Best TV shows about doctors
Doctors have been a staple on televisions across America since the premiere of "City Hospital," the way back in 1951. Whether one's favorite TV doctor is House, Meredith Grey, or Doogie Howser, M.D., the medical world has always been a perfect subject for television because the stakes are literally life and death. Great drama鈥攁nd comedy鈥攃an also be found in medical show episodes thanks to a heavy emphasis on the doctors' personal lives outside of their scrubs. With such high stakes and an inside peek behind the ER curtain, it's no wonder television fans get attached to TV doctors.
With over 65 years of medical-based programs in television history, 麻豆原创 was able to determine the 30 best shows by tracking the and number of votes per show, only including shows with more than 5,000 votes. The higher the show's rating, the higher its ranking on this list. Follow along as 麻豆原创 goes from big city emergency rooms to pill-popping nurses, to ornery doctors with more trouble at home than with their patients.
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#30. A Gifted Man
IMDb rating: 7.0
IMDb votes: 6,959
Typical episode length: 45 min
Years active: 2011鈥2012
only lasted one season on CBS with heartthrob Patrick Wilson (鈥淲atchmen,鈥 鈥淔argo鈥) playing the lead character. The 鈥淕ifted Man鈥 is a self-absorbed surgeon who鈥檚 visited by the ghost of his ex-wife and decides to turn his attention to a free medical clinic helping those in need. Canceled after only 16 episodes, Wilson didn鈥檛 make many friends at the network after in the show.
#29. Crossing Jordan
IMDb rating: 7.0
IMDb votes: 8,948
Typical episode length: 60 min
Years active: 2001鈥2007
鈥淐rossing Jordan鈥 fans were treated to 117 episodes of the medical crime drama set in Boston. Instead of focusing on traditional doctors, the show followed a forensic pathologist (Jill Hennessy) in the Boston Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office as she solved crimes through her medical investigations. 鈥淐rossing Jordan鈥 also of Kathryn Hahn (鈥淏ad Moms,鈥 鈥淭ransparent鈥) who played grief counselor Lily Lebowski.
#28. Body of Proof
IMDb rating: 7.1
IMDb votes: 13,178
Typical episode length: 60 min
Years active: 2011鈥2013
Another show that crosses medicine and crime in the medical examiner鈥檚 office, 鈥淏ody of Proof鈥 starred Dana Delany and Jeri Ryan as medical examiners in Philadelphia鈥攁lthough the show was actually for its first season and Los Angeles for seasons two and three. After 42 episodes, in 2013.
#27. The Night Shift
IMDb rating: 7.3
IMDb votes: 8,723
Typical episode length: 42 min
Years active: 2014鈥2017
Former army doctors worked the overnight shift at a San Antonio emergency room in 鈥淭he Night Shift,鈥 from creators Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah, who got their start on comedies like 鈥淛ust Shoot Me!鈥 and 鈥淔reaks and Geeks鈥 before crossing over to drama. with a mostly unknown cast鈥攖he exception being Scott Wolf鈥攁nd aired mainly in the summertime when other networks were airing reruns.
#26. Becker
IMDb rating: 7.3
IMDb votes: 10,316
Typical episode length: 30 min
Years active: 1998鈥2004
Most medical shows are dramas due to the serious nature of most ailments, but as a multi-camera sitcom about a surly doctor who runs a clinic in New York City. Starring Ted Danson of "Cheers" fame as the titular doc, "Becker" picked up en route to 129 episodes over six seasons.
#25. The Mindy Project
IMDb rating: 7.4
IMDb votes: 25,694
Typical episode length: 30 min
Years active: 2012鈥2017
Mindy Kaling got her start as a writer and cast member of NBC鈥檚 鈥淭he Office,鈥 but made the transition to lead actress in about the very personal life of an obstetrician/gynecologist. The show ran for three seasons on Fox . was actually an OB/GYN in real life.
#24. Chicago Med
IMDb rating: 7.5
IMDb votes: 8,349
Typical episode length: 43 min
Years active: 2015鈥揚resent
The third tent pole in Dick Wolf鈥檚 鈥淐hicago鈥 franchise鈥斺淔ire鈥 and 鈥淧.D.鈥 are the first two鈥斺溾 explores familiar terrain at a fictional emergency room in Chicago, just like 鈥90s mega-hits 鈥淓R鈥 and 鈥淐hicago Hope.鈥 The mostly ensemble cast features a few big names: Oliver Platt as the chief of the psychiatry department and S. Epatha Merkerson as the chief administrator of the hospital. Now heading into its fourth season, 鈥淐hicago Med鈥 moves to Wednesdays on NBC鈥檚 fall schedule.
#23. Saving Hope
IMDb rating: 7.6
IMDb votes: 5,498
Typical episode length: 43 min
Years active: 2012鈥揚resent
Not to be confused with zany sitcom 鈥淩aising Hope,鈥 this starring Erica Durance revolved around a surgeon hoping that her comatose fiance, who is also a doctor, will recover at the Toronto hospital where she works. It originally aired in Canada on CTV and in the U.S. on NBC, but the American network chose to only air the first season while Canadian audiences were able to tune in for the entire 85-episode run of the series.
#22. Emily Owens M.D.
IMDb rating: 7.6
IMDb votes: 6,052
Typical episode length: 43 min
Years active: 2012鈥2013
With , the CW鈥檚 鈥溾 was short-lived, but well-liked among its fans, as evidenced by the high audience score on IMDb. As a more dramatic version of 鈥淪crubs,鈥 the show chronicled an intern鈥攏ot an internist鈥攊n a big hospital learning that the professional world isn鈥檛 all that different from high school. The lead was Mamie Gummer, a Northwestern University graduate who also happens to be Meryl Streep鈥檚 daughter.
#21. Grey's Anatomy
IMDb rating: 7.6
IMDb votes: 192,865
Typical episode length: 41 min
Years active: 2005鈥揚resent
One of the longest-running started during the George W. Bush years and continues into its . Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh, and Katherine Heigl were stars from the first seasons, but now only Pompeo remains in a revamped cast. The show is set in Seattle at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital and details the private lives of the doctors who work there and their intersecting dramas. Originally hailed as a , "Grey's Anatomy" , Golden Globes, and all kinds of other awards.
#20. Rush
IMDb rating: 7.7
IMDb votes: 5,021
Typical episode length: 44 min
Years active: 2014
鈥溾 aired on USA for just 10 episodes in 2014. The show was about a concierge doctor who conducts his business outside of the traditional medical world for clients that need absolute discretion and pay in cash. 鈥淩ush鈥 starred Tom Ellis, a Welsh actor who developed an American accent to cover up his native tongue and went on to star in the show 鈥淟ucifer.鈥
#19. Nurse Jackie
IMDb rating: 7.7
IMDb votes: 21,808
Typical episode length: 27 min
Years active: 2009鈥2015
Edie Falco followed up her Emmy-winning performance in 鈥淭he Sopranos鈥 with this Emmy-winning performance in 鈥.鈥 The title character in the show is addicted to pain pills and trying to keep her life in balance as she works at a New York City hospital. Showtime aired the show for seven seasons and the premium cable home allowed for a much more R-rated experience than a traditional network medical drama would allow.
#18. ER
IMDb rating: 7.7
IMDb votes: 44,268
Typical episode length: 44 min
Years active: 1994鈥2009
As one of the most successful medical shows in TV history, 鈥淓R鈥 had an incredible 331-episode run over 15 seasons. The show allowed George Clooney to transform from ensemble TV actor to major film star while other actors like Julianna Margulies and Maura Tierney used the show as a launchpad for their own starring roles in other television shows. Novelist Michael Crichton鈥檚 premise was simple: the inner workings of an emergency room in Chicago, along with the inner lives of all the staff who work there. The show was at the Emmys seven years in a row and won the award once.
#17. Nip/Tuck
IMDb rating: 7.7
IMDb votes: 49,512
Typical episode length: 44 min
Years active: 2003鈥2010
Another basic cable medical drama hit, FX鈥檚 鈥溾 shined a light on the salacious world of plastic surgery. Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon played the controversial plastic surgeons for 100 episodes. went on to major success with other shows like 鈥淕lee鈥 and 鈥淎merican Horror Story.鈥
#16. Sirens
IMDb rating: 7.8
IMDb votes: 5,172
Typical episode length: 22 min
Years active: 2014鈥2015
"" on the USA Network was actually an adaptation of a BBC show of the same name. It eschews the traditional focus on doctors in medical shows and instead pays attention to the ambulance drivers who get patients to the hospital. As a half-hour show, "Sirens" is the rare medical show that qualifies as a comedy.
#15. Childrens Hospital
IMDb rating: 7.8
IMDb votes: 6,161
Typical episode length: 11 min
Years active: 2008鈥2016
Another medical comedy, 鈥溾 exists in a world all its own, thanks to its off-kilter 11-minute episodes on Cartoon Network鈥檚 鈥淎dult Swim鈥 sub-network. The show is a parody of most of the other shows on this list and stars former 鈥淒aily Show鈥 correspondent Rob Corddry as a clown-faced doctor in a hospital where the doctors鈥 sex drives get more attention than the patient鈥檚 maladies.
#14. Hart of Dixie
IMDb rating: 7.8
IMDb votes: 38,958
Typical episode length: 60 min
Years active: 2011鈥2015
Rachel Bilson followed up her success in 鈥淭he O.C.鈥 with this on the CW. She plays Dr. Zoe Hart, a New York doctor who moves down to small-town Alabama to take over a medical practice. Over the course of four seasons, the trials and tribulations of small-town life were on full display along with Dr. Hart鈥檚 love life.
#13. A Young Doctor's Notebook & Other Stories
IMDb rating: 7.9
IMDb votes: 12,277
Typical episode length: 23 min
Years active: 2012鈥2013
Only eight episodes exist of this , but fans went wild for the leading men. Jon Hamm (鈥淢ad Men鈥) and Daniel Radcliffe (鈥淗arry Potter鈥) play Dr. Vladimir 鈥淣ika鈥 Bomgard at different ages of his career in the small hospital of a remote village during the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War of the early 20th century.
#12. Frasier
IMDb rating: 8.0
IMDb votes: 62,632
Typical episode length: 22 min
Years active: 1993鈥2004
One of the longest-running spin-offs of all time, Kelsey Grammer鈥檚 鈥溾 character originated on 鈥淐heers鈥 and then moved back to Seattle on this sitcom to become the psychiatrist host of a call-in radio show. David Hyde Pierce played Frasier鈥檚 sniveling little brother and John Mahoney played their ornery father. The show lasted for a whopping 263 episodes and earned a .
#11. Code Black
IMDb rating: 8.1
IMDb votes: 8,342
Typical episode length: 42 min
Years active: 2015鈥揚resent
"Code Black" is named after a that followed doctors at Los Angeles County Hospital, the busiest emergency room in America. The stars Marcia Gay Harden and Luis Guzman at a majorly underfunded ER where the doctors and nurses do the best they can to save the lives of their patients with limited resources. Lasting only three seasons, "Code Black" was sent to the morgue after the 2017鈥2018 television season.
#10. Doc Martin
IMDb rating: 8.3
IMDb votes: 9,094
Typical episode length: 46 min
Years active: 2004鈥揚resent
has been on the air since 2004, but with much shorter seasons than its American counterparts, 鈥淒oc Martin鈥 only recently passed 60 episodes. 鈥淒oc Martin鈥 is about a big city doctor who moves to a small village in Cornwall after developing a fear of blood. British actor Martin Clunes stars as Doc Martin and that Series 9, airing next fall, will be the show鈥檚 last run.
#9. Northern Exposure
IMDb rating: 8.3
IMDb votes: 13,150
Typical episode length: 60 min
Years active: 1990鈥1995
Another tale of a big city drama relocated to a small town, 鈥溾 took the serious medical drama genre and added a major dose of quirkiness. Set in fictional Cicely, Alaska, 鈥淣orthern Exposure鈥 takes a recent graduate of Manhattan鈥檚 Columbia University Medical School and sends him to Alaska to work off the tuition assistance he received from the state while in school. Once there, he discovers a small town of wacky people and lots of moose. Rob Morrow starred as Dr. Joel Fleischman for all six seasons as the show .
#8. Green Wing
IMDb rating: 8.4
IMDb votes: 9,645
Typical episode length: 65 min
Years active: 2004鈥2007
It only took 18 episodes to turn 鈥溾 into one of the of all time. While this BBC Channel 4 hit was technically a TV show about doctors, it didn鈥檛 feature any medical issues. Instead, it turned its zany, outlandish tone towards the personal lives of the doctors of East Hampton Hospital whose choices regularly verged on soap opera. The show cleaned up at .
#7. Call the Midwife
IMDb rating: 8.4
IMDb votes: 15,389
Typical episode length: 60 min
Years active: 2012鈥揚resent
The BBC has found great success in the medical genre, as evidenced by yet another BBC production landing in the top 10. 鈥溾 is a period drama about a group of midwives living in London鈥檚 East End in the 鈥50s and 鈥60s. Legendary British actress Vanessa Redgrave is part of the ensemble cast that has carried the show to 78 episodes and counting.
#6. The Good Doctor
IMDb rating: 8.4
IMDb votes: 28,081
Typical episode length: 41 min
Years active: 2017鈥揚resent
British actor Freddie Highmore first caught attention as a child actor in films like "Finding Neverland" and the remake of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," but he's all grown up now and playing an autistic medical savant in "." Based on a South Korean drama of the same name, this ABC hit follows a traditional medical drama narrative as Highmore's character Dr. Shaun Murphy treats unique cases while traversing the ups and downs of living with autism. "The Good Doctor" starts its second season in the fall.
#5. M*A*S*H
IMDb rating: 8.4
IMDb votes: 43,983
Typical episode length: 25 min
Years active: 1972鈥1983
鈥溾 falls just behind 鈥淔rasier鈥 as one of the longest-running sitcoms about doctors with 251 episodes. The show premiered in 1972 as an adaptation of the popular movie about a ragtag U.S. Army medical unit in the Korean War鈥擬*A*S*H stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. for Golden Globes and Emmys, M*A*S*H elicited masterful performances from Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, and Jamie Farr and did something no other show was able to accomplish: it made war funny.
#4. Scrubs
IMDb rating: 8.4
IMDb votes: 214,952
Typical episode length: 22 min
Years active: 2001鈥2010
While most medical shows depict doctors as competent professionals, 鈥淪crubs鈥 humanized the profession with both silly and poignant stories of young doctors learning on the job and growing into the kind of professional confidence that only comes from experience. Main cast members Zach Braff, Donald Faison, and Sarah Chalke started the series as medical interns under the tutelage of John C. McGinley鈥檚 Dr. Perry Cox before climbing the hospital hierarchy. A regular contender , Scrubs lasted for nine seasons and 182 episodes, but the last season was essentially a spin-off when the and featured the main cast as teachers at a medical school.
#3. The Knick
IMDb rating: 8.5
IMDb votes: 36,643
Typical episode length: 58 min
Years active: 2014鈥2015
Movie star Clive Owen crossed over to the small screen in this period drama about the burgeoning medical field in New York in 1900 where modern medicine has not yet advanced far enough to save lives on a regular basis. Owen plays Dr. Jack Thackery, a drug addict and surgeon at the fictional Knickerbocker Hospital. Directed by popular film director Steven Soderbergh, 鈥淭he Knick鈥 only lasted for two seasons despite having such an impressive IMDb audience rating.
#2. Hannibal
IMDb rating: 8.6
IMDb votes: 189,951
Typical episode length: 44 min
Years active: 2013鈥2015
While 鈥溾 is technically a TV show about a doctor, it鈥檚 most certainly not a medical drama. Instead, it鈥檚 a show about an FBI profiler who forms a relationship with a forensic psychiatrist who鈥檚 secretly a serial killer and a cannibal. The character of Hannibal Lecter actually originated in novels by Thomas Harris and found more popular acclaim in movies like the 鈥淭he Silence of the Lambs.鈥 This television adaptation starred Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy and ran for 39 episodes over three seasons.
#1. House
IMDb rating: 8.8
IMDb votes: 353,183
Typical episode length: 44 min
Years active: 2004鈥2012
Hugh Laurie had a long career in England before crossing the Atlantic to become the iconic Dr. Gregory House on "." The title character of the show is both antisocial and anti-normal in his methods as he diagnoses rare diseases by any means possible. Laurie was six Golden Globes and six Emmys for his work as House over the eight-season duration of the series.