US medical drama The Good Doctor triumphs over The Big Bang Theory in ratings
A HIT US medical drama about a young doctor with autism has come out of nowhere to beat the world’s most-watched comedy series in ratings.
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THE Good Doctor, a new medical drama about a young surgical intern with autism, has done the seemingly impossible, beating the world’s most-watched comedy series, The Big Bang Theory, in the ratings.
The show, which features Finding Neverland and Bates Motel’s Freddie Highmore as young genius, Dr Shaun Murphy, rated a whopping 18.2 million viewers, to Big Bang’s 17.9 million, in its third episode, which screened on October 9.
While Big Bang still won in the all-important 18-49 age demographic, The Good Doctor knocked the show off its perch as the most-watched for Monday nights — a huge achievement.
Series star, Freddie Highmore, admits he didn’t expect it would do as well as it has.
“I guess no one could have really expected that,” the 25 year-old British-born actor admits. “It’s been lovely that so many people have connected with the show, and connected with Dr Shaun Murphy, and are rooting for him, week after week.”
The show, executive produced and written by David Shore — the man responsible for another successful medical drama, House, which ran for eight series from 2004 to 2012, and starred an award-winning performance from Hugh Laurie — is adapted from a 2013 Korean series.
It was brought to US screens by Korean-born actor, Daniel Dae Kim, who himself starred in ratings hits Lost, and Hawaii Five-O.
Highmore, who recently completed a law and languages degree from prestigious British university, Cambridge, says he feels lucky to have been gifted his compelling character.
“I’m incredibly lucky,” he says. “I think David’s scripts, all the way through from the pilot, which first enticed me into it, have been wonderful.
“The character is brilliant. And I love that he has autism, but he isn’t the stereotypically ‘autistic person’ that is often is portrayed on television.
“We see what makes him laugh; what makes him tick
“He is not emotionless. I think that is the unfortunate stereotype that people with autism have to face; that they are somehow not experiencing as broad a range of emotions as everyone else.”
Both Highmore and Shore did extensive research before filming began.
“And we had a consultant who was there at all stages of production, helping with making sure that Shaun was portrayed as authentically as possible, in terms of his autism,” Highmore explains.
“David Shore and I, we would exchange pieces of literature, and documentaries, and all of that would go into creating the character of Shaun.”
Highmore is quick to point out that Shaun is not based on one person in particular, “but hopefully he is someone that people will recognise, and who will feel real,” he says.
So far, feedback has been universally positive, with Highmore winning praise from critics and viewers alike.
“This weekend in LA, actually, one of the highlights was getting to attend this Autism Speaks gala, where the show was given an award, and we got to meet with people who were both on the spectrum themselves, or knew people closely who were,” he says.
“[It was great to see the way] in which they had been touched by Shaun, and ways they connected with him.
“It’s [been] inspiring.”
THE GOOD DOCTOR IS ON CHANNEL 7 TONIGHT 8.45PM
Originally published as US medical drama The Good Doctor triumphs over The Big Bang Theory in ratings
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