STAT: PSYCHOSOMATIC {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)

Summary

The premiere of this comedy series, a remake of the television comedy series “A.E.S. Hudson Street,” about the staff of Hudson Memorial Hospital in New York City.

Dr. Tony Menzies and Dr. Elizabeth Newberry clash with each other over treatment practices when she wants to keep a patient, Frank Dougherty, who suffers from mysterious abdominal pains but is not in immediate physical danger. Another patient, Leland Fisk, is a lawyer and scrutinizes his consent forms before he can be prepared for surgery to remove a bowel obstruction. The surgeon, Mickey Weller, is uneasy about performing surgery on Fisk, fearing that he could be embroiled in a malpractice suit. Eventually Fisk is persuaded by Dr. Menzies to sign his consent form, and he is taken to surgery. Frank’s wife Phyllis comes to visit and Dr. Newberry discovers that she is pregnant and the baby is one week overdue. Soon after arriving, Phyllis goes into labor and Frank simultaneously experiences stomach pains. Based on this observation, Dr. Menzies comes to suspect that Frank is suffering from Couvade syndrome, i.e. that he is suffering the same birthing pains as his wife in a psychosomatic fashion.

The victim of a gang shooting is brought in and Dr. Lewis Doniger manages to stabilize him. Fisk’s surgery goes successfully, and Mickey asks Dr. Menzies to sign an official document stating that Fisk is still alive, much to Dr. Menzies’s incredulity. Dr. Doniger goes to the lab to yell at the staff for sending the wrong blood type down to the operating room. He discovers that everyone except one staff member, Rita Falco, has called out sick, and the lone woman has a nervous breakdown after working a 23-hour shift and suffering emotional abuse from other hospital staff. She nearly storms out until Dr. Doniger assures her that her actions did not result in a patient death. Dr. Doniger takes the opportunity to hit on her, and they have an intimate encounter in the lab. Eventually Phyllis successfully gives birth to a girl, and Frank’s pains subside. Includes commercials.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: April 16, 1991 9:30 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:29:02
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:21479
• GENRE: Comedy
• SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Doctors; Hospitals - Comedy
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1991
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV – Commercials – Chrysler automobiles
  • TV – Commercials – Coors beer
  • TV – Commercials – HBO television channel
  • TV – Commercials – K-Mart department stores
  • TV – Commercials – Mighty Dog dog food
  • TV – Commercials – Reebok footwear
  • TV – Commercials – Toyota automobiles
  • TV – Commercials – Wendy’s restaurants
  • TV – Commercials – “Oscar” motion picture
  • TV – Promos – “A User’s Guide to Planet Earth: the American Environment Test”
  • TV – Promos – “Good Morning America”
  • TV – Promos – “Thirtysomething”

CREDITS

• Danny Arnold … Executive Producer, Director, Created by, Writer
• Chris Hayward … Producer, Created by, Writer
• John Bunzel … Producer, Writer
• Tony Sheehan … Created by
• Samuel Shem M.D. … Writer
• Jack Elliott … Music by
• Dennis Boutsikaris … Cast, Dr. Tony Menzies
• Alison La Placa … Cast, Dr. Elizabeth Newberry
• Casey Biggs … Cast, Dr. Lewis Doniger
• Alix Elias … Cast, Jeanette Lemp
• Kurt Fuller … Cast, Mickey Weller
• Alan Koss … Cast, Mr. Dougherty
• Donna Ponterotto … Cast, Mrs. Dougherty
• Jenifer Lewis … Cast, Felicia Brown
• Talia Balsam … Cast, Rita Falco
• Rudolph Willrich … Cast, Leland Fisk
• Wren T. Brown … Cast, Ron Murphy
• Dannel Arnold … Cast, Dr. Werner
• Wayne Duvall … Cast, Paramedic #1
• Duke Moosekian … Cast, Paramedic #2
• Arva Holt … Cast, Nurse #1
• Yuri Ogawa … Cast, Nurse #2
• Cynthia Lee Clark … Cast, Nurse #3
• Carol A. Payton … Cast, Nurse #4