TV Medical Dramas Are Not Like Real Life. Maybe They Should Be.

October 9, 2024

A female doctor sitting on a couch with her head back.

(New York Times) – I’m in the writers’ room helping to draft the script for a new television medical drama, and we’ve hit a roadblock in the fourth act. We’ve successfully set up the mystery and designed a clever way for our hero — a physician based on the famed neurologist Oliver Sacks — to clinch the diagnosis. But here’s the challenge: Our patient doesn’t get better.

At least, not in the way that we generally define as “better.” We are writing about brain disease, and there’s no cure. The character’s diagnosis is instead the start in a long process of adaptation to a new reality. This is a challenge to portray on network television, for a public that is accustomed to a particular brand of medical heroism. (Read More)