Tonight at 8:30p, Ken Jeong goes from being a doctor who became an actor to an actor playing a doctor on ABC’s Dr Ken.
You know how they say, don’t judge a show by its pilot? Well, Dr Ken is the perfect example of that. When I watched the pilot the first two times, I didn’t like. Then ABC posted the third episode and I said let me see if it got better. It does. The pilot tries too hard and you can feel that with the jokes. But now that they have been picked up, they found their groove. That makes me happy because I like Jeong and want to see his sitcom succeed.
Dr Ken is one of the top General Practitioners in the San Fernando Valley, but he tops the list of worst bed side manners. He makes fun of his patients to their faces. For example, when a patient comes in diagnosing himself with a hemorrhoid from the internet, Dr Ken tells him he needs to get a colonoscopy and calls him a Web MD-bag when he refuses to get one. That is just one example of how horribly he treats his patients who he has no patience for.
That is his day job, his night one is being a loving husband and father to a teenage daughter and pre-teen son. His wife, Allison (Suzy Nakamura), is a psychotherapist, and she tries to keep her husband sane. That is easier said than done. Like tonight when his daughter Molly (Krista Marie Yu) takes her driver’s test and passes. He doesn’t want her having the freedom that comes with it. Then there is his son Dave (Albert Tsai) who wants to a do a mime act for his school’s talent show and Dr Ken tells him how lame it is. Which it is, let’s be honest. And to be honest, the show needs to focus a lot more on the kids in future episodes because their comedic timing is as perfect at their TV parents.
Like I said, Dr Ken’s pilot is weak, but with some help from a script doctor it bounces back really fast. So don’t give up on it after tonight, give it another shot because it is addictive. It is the prescription we all need for a Friday night after a long work week.
