BECKER: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The pilot of this comedy series about a gruff neighborhood doctor working in the Bronx.
Dr. John Becker comes in to Reggie’s diner as he always does, driving most of the customers away with his rant about trashy television shows, all except for Reggie herself and his blind friend Jake. He then leaves for his job at his clinic, where he proves to be just as brusque with his patients, including insulting an overweight man who failed to follow his dieting instructions. He is also dismissive towards his eccentric new nurse’s aide Linda, who is eager to be working for him. One of his patients is a little boy, M.J., who is HIV-positive, and he tries to provide as much care as he can. He even calls in a favor from an old colleague of his to offer advice about M.J.’s condition; both of them were at separate times married to the same woman.
The next day he goes out to shop for a used car, and gets a highly reduced price from one of the saleswomen as a means of getting revenge on her boss for an affair gone awry. Becker meets with M.J.’s mother and tells her that M.J. requires better treatment than he can provide. Via his colleague, he offers to place M.J. in a new experimental program downtown. Becker offers to have himself or someone from the office transport him when his mother is too busy, and implies that cases such as M.J.’s have caused him to experience a crisis of faith. Secretly Becker is paying for M.J.’s treatment out of his own pocket. That night he visits Reggie’s diner again, only to find that she is on her way out for a date. She convinces him to leave before her date shows up. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 2, 1998 9:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:23:06
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:71577
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Doctors; New York City
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1998-2004
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Dave Hackel … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Andy Ackerman … Producer, Director
- Tim Berry … Producer
- Mark Petulla … Associate Producer
- Bruce Miller … Music by
- Ted Danson … Cast, Dr. John Becker
- Terry Farrell … Cast, Regina "Reggie" Kostas
- Hattie Winston … Cast, Margaret Wyborn
- Shawnee Smith … Cast, Linda
- Alex Desert … Cast, Jake Malinak
- Amy Aquino … Cast, Bev
- Robert Bailey Jr. … Cast, M.J.
- Davenia McFadden … Cast, Annette
- Bill Capizzi … Cast, Mr. Capelli
- Rocky McMurray … Cast, Customer
- Michael Reid Mackay … Cast, Man