''HeartBeat'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered 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 ...

on March 23, 1988, and ran for two seasons.

Plot

''HeartBeat'' follows the staff of Women's Medical Arts, a medical center founded by three women who are frustrated with how women's health concerns are addressed in the male-dominated medical field.

Cast and characters

Main

Kate Mulgrew Katherine Kiernan Maria Mulgrew (born April 29, 1955) is an American actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Captain Kathryn Janeway on '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and Red on ''Orange Is the New Black''. She first came to attention ...

as Dr. Joanne Springsteen/Halloran, co-founder of the clinic (the character's name was changed from Springsteen to Halloran in season 2) *

Laura Johnson Laura Johnson is an American actress. She is best known for playing Terry Hartford in the CBS primetime soap opera ''Falcon Crest'' from 1983 to 1986. Career Johnson made her film debut in the 1977 drama film ''Opening Night'' directed by John ...

as Dr. Eve Autrey/Calvert, co-founder of the clinic (the character's name was changed from Autrey to Calvert in season 2) *

Gail Strickland Gail Strickland is an American actress who had prominent supporting roles in such films as ' (1975), '' Bound for Glory'' (1976), ''Who'll Stop the Rain'' (1978), ''Norma Rae'' (1979), and ''Protocol'' (1984), and appeared regularly on various ...

as Nurse Marilyn McGrath, a nurse practitioner and co-founder of the clinic *

Lynn Whitfield Lynn Whitfield ('' née'' Smith; born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a ...

as Dr. Cory Banks * Ben Masters as Dr. Leo Rosetti *

Darrell Larson Darrell Ray Larson (born December 13, 1950) is an American film and television actor who appeared in the 1990 action/comedy film ''Men at Work''. Larson's work includes roles in ''The Student Nurses'' (1970), ''Kotch'' (1971), '' The Magnifice ...

as Dr. Paul Jared *

Julie Ronnie Julie Ronnie (born March 21, 1963) is an American television actress. She is known for playing the role of Laken Lockridge in the American television soap opera '' Santa Barbara''. Ronnie was born in Torrance, California. Ronnie attended at Red ...

as Nurse Alice Swanson

Recurring

Gina Hecht Gina Hecht (; born December 6, 1953) is an American actress. Early life Hecht was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of stage actress Pauline Hecht, and decided to embark on a career as an actress at the age of ten. After high school she ea ...

as Patty, long-term

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

of Marilyn McGrath

Development and production

The fictional Women's Medical Arts clinic was based on the Santa Monica Women's Clinic in Santa Monica, California. Dr. Karen Blanchard (

OBGYN Obstetrics and Gynaecology (also spelled as Obstetrics and Gynecology; abbreviated as Obs and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and ...

), the clinic's founder, served as a model for the character played by

Groundbreaking lesbian content

''HeartBeat'' was the first prime time television series in the United States to feature a recurring lesbian couple on prime-time, and a lesbian as a

main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

character, Marilyn McGrath; she had a

Patty, in a long-term lesbian relationship. The show won GLAAD’s first Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 1990, which it shared with ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

.'' However, in his autobiography, Aaron Spelling stated that ABC demanded a scene in which Marilyn dances with Patty be cut.

Release

Broadcast

''HeartBeat'' debuted on Wednesday, March 23, 1988, at 9 p.m. (

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

) as a special two-hour

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

; moving to its regular broadcast time of 10 p.m. the following week. For the second season, the schedule was changed to

Thursday Thursday is the day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week. Name ''Se ...

at 10:00 p.m. This programming made it compete with ''

'', one of the most popular series at the time. ''HeartBeat'' did not perform well in the ratings and was canceled at the end of its second season. The series finale aired on April 6, 1989.

Episodes

Season 1 (1988)

Season 2 (1989)

Reception

''HeartBeat'' is praised by

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

television historians for its inclusion of Marilyn and Patty as a couple, and for their

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

being treated as a non-issue. However, ABC received criticism because unlike the heterosexual characters, Marilyn and Patty were not permitted to be sexual or physically affectionate with each other. The feminist content and context of ''HeartBeat'' have been studied by feminist cultural critics.

Awards and nominations

''HeartBeat'' was nominated for the 1989

People's Choice Award The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...

for Favorite New TV Drama. It received the first-ever

GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series is an annual award that honors drama series for excellence in the depiction of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) characters and themes. It is one of several categories of the ann ...

in 1990 (shared with ''

'').

References

External links

''HeartBeat''
at the BFI Film & TV Database * * * {{GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series 1988 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings 1980s American drama television series 1980s American medical television series 1980s American LGBT-related drama television series English-language television shows Lesbian-related television shows Television shows set in Los Angeles American Broadcasting Company original programming Television series by Spelling Television GLAAD Media Award-winning shows