By Mick Holien
I have to admit that I am a bit of a television junkie,
The lack of decent summer programming has a tendency to force me to the garage or the basement, you know to do that cleaning project that you have procrastinated about for all those months.
While I have to admit I seldom miss such investigative programs like Dateline, I also am drawn to 48 minutes or 20-20 depending on the subject matter.
There is of course the usual variety of cop shows headed by Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck and I have missed few shows staring Selleck since the days of Magnum PI.
Certainly a heartthrob, amazingly he just celebrated his 30th wedding anniversary. Sorry gals, lol.
But I especially am attracted to those productions that are either based on true situations that pattern themselves after current affairs like the varieties of Law and Order episodes.
And while there seem to be fewer of them I am also interested in those shows that seem to attempt to educate but do so with drama and entertainment.
Friday Night Lights for example did an excellent job of portraying big-time Texas high school football interwoven with fabrics of life.
And Boston Legal with James Spader and William Shatner (Captain Kirk) portrayed a legal associate who suffered from Asbergers Syndrome, which is on the Autism scale but little publicized or understood at the time when the show was popular.
Having a couple of friends with such symptoms prompted me, because of the show, to learn about the malady enabling me to understand the why of some of their activities.
But there is a particular new show, The Good Doctor, which began this season that portrays an autistic physician with Savant Syndrome and his struggles with his brilliance and the inability of physicians at his new hospital to understand his malady.
From the creator of the hit series House, Dr. Shaun Murphy, portrayed by newcomer Freddie Highmore, is recruited to St Bonaventure Hospital by veteran actor Richard Shiff of West Wing fame, the hospital’s CEO and Murphy’s longtime friend.
Variety describes Englishman Highmore as “a highly talented actor who brings intelligence and depth to the role.”
Highmore, who played Norman Bates in Bates Motel, is resolute about what he hopes to accomplish with the role.
“What we are trying to do is move away from perhaps the stereotype versions of people with autism,” he said, adding “the number one misconception of autistics is that they are somehow void of emotion which is completely nonsense.
In My Opinion give this keeper a look on Monday night on NBC when you tire of the NFL. Just sayin’
