The Good Doctor (American TV series)

Cast and characters

Freddie Highmore portrays Dr. Shaun Murphy, an autistic surgeon with savant syndrome who possesses near-photographic recall and an ability to notice minute details. His hiring at the hospital initially divides the board. By the end of season 5, he marries Lea Dilallo; in season 6, he becomes a surgical attending, and Lea gives birth to their son Steven Aaron Murphy. A flashforward in the series finale shows Shaun as Chief of Surgery, co-running the Dr. Aaron Glassman Foundation for Neurodiversity in Medicine with Claire, and having a daughter named Maddie.

Graham Verchere portrays Shaun as a teen, and Kashton Brostl as a child. Nicholas Gonzalez played Dr. Neil Melendez, an attending cardiothoracic surgeon who dies in the season 3 finale from earthquake injuries and later appears as visions to Claire. Antonia Thomas played Dr. Claire Browne, a surgical resident and close friend of Shaun, known for her empathy. She leaves for Guatemala at the end of season 4, returns for Shaun's wedding and later for breast cancer treatment, and in the finale loses her left arm to an infection, marries Jared, has a daughter, and co-runs the foundation with Shaun.

Production

Development on an American remake of the South Korean series Good Doctor began at CBS Television Studios in May 2014, with Daniel Dae Kim as producer. After CBS did not pick up the project, it moved to Sony Pictures Television, and ABC gave a put pilot commitment in October 2016. David Shore developed the series and serves as executive producer alongside Kim, Sebastian Lee, and David Kim. ABC ordered the pilot in January 2017 and the series in May 2017, picking it up for a full 18-episode season that October.

The series was renewed for a second season in March 2018, a third in February 2019, a fourth in February 2020, a fifth in May 2021, a sixth in March 2022, and a seventh in April 2023. The fourth season opener was reported to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. Liz Friedman was promoted to co-showrunner alongside Shore for the sixth season. The seventh season, which premiered on February 20, 2024, was announced as the final season on January 11, 2024.

Release

The Good Doctor began airing on September 25, 2017, on ABC in the United States and on CTV in Canada. Sky Witness acquired UK and Ireland broadcast rights, while Seven Network airs the series in Australia. Colors Infinity obtained rights for the Indian Subcontinent in October 2017, airing episodes 24 hours after the US broadcast. Wowow, a Japanese satellite network, began broadcasting in April 2018.

In the Netherlands, the series started on RTL 4 and Videoland on January 29, 2018. Italy's Rai 1 premiered it on July 17, 2018, with the third episode reaching 5.2 million viewers and a 31.7% share, entering the Top 10 of Most Watched Foreign TV Series in Italy at No. 5. In Brazil, it was the first international production on Globoplay, with the first two episodes aired on Globo free-to-air on August 27. Chile's Televisión Nacional de Chile announced the series in March 2020, and Bulgaria's bTV began airing on July 13, 2020.

Reception

The series premiere earned a 2.2/9 rating in the 18–49 demographic and 11.22 million total viewers, making it ABC's most watched Monday drama debut in 21 years and the highest rated Monday drama in the 18–49 demographic in 8.5 years. With live-plus-seven-day ratings, the pilot reached 19.2 million viewers and set a DVR record of 7.9 million viewers. The October 9 episode attracted 18.2 million viewers, beating NCIS and The Big Bang Theory for the most viewed primetime show that week.

The Good Doctor was the most watched show in Canada during the 2020–2021 broadcast season. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 63% approval rating based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10; the site's consensus notes that heavy-handedness undermines a solid lead performance. On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, indicating mixed or average reviews. TVLine's Matt Webb Mitovich praised the dynamic between Schiff and Highmore and called the final scene powerful.

The New York Times' James Poniewozik described the drama as a hospital melodrama with whiz-bang medical science and shameless sentimentality.

Did You Know?

• A planned spin-off titled The Good Lawyer was in development at ABC, introduced via a backdoor pilot in season 6, but was canceled in November 2023 due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes.