''Dr. Ken'' is an American multi-camera sitcom that aired on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
from October 2, 2015, to March 31, 2017.
The series was created, written, and co-executive produced by its lead actor,
Ken Jeong
Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...
, who based the concept on his experience as a physician prior to becoming a stand-up comedian. This television show was an
ABC Studios
ABC Signature is an American television production studio that is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a division of Walt Disney Television, which is part of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Company. ...
/
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...
co-production.
On October 20, 2015, ABC ordered a full season of 22 episodes for the first season. On May 12, 2016, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 23, 2016.
On May 11, 2017, ABC cancelled the series after two seasons.
Premise
''Dr. Ken'' is about a Korean-American doctor (Ken Jeong), with a questionable bedside manner; his wife, a talented therapist (Suzy Nakamura); and his two children: son Dave (Albert Tsai) and daughter Molly (Krista Marie Yu).
Cast
Main
![Ken Jeong and Suzy Nakamura on Sidewalks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Ken_Jeong_and_Suzy_Nakamura_on_Sidewalks.jpg)
*
Ken Jeong
Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...
as Dr. Kendrick "Ken" Park.
Ken is a constantly-joking, narcissistic, sometimes-thoughtless general practitioner employed at Welltopia Medical Group. He loves his family and coworkers but is often oblivious to their feelings. He has a younger sister, Dr. Wendi (
Margaret Cho
Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...
), of whom he is jealous.
*
Suzy Nakamura
Suzy Nakamura (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress and improv comedian. She is known for her many guest appearances on sitcoms such as ''According to Jim'', ''Half and Half'', ''8 Simple Rules'', ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' and ''How I Me ...
as Dr. Allison Park (née Kuramata).
Allison is Ken's intelligent Japanese-American wife and mother to Molly and Dave. She is a trained therapist/psychiatrist and often gives Ken advice about his life. Her children have a tendency to treat her with more respect than Ken. Allison usually tolerates Ken's antics, using them as an opportunity to push him to become a better man, although she occasionally becomes fed up with him.
*
Tisha Campbell-Martin
Tisha Michelle Campbell (born October 13, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut appearing in the 1986 rock musical comedy film ''Little Shop of Horrors'', and later starred on the short-lived NBC musical comedy dram ...
as Damona Watkins.
Damona is the sassy and loud-mouthed office manager at Welltopia where Dr. Ken works. While she is technically under the jurisdiction of Dr. Park, she is seen as his equal in the office. She develops a sexual relationship with Pat, although she hates herself for it. It is revealed that she controls the schedules and vacation days for the office.
*
Jonathan Slavin
Jonathan Slavin (born November 8, 1969) is an American actor and activist.
Early life
Slavin was born in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Career
Slavin portrayed illustrator Byron Togler on the Fox netw ...
as Clark Leslie Beavers.
Clark is a registered nurse who works with Ken and is usually his most devoted fan in the office. He is openly gay and prone to speaking in a loud volume when nervous or scared. He is a bit of a drama queen and can overreact to many situations. He is good friends with Damona and Dr. Julie Dobbs.
*
Albert Tsai
Albert Tsai (born August 5, 2004) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Fred on the Disney Channel comedy series ''Coop & Cami Ask the World'' and as Bert Harrison on ABC’s ''Trophy Wife'' from 2013 to 2014. Tsai has also ...
as Dave Park.
Dave is Ken's son, age ten at the start of the series, who is considered "odd" among his peers and family. Though intelligent, he has a number of strange quirks, such as biting people when he feels cornered and conserving water to a drastic measure for the drought. When he is sad, he will eat food without utensils in bed. It is implied numerous times that he is not popular in school. Ken, Allison, and Molly often attempt to bribe him with pizza.
*
Krista Marie Yu
Krista Marie Yu (born October 25, 1988) is an American actress best known for her roles on television. She played the main role of Molly Park on the ABC family sitcom ''Dr. Ken''. In August 2018, it was announced that Yu would play the recurrin ...
as Molly Park.
Molly is Ken's daughter, age sixteen at the start of the series, and is a typical American teenager, obsessed with hanging out with friends, texting, and boys, though she is also very studious. She has several love interests throughout the series and has a habit of disobeying her parents. While she often tries to deceive her parents and brother, she does show some affection toward her family.
* Kate Simses as Dr. Julie Dobbs (season 1). Julie is Ken's protege and a trained doctor, although she is unsure of herself. She speaks in a nervous, high-pitched voice and is referred to as "fragile" by both herself and coworkers. She has a tendency to keep on talking when she's nervous, divulging Ken's secrets. She is an extremely thorough worker, to the point of spending three hours with a patient. On the season 2 premiere, it was revealed that she left the hospital to do a medical internship elsewhere.
*
Dave Foley
David Scott Foley (born January 4, 1963) is a Canadian actor, stand-up comedian, director, producer and writer. He is known as a co-founder of the comedy group The Kids in the Hall, who have appeared together in a number of television, stage and ...
as Pat Hein.
Ken's boss and the manager at Welltopia, Pat is an insensitive and slightly racist man who often is the butt of the joke. Although he considers himself a benevolent dictator among his coworkers, he's shown to be duped on several occasions since Ken, Damona and Clark are well aware that Pat frequently has ulterior motives. After separating from his wife, he lives on a boat parked outside her house. He fancies himself as a ladies' man, although he only succeeds in sleeping with Damona.
* Dana Lee as D.K. Park, Ken's stern, traditional father (season 2, recurring season 1). In the season 2 premiere, he starts to live in the Park household, saying his wife In-Sook (Ken's mother) left to visit family in
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
for a year. D.K. later confesses he and In-Sook are divorced. As he started living with his son's family, he gets more flexible in adapting to American cultures, such as being in a relationship with an American woman his age, much to Ken's dismay.
Recurring
* Marques Ray as Juan-Julio, the parking garage attendant at Welltopia
* Alexis Rhee as In-Sook Park, Ken's mother and D.K.'s ex-wife
*
Stephen Guarino
Stephen Guarino (born November 14, 1975) is an American actor and comedian, known as Sully Patterson on the Jim Carrey-produced Showtime series ''I'm Dying Up Here'' (2017–2018) and for his recurring role as Derrick in the ABC comedy series '' ...
as Connor, Clark's partner and later husband
*
Jerry Minor
Jerome Charles Minor Jr. (born October 4, 1969) is an American actor, comedian and writer known for his comedic roles in numerous television programs such as ''Mr. Show'', ''Saturday Night Live'', ''Trigger Happy TV#US version, Trigger Happy TV'' ...
as Eric, Damona's boyfriend after she moves on from Pat
*
Justin Chon
Justin Jitae Chon (born May 29, 1981) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has directed three films, ''Gook'' (2017), '' Ms. Purple'' (2019), & ''Blue Bayou'' (2021). He is also known for portraying Eric Yorkie in '' The Twilight Saga'' film ...
as Jae, Molly's boyfriend in Season 2
* Zooey Jeong as Emily, Dave's brief girlfriend in Season 2
*
Gillian Vigman
Gillian Vigman (born January 28, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She has played Jack Box's Wife in many Jack in the Box commercials, and is a recurring cast member of the sketch comedy series ''MADtv''. Vigman also sta ...
as Megan, Pat's brief girlfriend in Season 2
Guest stars
*
Margaret Cho
Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...
as Dr. Wendi Park, Ken's sister, a talk show host.
*
Mehmet Oz
Mehmet Cengiz Öz (; born June 11, 1960), known professionally as Dr. Oz (), is an Turkish American former professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Columbia University, television presenter, author and former political candidate.
The son of Tur ...
as himself
*
Will Yun Lee
William Yun Lee (born March 22, 1971) is an American actor and martial artist. He is best known for his roles as Danny Woo in the supernatural drama ''Witchblade
''Witchblade'' is a comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an ...
as Dr. Kevin O'Connell
*
Joel McHale as Ross
*
Danny Pudi
Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor i ...
as Topher
*
Jim Rash
James Rash (born July 15, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He portrayed the role of Dean Craig Pelton on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Bes ...
as Devon Drake
*
Stephen Tobolowsky
Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (born May 30, 1951) is an American character actor. He is known for film roles such as insurance agent Ned Ryerson in '' Groundhog Day'' and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in '' Memento'', as well as such television characters ...
as Joe
*
Ian Chen as Henry
*
Randall Park Randall may refer to the following:
Places
United States
*Randall, California, former name of White Hall, California, an unincorporated community
* Randall, Indiana, a former town
*Randall, Iowa, a city
*Randall, Kansas, a city
* Randall, Minneso ...
as Gary Chon
*
George Wyner
George Wyner (born October 20, 1945) is an American film and television actor. Wyner graduated from Syracuse University in 1968 as a drama major and was an in-demand character actor by the early 1970s. Wyner has made guest appearances in over 1 ...
as Dicky Wexler
*
Jeff Ross
Jeffrey Ross Lifschultz (born September 13, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known as the "Roastmaster General" for his insult comedy, his multiple appearances at celebrity roasts held by the New York Friars Club, the ...
as Doug
*
Gillian Jacobs
Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress and director. She is known for her roles as Britta Perry on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015) and Mickey Dobbs on the Netflix romantic comedy series ''Love'' (201 ...
as Erin
*
Yvette Nicole Brown
Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and host. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', as Dani in the 2015 version of '' The Odd Couple'' on CBS and as Dina Rose on the AB ...
as Amy
*
Rhys Darby
Rhys Montague Darby (born 21 March 1974) is a New Zealand actor and comedian, known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime and sound effects of things such as machinery and animals. He was nominated for ...
as Charles Evans
*
Jonathan Banks
Jonathan Ray Banks (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Chillum Heights, Maryland, while attending Indiana University Bloomington Banks did theatre. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles where he be ...
as Dr. Erwin
*
Dan Harmon
Daniel James Harmon (born January 3, 1973) is an American writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator and producer of the NBC/Yahoo! Screen sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), creator and host of the comedy podcast '' Harmontow ...
as himself
*
Alison Brie
Alison Brie Schermerhorn (born December 29, 1982) is an American actress. Her breakthrough came with the role of Trudy Campbell in the drama series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), which won her a Screen Actors Guild Award. She gained recognition fo ...
as herself
*
Nia Vardalos
Antonia Eugenia Vardalos (born September 24, 1962) is a Canadian actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She is best known for starring in and writing the romantic comedy film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), which garnered her nominati ...
as Tiffany, Pat's ex-wife
Jeong previously starred alongside guests stars Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jim Rash and Jonathan Banks on the television comedy series ''
Community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
''. In the episode "Ken's Big Audition", Ken auditions for a fictional version of the show, in which Brie, series creator
Dan Harmon
Daniel James Harmon (born January 3, 1973) is an American writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator and producer of the NBC/Yahoo! Screen sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), creator and host of the comedy podcast '' Harmontow ...
, and other ''Community'' cast members
Erik Charles Nielsen
Erik Charles Nielsen (born May 8, 1981) is an American actor and comedian.
Early life
Nielsen was born in West Sayville, New York. He is of Danish descent. Nielsen graduated from Palm Bay High School in 1999. While attending Boston University, ...
, Danielle Kaplowitz,
Richard Erdman
Richard Erdman ( John Richard Erdmann; June 1, 1925 – March 16, 2019) was an American character actor and occasional film and television director. He appeared in more than 160 films and television productions between 1944 and 2017, mostly i ...
and
Luke Youngblood
Luke Youngblood (born 12 June 1986) is a British actor. He is known for playing Ben in ''The Story of Tracy Beaker'', young Simba in ''The Lion King'' at several London venues, Lee Jordan in the ''Harry Potter'' film series, and Magnitude on ...
also appear.
Episodes
Reception
''Dr. Ken'' received highly negative reviews from television critics. The
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported a 7% approval rating, based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 2.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "Somebody please get ''Dr. Ken'' a doctor; seeking any signs of life. Or humor." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the series has a score of 26 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."
''
Indiewire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
'' TV Critic Ben Travers and TV Editor Liz Shannon Miller, both negatively ranked the trailer released for ''Dr. Ken''. Marc Berman of ''TV Media Insights'' gave the new series very low odds of survival. During the 2015 Television Critics Association press tour, Ken Jeong defended against a comparison drawn between his series and the ill-fated ''
All American Girl'' starring
Margaret Cho
Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...
, claiming that he would have more creative control as both a writer and producer of ''Dr. Ken''.
Ratings
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Ken
2010s American LGBT-related comedy television series
2010s American medical television series
2010s American sitcoms
2015 American television series debuts
2017 American television series endings
English-language television shows
American Broadcasting Company original programming
Cultural depictions of American men
Cultural depictions of physicians
Television series about families
Television series by ABC Studios
Television series by Sony Pictures Television
Television series created by Jared Stern
Television shows set in Los Angeles
Television shows filmed in Los Angeles
Asian-American television
American LGBT-related sitcoms