Playing Doctor
Television, Storytelling, and Medical Power
New and expanded edition
A classic look at doctors in television, updated with two decades of new shows and research
Description
Playing Doctor is an engaging and highly perceptive history of the medical TV series from its inception to the present day. Turow offers an inside look at the creation of iconic doctor shows as well as a detailed history of the programs, an analysis of changing public perceptions of doctors and medicine, and an insightful commentary on how medical dramas have both exploited and shaped these perceptions.
Drawing on extensive interviews with creators, directors, and producers, Playing Doctor is a classic in the field of communications studies. This expanded edition includes a new introduction placing the book in the contemporary context of the health care crisis, as well as new chapters covering the intervening twenty years of television programming. Turow uses recent research and interviews with principals in contemporary television doctor shows such as ER, Grey's Anatomy, House, and Scrubs to illuminate the extraordinary ongoing cultural influence of medical shows. Playing Doctor situates the television vision of medicine as a limitless high-tech resource against the realities underlying the health care debate, both yesterday and today.
Cover image: Eric Dane, Kate Walsh, Sara Ramirez, and crew members on the set of Grey's Anatomy © American Broadcasting Company, Inc.
News, Reviews, Interviews
Read: About the Author New York Times | 8/6/2010
Read: Review Variety | 7/6/2010
Read: Review TV Over Mind | 10/1/2010
Read: Op-Ed "A Perfect Doctor, but Behind the Times," New York Times | 6/14/2011
Watch: Joseph Turow in a video produced by the University of Pennsylvania, discussing depictions of medical professionals in popular television shows, with video clips | YouTube