants to with his buddies. Meantime, Lahela’s little brother Brian Patrick (Wes Tian) is busy pining for Steph and monitoring for signs of puberty. Lahela keeps lobbying her mother to extend her 11 PM cerfew, but Clara refuses, acting more like her boss than her mother.

At the dance, Lahela gets a page about her favorite patient, and it’s not good news. Not only does Clara realize that she has to be her mother at that point, but the next day, Lahela gets the kiss she was hoping to get at the dance. And she realizes that firsts come in all shapes and can’t be forced.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Since Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. is based on Doogie Howser, M.D., there are plenty of allusions from one show to the other, from the Hawaiianized theme music to the similar first scenes to Lahela’s vlog stepping in for Doogie’s old DOS-based journal in the ’80s. But because Kourtney Kang is the show’s creator and showrunner, it has the pacing and attitude that more closely resembles the two shows she’s best known for, Fresh Off The Boat and How I Met Your Mother.

Our Take: The smartest thing that Disney and Kang did with Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. was to place the show in Hawaii. This way, we’re not just seeing the show as a gender-flipped version of Doogie Howser but almost immediately as its own thing, with its own vibe and own storylines.

By giving the show that space to find its own characters and stories, the show immediately starts off as a funny, family-oriented story about a kid genius that holds people’s lives in their hands but also just wants to be a normal teenage girl. Yes, young Neil Patrick Harris did the same thing as the ’80s Doogie. But Lee, who has experience as a Disney star with Andi Mack, brings the kid genius role some new life. In the hospital scenes, Lee conducts herself expertly, but doesn’t come off outside the hospital as awkward or introverted. Lee makes her Doogie quite normal, despite her intelligence, and that’s a refreshing direction.

But the show itself is just funny, giving little tidbits about the characters that are meaty enough to let us know that Kang and her writers will be able to hang plots on their shoulders. Benny left finance to start a shaved ice and flower truck (he does the things he likes the most). Kai is a relaxed C-student, but Brian is intent on being a man’s man. Clara’s Philly Irish Catholic upbringing comes through on multiple occasions, like when she tells Benny the way her family relaxes back home is to “punch a Giants fan.” Walter grew up with six aunties helping his mother out.

Are there pieces that feel a little odd? Sure; we don’t buy Steph’s oddness just yet, though when she shows up with a huge DSLR while Kai’s getting his picture taken before the dance. Also, the implications of Clara being Lahela’s boss are under the heading of “dramatic license,” since it wouldn’t make sense to have that situation occur in real life.

But we love the chemistry between Lee and the members of her TV family is apparent from the jump, and it’ll be fun to watch Lahela deal with teenage stuff — in the second episode, she’s flummoxed when Walter calls her “dude” after their first kiss — as well as solve medical mysteries with her very capable mind.

What Age Group Is This For?: The show is rated TV-PG, but the strongest word we hear on the show is “crap”. Teenagers kiss but that’s about it. We’re pretty sure kids ages 7 and up would like the show.

Parting Shot: As “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?” plays in the background, Lahela talks on her vlog about the firsts she experienced, and how she’ll remember all of them for a long time.

Sleeper Star: Wes Tian, in what looks to be his first screen role, is hilarious as Lahela’s younger brother Brian Patrick. He feels “puberty is coming on hard,” and he seems to be ready.

Most Pilot-y Line: We don’t have a handle on Lahela’s fellow residents Charles (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) and Noelani (Mapuana Makia). They have a few funny lines but they’re the least-developed characters after two episodes. Let’s hope they get more to do.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. is a delightful remake of a well-loved ’80s show that immediately distinguishes itself from the original by its setting and the well-thought-out cast of characters.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. On Disney+