User Reviews

Oh my, that little 2-gun rascal would make anyone think twice about becoming a doctor. Good thing Niven's Dr. Gentry is as good with behavioral problems as with medical, otherwise his office would turn into the Wild West. It's an amusingly entertaining half-hour, done in light-hearted fashion. Gentry has to finesse one little annoyance after another whether at home or the office or even the theatre, while actor Niven knows how to bring it off in good-humored style. And catch Sheila James Kuehl as little daughter Luana. She's best known as Dobie Gillis's foil, Zelda, in that popular 60's series, and to those of us in the LA area as a currently serving county commissioner. All in all, the entry deals with tricky subject matter that Niven's natural charm turns into an entertaining little fling. Now, if only someone would send a 'how to care for babies' book to Mrs.Carter, the doc's life would get a lot easier, but we'd be left with fewer chuckles.

In this installment of "Four Star Playhouse", David Niven plays Dr. Gentry--a pediatrician who is being run ragged trying to care for a lot of annoying patients as well as the demands of his own family. His daughter is going to star in a play tonight and, possibly, for once he'll actually be able to go to one of these affairs. Usually, his totally thoughtless patients call him at all hours. And, since the Doctor has no reasonable set of boundaries, he allows these idiots to bother him and his family all the time. One calls him about a half dozen times during the episode...all about unimportant things.

To me, this felt less like a typical episode and more like the pilot for some sort of sit-com. However, I really think they took the long-suffering part of the Doc way too far, as any sane doctor would have told a few of these super-needy patients to go to blazes. Because of this, despite the good acting, the show comes off as rather fake. Sure, in the old days doctors often made housecalls but this is just ridiculous!