Medical Center (TV series)
| Medical Center | |
|---|---|
Title sequence
|
|
| Also known as | U.M.C. (pilot only) |
| Starring |
James Daly Chad Everett Audrey Totter |
| No. of seasons | 7 |
| No. of episodes | 171 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | MGM Television |
| Distributor |
MGM Television (1969-1976, original) Turner Entertainment/Warner Bros. Television (current) |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | September 24, 1969 – September 6, 1976 |
Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976. It was produced by MGM Television.
The show starred James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner and Chad Everett as Dr. Joe Gannon, surgeons working in an otherwise unnamed university hospital in Los Angeles. The show focused both on the lives of the doctors as well as the patients showcased each week. At the core of the series was the tension between youth and experience, as seen between Drs. Lochner and Gannon. Besides his work as a surgeon, Gannon, because of his age, also worked as the head of the Student Health Department at the University. Helping the doctors was the very efficient Nurse Eve Wilcox, played by Audrey Totter. She started out as a bit role but was eventually upgraded to co‑star status starting in 1972. Wilcox became a regular after two other similar nurses (Nurse Chambers, played by actress Jayne Meadows; and Nurse Murphy played by actress Jane Dulo) had basically served the same functions as Wilcox.
At the time the show was canceled, it tied with Marcus Welby, M.D. (which also ran from 1969 to 1976) as the longest-running medical drama on television at that point.
The series' pilot film, U.M.C., was televised on CBS on April 17, 1969, starring Edward G. Robinson as Dr. Lee Forestman and Richard Bradford as Dr. Joe Gannon, with Daly and Totter appearing in the roles they would later play in the series; the film also starred Kim Stanley, Maurice Evans, Kevin McCarthy, and Shelley Fabares. In the film, a widow accused Dr. Gannon of allowing her husband to die, in order for his heart to be implanted into Dr. Forestman, who was a mentor and friend to Dr. Gannon.
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