I love medical shows. So much so that I have been watching shows from other countries, like Australia and Korea, on streaming.
Therefore, when we get one in the States, I have to check it out. Best Medicine, which is based on the British show Doc Martin, was no exception. And it is exceptional!
Dr. Martin Best (Josh Charles) was a big-time surgeon from Boston, who needs a change in his life, which is explained as the series goes on. So he applies for a job as a local doctor in the small town of Port Wenn, a place where he spent his summers as a kid with his aunt Sarah (Annie Potts).
Since he was a surgeon in a major city, he is all about medicine, and that is it. He does not like talking to people, and Port Wenn is all about knowing everything about everyone.
How will someone who hates socializing handle being a doctor in a friendly town that is all about it? That is the main premise of the show.
The other part of it is that he is a doctor. And in tonight’s premiere episode, after the football game on Fox, the town has a boob problem. His first two patients suddenly have bigger boobs. That is not that weird, right? Considering they are both men, it is. What is causing it? I am not the doctor, so I cannot tell you.
But I can tell you about the assistant whom he inherited from the previous, late doctor. Elaine (Cree) would rather be a YouTube star than his assistant, and it shows. To say she is incompetent would be putting it mildly. But he decides to keep her because she can bandage patients, and he can’t. Why? Because he can’t handle the sight of blood. Weird?
Not weird is his caring aunt, who is so happy to have her nephew back, even if he doesn’t want to be there.
What will keep him there? Louisa (Abigail Spencer) is a school teacher who just called off her wedding to the town sheriff, Mark (Josh Segarra), after dating him for eight years. They were high school sweethearts until she left for NY. However, when she moved home, they reconnected, until they didn’t.
While their love affair is over, ours is just beginning with Best Medicine. It is a show that is more about the people in a lakeside town than small-town medicine. But there is enough of it for medical show junkies, like me. But I am tuning in for the specialness of the residents of Port Wenn. As a big city girl, I have always wanted to live in a place like Port Wenn. Since I can’t, I get to live out my fantasy in a show such as this one.
Oh, and while Best Medicine might be drama, there are a lot of comedic moments throughout the episodes. And I am not only talking about the brilliant expressions that Charles does with his face.
Plus, how can you not watch a show with Annie Potts and Didi Conn, who we need more of.
Best Medicine moves to Tuesday starting this week.
