The Good Doctor

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Shaun Murphy, a young autistic surgeon who has savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join the surgical unit at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital -- a move strongly supported by his mentor, Dr. Aaron Glassman. Having survived a troubled childhood, Shaun is alone in the world and unable to personally connect with those around him, but he finds his niche using his extraordinary medical skill and intuition to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues.

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NEW YORK (AP) — ABC’s new drama about a surgeon on the autism scale, “The Good Doctor,” is a bona fide hit, and it takes a little time to recognize the magnitude.

Last week’s episode was the most popular show on the network, the Nielsen company said.

A look at newly released Nielsen data for “The Good Doctor” and other programs illustrates the extent to which television viewers make their own schedules now. An estimated 11.3 million people watched the drama’s debut on Sept. 25, but that number swelled by 69 percent — to 19.2 million — when you add in the people who saw it on a delayed basis within seven days.

www.seattletimes.com/business/time-delayed-viewing-shows-how-the-good-doctor-is-a-hit/

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1.01 Burnt Food

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1.02 Mount Rushmore

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1.03 Oliver
10-9-17

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1.04 Pipes

Shaun has amazing analytical skills, and he showed he is good at the mechanics of treating patients. He was better at inserting the instrument into the girl’s body than the other doctor. *

When the bus driver let Shaun off past his usual bus stop, I did not expect Shaun to pull out a possible defense weapon. Lucky the neighbor came along, but they seemed to be a long way from their building. I guess that is why Shaun did not start walking home.

His mentor, Dr. Glassman, is trying to help, but Shaun does not want an aide. It would make him seem less than self-sufficient. Can Shaun learn to know when to take something literally? I do not know.

The maintenance man was really irritated, but while re-fixing the pipe, Shaun thought of a way to help the 18 year old.

Dr. Melendez is encouraging competition by reminding the three doctors only one of them will be the starting quarterback. Dr. Andrews told Shaun and Claire they are both doing a good job and they can talk to him if they ever feel the need. I have been waiting for him to show his better side.

I am glad both operations were successful.

*I had an experience like that during a nuclear radiation test. The technician hurt me so badly trying to insert the needle, I refused to let her continue. No one was able to talk me into it. They called someone they knew and he graciously came to their practice. He promised me if I felt any discomfort at all, he would stop. He inserted the needle without pain.

[KyleEl]

I forgot to watch this. There were too many good shows to watch Wednesday and I read newspapers on Tuesday and Thursday.

I was hoping my comments could be moved here but I never made them since there wasn't a thread. I have thoughts on the first two episodes but it's too hard to remember details now.

I did say this could have been in my top ten but I can't get excited about characters other than Dr. Murphy. I also said he was a lot like Sheldon Cooper n his ability to relate to others but not as cartoonish.

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I understand. I kept wanting to make a comment about the show and then realized there was no thread.

[KyleEl]

I didn't see the episode in the above post. I thought something was wrong. "Oliver" was another episode.

Shaun and Sheldon are so much alike taking things literally. I think we're supposed to laugh when Shaun makes these mistakes and when he blurts out what he knows regardless of whether it is appropriate in the situation.

I know it surprised his neighbor to hear he was a doctor.

I was pleased his brother was back in the last episode. I couldn't believe that girl was going to show him hers and she wanted him to show her his. I was relieved it was a prank.

[KyleEl]

Regarding the actual "Oliver" episode, my cousin had cystic fibrosis and needed a lung transplant after living longer than most people do and doing really well all that time. But the transplant didn't work and she passed away. I met her once when she was a teenager, but her father was meeting with me when I brought him some stuff that belonged to my father, and he told me about her being in the hospital and told me the web site to follow her progress.

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1.05 Point Three Percent

10-23-17

Dr. Shaun Murphy encounters a young patient who looks eerily similar to his deceased brother; Shaun discovers his parents hid his diagnosis from him; the team must find the cause of their patients' increasingly severe allergic reactions.

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Shaun is making progress in recognizing sarcasm and responding. Eventually, he might learn to not explain that it was sarcasm or a joke. It makes me laugh when he explains it to Melendez.

Shaun wanted to help the boy who looked just like his brother, but in spite of his tireless efforts, he could not force the diagnosis to be non-life threatening.

Shaun knows he is a bad liar and it was funny he asked Claire to lie for him. I enjoyed the conversations Shaun had with Evan even though it caused the parents to hate Shaun. Evan still has to pretend around his parents and that is unfair to him. One of these days, I am going to read “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

The case where Kevin (the son) struggled to communicate with Merrill (the father) was not as interesting as I thought it would be. I thought maybe Kevin came home with some exotic parasite on his clothing or something else interesting. He hugged his father and a bug popped? Yuk! On a lighter note, I did get a couple of chuckles when Kevin tried talking to Jared when he needed a warm person to talk to.

[KyleEl]

I really liked the boy who looked like Shaun's brother. It's such a shame Shaun was wrong. Shaun should have found a way to be more careful so the parents wouldn't know what he was doing.

I read "To Kill a Mockingbird" in high school and watched the movie.

Shaun is making progress on sarcasm. I agree he can probably stop explaining it.

I don't quite know what to think about the father and son. Nothing made sense because the son kept changing his explanation. Not wanting to take over the store is a common problem.

[KyleEl]

I know I have comments about the Oliver episode but can't remember them now.

[KyleEl]

I could have changed the time on my clock radio. If I tape all my shows what is the point in doing anything according to the actual time?

And just for this week I would be able to watch this show tonight.

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1.06 Not Fake

10-30-17

Shaun and Claire devise an experimental procedure to save the leg and life of a young groom; Jared struggles to emotionally connect with a patient whose scars may prove too deep to overcome.

[Jeff]

I watch this show, but it to hard to keep up to date with this show and the dialogue it has.

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My brain filters out anything that sounds like medical jargon. 

I enjoy watching Shaun analyze issues, and the comments he makes to Melendez are amusing.

[Jeff]

I can't understand medical jargon at all, and I watched ER the whole 15-16 years it was on.

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I understand. I have watched a lot of doctor shows. It seems to me that the explanations use more terms we will not understand than they did years ago. Dr. Kildare would just say the person had a stroke, but now the diagnosis would be a mile long. 

[Jeff]

I wonder if the doctors on set till the writers what to say in the dialogue? That what they did on the older Medical drama shows.

[KyleEl]

I had to remember, when I watched "Saving Hope", that all those disgusting body parts are props, and the injuries are makeup. I haven't watched that many medical shows, but of course all this was true on those.

I'm glad Shaun wasn't the one that got in trouble for doing the wrong thing under pressure. Dr. Glassman handled things so well, but the female doctor may end up having to deal with what she did later.

Shaun can take credit for the idea that resulted in saving the man's leg. The femur has to support the body, but I broke a bone five years ago that has a similar challenge. I have to wonder how that small bone can do as much as it does. No wonder I still have problems. There are pins in it.

Shaun hesitated when things were at their worst, so I was worried about his ability to handle such stress. But he figures things out once he knows what to work on.

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Not Fake was combination of "Code Black" and "Pure Genius" because they had a large group of emergencies at one time and they used high tech new procedures. It was very interesting. 

Kyle, I saw your comment that Shaun did not get in trouble and that was good to know. When Shaun looks like he is hesitating, I always think he is analyzing but not moving or talking. People are not accustomed to that and it seems strange to them. The environment was extremely noisy and chaotic, but Shaun handled that better than I expected.

Dr. Glassman worked well under pressure. He really cares about Shaun and I had assumed Shaun had affection for him. Perhaps Shaun does not want love because it hurts when he loses loved ones. The nurse was playfully flirting when she talked about marriage and love, but she should have noticed from Shaun's tone that he did not want to play.

[KyleEl]

It is possible that Shaun doesn't want to lose loved ones, so he tries not to love.

It was great that the rich doctor (I forget his name but it starts with M and sounds Spanish) pushed for the burn treatment that would result in the least scarring. The girl was so upset but nothing was wrong with her face. As unpleasant as it would be, she could always cover the areas that actually were burned.

[KyleEl]

I have a real problem tonight. But it could be worse.

I knew already that the Panthers will play tonight from when I checked the weather forecast on the CW station, and I was thinking about how I would watch if the game ended before my bedtime. And then it hit me: what if the game is on the same channel as this show? Then the show won't be on! I checked. That was what was going to happen. So I went to the TiVo hooked up to antenna and set it to record the show. I watch shows on that TiVo at a different time. It's so close to full I can't save them until I have time. But this means I am two weeks behind on "Scandal".

I saw a commercial saying the only place to see "Dancing with the Stars" was a station that it is not normally on. Seconds later, a commercial for this show aired, with no clue that it wasn't going to be on at its normal time, or where it would air.

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1.07 22 Steps

11-13-17

Dr. Shaun Murphy encounters prejudice from an unlikely source when he treats an autistic patient; Dr. Jared Kalu must learn to accept his limitations as a surgeon.

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22 Steps

I have enjoyed every episode and Steps was a good one. I did not think Shaun would mess up before or during surgery. I noted that they continue to want an immediate response from him, but he seemed to be accessing his memory before taking the scapel.

Dr. Browne thought Shaun would be happy to meet another autistic person. I thought that was a weird assumption.

Shaun suffered the hug from the boy’s mother without jerking away. Then, I enjoyed his comment that not having loving parents kept him from being given supplements that led to the need for surgery.

The end scene was amusing. While they were enjoying a football game on the TV Shaun wanted, Dr. Glassman was trying to convince Shaun to budget his funds instead of buying the expensive television. The store clerk said it was closing time and when Shaun said he wanted to buy the television, the clerk looked happy and told them to take all the time they wanted. I liked that scene because Shaun was having a great time.

[KyleEl]

It recorded with an antenna and I made sure to save it. I haven't checked to make sure there weren't any signal problems. I'll watch Sunday.

[KyleEl]

This episode recorded yesterday. I had already watched what I recorded with the antenna, and no problems.

I didn't find it strange that people would expect Shaun to be happy about meeting someone autistic, but I was surprised he laughed when he said that was wrong.

I liked seeing Shaun and Dr. Glassman watching the game.

Claire is still dealing with her mistake. She's reluctant to do anything that involves touching people. Nevertheless, her shrink saw her being able to cope.

The doctor from a rich family the old man called "28" has turned out to be really nice. I wondered why if he was rich he would do something like this, but now we know more about him. I guess the old man had the right to do what he did.

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1.08 Apple

11-20-17

When the grocery store where Shaun is shopping gets robbed, his communication limitations puts lives at risk; Aaron worries he's not doing enough to help Shaun.

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Apple

Shaun was trying to follow the directions given by the excited thief, but the directions were contradictory. Perhaps Shaun learned you cannot reason with unreasonable people.

I think Melendez has the right personality to supervise a team of interns. He looks confident and makes good decisions when presented with more than one diagnosis. He clearly respects Shaun’s skills, but he followed Jared’s suggestion, and that was the right call.

Shaun admitted his diagnosis was wrong and graciously acknowledged Jared’s was right.

Dr. Glassman is worried about Shaun, but I understand Shaun being resistant to having outside “guidance”. Shaun and his neighbor, Lea, are able to communicate in spite of their differences. She admires Shaun's honesty, and so do I. I had to laugh when she hugged Shaun because that was the most awkward looking embrace I have ever seen.

Claire learned a hard lesson about showing respect.