''Medical Center'' (also known as ''Calling Dr. Gannon'') is an American
medical drama series that aired on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
from 1969 to 1976. It was produced by
MGM Television
MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common metonym: Lion) is an American television production/dis ...
.
Plot
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
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. The show focused both on the lives of the doctors and 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
Audrey Mary Totter (December 20, 1917 – December 12, 2013) was an American radio, film, and television actress and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s.
Early life
Audrey – some sources indicate "Audra" – Totter w ...
. She started out as a
bit role
In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisio ...
, but was eventually upgraded to co‑star status starting in 1972. Wilcox became a regular after two other similar nurses (Nurse Chambers, played by
Jayne Meadows
Jayne Meadows (born Jane Cotter; September 27, 1919 – April 26, 2015), also known as Jayne Meadows Allen, was an American stage, film and television actress, as well as an author and lecturer. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards duri ...
; and Nurse Murphy played by Jane Dulo) had basically served the same functions as Wilcox.
Cast
*
James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner
*
Chad Everett as Dr. Joe Gannon
* Chris Hutson as Nurse Courtland
*
Virginia Hawkins
Virginia Hawkins (February 1, 1934 - March 27, 2020) was an American actress, who remains best known for her role in the 1980s television series ''Dynasty'' as maid Jeanette Robbins.
She also appeared regularly in the series '' Medical Center'' a ...
as Nurse Evvie Canford
* Daniel Silver as Anesthesiologist
*
Audrey Totter
Audrey Mary Totter (December 20, 1917 – December 12, 2013) was an American radio, film, and television actress and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s.
Early life
Audrey – some sources indicate "Audra" – Totter w ...
as Nurse Eve Wilcox
* Corinne Camacho as Dr. Jeanne Bartlett
* Eugene Peterson as Dr. Merrill Weller
* Ed Hall as Dr. Stan Bricker
*
Jayne Meadows
Jayne Meadows (born Jane Cotter; September 27, 1919 – April 26, 2015), also known as Jayne Meadows Allen, was an American stage, film and television actress, as well as an author and lecturer. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards duri ...
as Nurse Chambers
*
Fred Holliday as Dr. Barnes
* Jane Adrian as Nurse Joyce Baxter
Production
Pilot
The series'
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 ...
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
, ''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 later played in the series; the film also starred
Kim Stanley,
Maurice Evans,
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as House Majority Leader under spea ...
, and
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom ''The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom ...
. In the film, a widow accused Dr. Gannon of allowing her husband to die, so his heart could be implanted into Dr. Forestman, who was a mentor and friend to Dr. Gannon.
The pilot telefilm was released as a part of the Manufacture-on-Demand Warner Archive Collection from
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
on January 12, 2010, as ''Operation Heartbeat''. Warner Archive titles are available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the United States.
Cancellation
At the time the show was cancelled, it tied with ''
Marcus Welby, M.D.'' (which also ran from 1969 to 1976) as the longest-running
medical drama
A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...
on television at that point.
Episodes
Ratings
The show's
Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
s are as follows:
Home media
Warner Bros. has released the seven seasons on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in Region 1 via their
Warner Archive Collection
The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...
. These are manufacture-on-demand releases, available exclusively through Warner's online store and
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
.
References
External links
*
**
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medical Center (TV Series)
1969 American television series debuts
1976 American television series endings
1970s American medical television series
Best Drama Series Golden Globe winners
CBS original programming
English-language television shows
Television series by MGM Television
Television shows set in Los Angeles