Post by telegonus on Dec 12, 2018 8:06:38 GMT
I remember Dr. Kildare as a phenomenon more than as a TV series, though I did watch a few. It felt rather "soapy" and "girly" to this (at the time) pre-teen boy, and maybe it was. If I saw it today I'd probably feel differently. Many if not most black and white dramatic TV series of the same period were good to excellent.
It's "brother" show, Ben Casey, also had a popular, good looking young lead player (Vince Edwards), and my sense is that it was somewhat more highly regarded by the critics, which isn't to say Kildare was dogfood; and it did have Richard Chamberlain, who, shortly after George Maharis arrived on the scene in the Corvette, was a pioneer teen idol for a few years there.
One could see that, between them, Chamberlain and Edwards were becoming bona fide stars in the movie star mold rather than, as had been the case since network television began taking off, circa 1950, personalities, usually comedians, singers game show hosts and the like. A new era was dawning with those more serious prime time show of the early Sixties.
It's "brother" show, Ben Casey, also had a popular, good looking young lead player (Vince Edwards), and my sense is that it was somewhat more highly regarded by the critics, which isn't to say Kildare was dogfood; and it did have Richard Chamberlain, who, shortly after George Maharis arrived on the scene in the Corvette, was a pioneer teen idol for a few years there.
One could see that, between them, Chamberlain and Edwards were becoming bona fide stars in the movie star mold rather than, as had been the case since network television began taking off, circa 1950, personalities, usually comedians, singers game show hosts and the like. A new era was dawning with those more serious prime time show of the early Sixties.