By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
In today’s streaming world, it’s hard for a network show to break out, but every year, one show breaks out and becomes a hit, and in 2024, ABC’s Doctor Odyssey came out of nowhere to become the hot new thing. Truthfully, the series becoming a hit should have been expected, after all, audiences love medical dramas, and by making one set on a luxury cruise ship the series also gets to feature different guest stars, trappings of the rich and famous, and constant shots of attractive people in tiny swimsuits. The better question is, why did no one do this before?
The Classics Never Go Out Of Style
The thing is, it has been done before, by ABC with The Love Boat, a smash-hit series that aired for 9 years from 1977 to 1986, and Grey’s Anatomy, but this time they’ve been mashed together like a studio executive playing with action figures to produce Doctor Odyssey. Starring Joshua Jackson as Dr. Max Bankman, the new doctor onboard the Odyssey, and his team, Nurse Avery (Phillipa Soo) and Nurse Tristan (Sean Teale) as they deal with a different medical issue each episode, and yes, the very first episode has someone going overboard. Holding the ship together through thick and thin is Captain Robert Massey, played by Don Johnson, back where he belongs on a corny network series.
Each episode of Doctor Odyssey covers a different theme week that is completely normal, such as “Wellness Week,” “Singles Week,” and “Plastic Surgery Week,” you know, typical cruise ship events. Episode 8, “Quackers,” features the ship inundated with rubber duck collectors that take part in a ship-wide hunt for hidden ducks and as strange (and fun) as that may sound, it’s an actual cruise ship event. The highlight of the series so far though, is a two-part event, called “Shark Attack,” and it’s honestly impressive that the writers held off for nine episodes before bringing in sharks.
There’s medical drama every episode, including a woman going into labor during a drag performance while the song “I’m Coming Out” is playing because the show’s writers decided that subtlety would never get a ticket for the cruise ship, and there’s relationship drama. The crew is constantly pairing up with each other, guests hook up with other guests, and the crew keeps winding up in bed with guests, leading to, not only a syphilis outbreak in one episode, but an unexpected pregnancy with no clue who the father is. Doctor Odyessy takes full advantage of its unique setting to mine maximum possible drama from not giving its couples any place to get away from each other, and after a hook up in a hot tub filled with rubber ducks, there have to be bets going on within the writer’s room.
A Ryan Murphy Series
Between the bonkers theme of each episode and the constant relationship drama, Doctor Odyssey is able to get a lot of mileage out of the constant guest appearances. Shania Twain is onboard for an episode as a lovelorn widow, John Stamos is Captain Massey’s brother, Gina Gershon plays the wife of the boat’s owner, and in “Casino Week,” the first episode after the two-part “Shark Attack,” Angela Basset is onboard as her 9-1-1 character,m Sergeant Athena Grant-Nash, establishing that the shows exist in the same universe. There’s no telling who will turn up next on the series, not only because it’s getting bigger every week, but because everyone seemingly loves working with the show’s creator.
Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee, Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story, American Crime Story, 9-1-1, and many more is the brains behind Doctor Odyssey, which explains how the show can ping-pong between serious dramatic moments and off-the-wall goofiness within the span of 10 seconds. Don’t be surprised if Lady Gaga and Sarah Paulson are onboard the cruise ship in the future given their past work with the prolific producer. At least one network is willing to still make an insane show like this one that serves as a reminder that television can be fun and there’s life in the old broadcast model television yet, even if, and this has a lot to do with the show exploding in popularity, it streams on Hulu the day after airing.
Doctor Odyssey is available on Hulu.
