HUMAN FACTOR, THE: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The pilot of this medical drama series about an empathetic doctor and his staff and students at a teaching hospital in Chicago.
Dr. Alec McMurtry teaches a class of medical students in his hospital with a role-playing exercise, playing the part of a patient with terminal illnesses and taking note of the candidates’ bedside manner. After the sessions he meets with all of the candidates and upbraids them for their mistakes. He stresses “the emotional part of the doctor-patient relationship” and the importance of having empathy for the plight of patients. Medical student Matt Robbin is taken under the wing of an intern at the hospital, Michael Stoven. Dr. Stoven sends Matt to examine Dr. McMurtry’s patient Elizabeth Wood, a young woman whom he recognizes from high school; he had something of a crush on her. Meanwhile, Dr. Stoven and Dr. McMurtry try to deal with the D’Arcy couple, parents of a young boy, Jory, admitted for heart trouble who wish to take him away from “the evils of modern medicine;” they concoct excuses to keep them there long enough for them to perform vital surgery on the boy. Dr. McMurtry runs into the boy’s teacher, Theresa “Terri” Lahni, who is visiting the hospital out of concern for him. She reports that Jory has suffered from fainting spells and chest pains, and that she called 911 when his parents weren’t home. He then sees the D’Arcy family, who argue that Jory should be taken home immediately, although Dr. McMurtry tells them that Jory requires immediate surgery. However, the parents do not listen and take him home, believing that alternative medicinal practices will heal him; Dr. McMurtry is powerless to stop them.
Matt continues giving Elizabeth a physical, although the encounter proves to be quite awkward for him. She notes that she has been having difficulty breathing lately, and Dr. McMurtry asked her to come in for testing. He is embarrassed that he did not ask her the reason for her stay at the hospital earlier, demonstrating his lack of experience. Elizabeth’s father Danny comes to visit her and Matt introduces himself. While Danny is busy, Matt talks to Elizabeth; her file indicates that she is suffering from a terminal illness, Hodgkin’s Disease, and he expresses his sympathies. The next day, Dr. McMurtry holds a meeting with his students about Jory, who was born with a heart defect which did not manifest symptoms for the first few years of his life. In his current state, there is a danger that Jory will spontaneously die from his condition without a heart valve replacement. One student, Rebecca Travis, takes particular offense to the D’Arcy couples’ actions, believing that they had a responsibility to get Jory treatment while they still could; Dr. McMurtry notes that they were acting according to their belief system, however medically unsound it may have seemed. However, an operation is impossible without parental consent, and Dr. McMurtry sends Rebecca to Jory’s elementary school as part of an “assignment” to secure this consent.
There she meets with Terri, who she hopes can help her change the D’Arcys’ opinions. She starts by talking about her own children and gives her a phone number to call the next time Jory faints in class. Terri seems reluctant to accept it, until Rebecca reminds her that she has already gone out of her way to look after Jory. Matt fetches Elizabeth some deli food as a treat while he takes her blood for testing. She expresses regret that she didn’t go out with him in high school. Rebecca and Dr. McMurtry visit the D’Arcys and try to speak to them, but find that they have already called in some sort of healer, who chills the animosity between them and tries to speak to Dr. McMurtry. He also produces a restraining order against Dr. McMurtry forbidding him to go anywhere near their residence. Dr. McMurtry seeks aid from assistant state’s attorney Donald Pine, who believes that he can convict the D’Arcys of child endangerment and get Jory placed in protective services at the hospital. However, the ensuing dependency hearings could potentially last months, greatly prolonging the time it would take to put Jory in surgery.
Matt presents Elizabeth’s case at the next student meeting, noting that extensive treatments put her disease into remission multiple times before a recent possible relapse. Dr. McMurtry notes that Matt’s report describes the disease history well, but has no commentary on Elizabeth as a person. He speaks about how the disease has affected her personally, and notes that she has assumed a more advanced stage and that they are running out of treatment options. Matt accuses Dr. McMurtry of giving up on her before walking out of the meeting. Later, Dr. McMurtry speaks to Elizabeth in private, and she gets him to talk to her about his three daughters and their various pursuits. Elizabeth reveals that her father steadfastly believes that she will recover from her illness despite all evidence to the contrary. She has accepted the fact that her death is inevitable, and Dr. McMurtry gives her three to six weeks to live. Jory collapses during a baseball game in his school’s playground, and Terri immediately calls Rebecca. However, the D’Arcys arrive first and take Jory home.
Elizabeth calls Matt in the middle of the night and wakes him up. She is lonely and frightened, and tries to get some reassurance from him. When he asks if Dr. McMurtry spoke to her, she hangs up on him. The next morning, Dr. McMurtry and Rebecca get Terri to call Mrs. D’Arcy and lure her out to the school so that he can speak to her and circumvent the restraining order. She tries to get away, but Dr. McMurtry asks her about her “conversion” to the faith the D’Arcys ascribe to, noting that a scar on her arm is an indicator that she underwent orthopedic surgery at some point to repair broken bones in her arm. He also knows that she is pregnant and will have her new baby in a matter of weeks. He asks that she allow Jory to undergo surgery just as she did in spite of her religious beliefs. Matt places a call to a doctor in France, hoping to present an experimental treatment to Danny in order to provide him with some meager hope. Dr. McMurtry finds out about this and berates Matt for being an “idiot” for seemingly exploiting Danny’s desperation. He reveals that he took Elizabeth to France and visited the clinic Matt called, explaining that Elizabeth’s Hodgkin’s Disease is at too advanced a stage for the treatment to be effective. They argue about the correct amount of emotional attachment to this patient, and Dr. McMurtry says that his duty now is to “help her die,” leaving Matt with her address and indicating that she has been discharged from the hospital.
Two weeks later, Dr. Stoven visits Dr. McMurtry at home and tells him that Matt has been missing from his teaching sessions ever since his argument with Dr. McMurtry. He wants Dr. McMurtry to convince him to come back, but Dr. McMurtry notes that only Matt can return if he truly wants to, and that he may not be cut out to be a doctor. Matt takes Elizabeth on a series of dates, and they become romantically attached. She loves his attentions in spite of the “cliché” of the situation, and she admits that she loves him. However, her condition continues to deteriorate. Dr. McMurtry secures an undated arrest warrant for Mr. and Mrs. D’Arcy’s arrest from Donald, charging them with involuntary manslaughter. He confronts Mrs. D’Arcy just outside Jory’s after-school music program, brandishing the warrant and threatens to date and serve it upon Jory’s death. Faced with this predicament, Mrs. D’Arcy gives her consent for Jory to undergo surgery and he is brought to the hospital. Mr. D’Arcy tries to get in to see Jory, but Dr. McMurtry prevents him from entering and they have a physical altercation in the hallway. He leaves when Mrs. D’Arcy asks him to go home, and Jory’s operation is scheduled.
Danny visits Matt and Elizabeth, telling her that they’ve been accepted into the clinic in France and that they are to leave the following morning. She argues with him, pointing out that her life is coming to an end and there is nothing they can do about that. Matt contemplates what to do, and finally tells Danny that they will not be going to the clinic, finally coming around to see Elizabeth and Dr. McMurtry’s side of the issue. He reciprocates Elizabeth’s love for him. Jory’s operation is a success, much to Dr. McMurtry and Rebecca’s relief. Matt accompanies Elizabeth on her deathbed at the hospital, and he tries to provide her with comfort as she dies. With her final words she apologizes to her father before dying. Dr. McMurtry comes in and accepts Matt back into his class. They attend Elizabeth’s funeral and reconcile from their earlier argument. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:46:36
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:72374
- GENRE: Drama, medical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, medical
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1992
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- William Sackheim … Executive Producer
- Dick Wolf … Executive Producer
- John Mankiewicz … Co-Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Dan Sackheim … Producer
- Arthur W. Forney … Associate Producer
- Norman Henry … Line Producer
- Don Scardino … Director
- Mike Post … Music by
- John Mahoney … Cast, Dr. Alec McMurtry
- Jan Lucas … Cast, Joan McMurtry
- Kurt Deutsch … Cast, Matt Robbin
- Melinda McGraw … Cast, Rebecca Travis
- Matthew Ryan … Cast, Joe Murphy
- Eriq LaSalle … Cast, Michael Stoven
- Trini Alvarado … Cast, Elizabeth Wood
- Jennifer Joan Taylor … Cast, Meredith D'Arcy
- Roger Mueller … Cast, Danny Wood
- Robert McNeill … Cast, George Neitlich
- Linda Powell … Cast, Molly Josephs
- Gerry Becker … Cast, Barry Scheck
- Rengin Altay … Cast, Terri Lahni
- Patrick Clear … Cast, Henry D'Arcy
- Sean Grennan … Cast, Donald Pine
- Dylan Day … Cast, Jory D'Arcy
- Walter Jordan … Cast, Razzy Godwin