Share the story of what Open Access means to you
University of Michigan needs your feedback to better understand how readers are using openly available ebooks. You can help by taking a short, privacy-friendly survey.
Playing Doctor: Television, Storytelling, and Medical Power
2010, New and expanded edition Joseph Turow
You don't have access to this book. Please try to log in with your institution.
Log in
Playing Doctor is an engaging and highly perceptive history of the medical TV series from its inception to the present day. Turow offers an inside look at the creation of iconic doctor shows as well as a detailed history of the programs, an analysis of changing public perceptions of doctors and medicine, and an insightful commentary on how medical dramas have both exploited and shaped these perceptions.
Drawing on extensive interviews with creators, directors, and producers, Playing Doctor is a classic in the field of communications studies. This expanded edition includes a new introduction placing the book in the contemporary context of the health care crisis, as well as new chapters covering the intervening twenty years of television programming. Turow uses recent research and interviews with principals in contemporary television doctor shows such as ER, Grey's Anatomy, House, and Scrubs to illuminate the extraordinary ongoing cultural influence of medical shows. Playing Doctor situates the television vision of medicine as a limitless high-tech resource against the realities underlying the health care debate, both yesterday and today.
Cover image: Eric Dane, Kate Walsh, Sara Ramirez, and crew members on the set of Grey's Anatomy © American Broadcasting Company, Inc.
Drawing on extensive interviews with creators, directors, and producers, Playing Doctor is a classic in the field of communications studies. This expanded edition includes a new introduction placing the book in the contemporary context of the health care crisis, as well as new chapters covering the intervening twenty years of television programming. Turow uses recent research and interviews with principals in contemporary television doctor shows such as ER, Grey's Anatomy, House, and Scrubs to illuminate the extraordinary ongoing cultural influence of medical shows. Playing Doctor situates the television vision of medicine as a limitless high-tech resource against the realities underlying the health care debate, both yesterday and today.
Cover image: Eric Dane, Kate Walsh, Sara Ramirez, and crew members on the set of Grey's Anatomy © American Broadcasting Company, Inc.
-
Cover
-
Title
-
Copyright
-
Dedication
-
Acknowledgments
-
Contents
-
Introduction
-
1. “Internes Can’t Take Money”
-
2. “No Compromise with Truth”
-
3. The Gentleman and the Bull
-
4. “Oh . . . Doctor!”
-
5. Witchcraft
-
6. Narrowed Options
-
7. Doctor Knows Best
-
8. Long Hair, High Tech, and Mod
-
9. Sexism, Stiffs, and Speed
-
10. A Different Spin
-
11. “Suicide Is Painless”
-
12. Chasing the Spirit of M*A*S*H
-
13. “Our Walls Are Cleaner”
-
14. Splinters of ER
-
15. “We Just Treat ’Em”
-
Time Line: Prime-Time Network Doctor Series
-
Notes
-
Bibliography
-
Index
-
Illustrations
Citable Link
Published: 2010
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
- 978-0-472-03427-7 (paper)
- 978-0-472-02757-6 (ebook)