Medical Center (TV series)

Medical Center (also known as Calling Dr. Gannon) is an American medical drama series that aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976. It was produced by MGM Television.

Medical Center
Title sequence
Also known asU.M.C. (pilot only)
Created byAl C. Ward
Frank Glicksman
StarringJames Daly
Chad Everett
Audrey Totter
ComposerLalo Schifrin
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes171 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time60 minutes
Production companiesAlfra Productions
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television
DistributorMGM Television
Release
Original networkCBS
Original releaseSeptember 24, 1969 (1969-09-24) –
September 6, 1976 (1976-09-06)

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. 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. She started out as a bit role, 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; 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 as Nurse Evvie Canford
  • Daniel Silver as Anesthesiologist
  • Audrey Totter as Nurse Eve Wilcox
  • Corinne Camacho as Dr. Jeanne Bartlett
  • Eugene Peterson as Dr. Merrill Weller
  • Ed Hall as Dr. Stan Bricker
  • Jayne Meadows as Nurse Chambers
  • Fred Holliday as Dr. Barnes
  • Jane Adrian as Nurse Joyce Baxter

Production

Pilot

The series' pilot film, 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, and Shelley Fabares. 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. on January 12, 2010, as Operation Heartbeat. Warner Archive titles are available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the United States.[1]

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 on television at that point.

Episodes
Main article: List of Medical Center episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
PilotApril 17, 1969 (1969-04-17)
126September 24, 1969 (1969-09-24)April 15, 1970 (1970-04-15)
224September 16, 1970 (1970-09-16)March 10, 1971 (1971-03-10)
324September 15, 1971 (1971-09-15)March 8, 1972 (1972-03-08)
424September 13, 1972 (1972-09-13)February 28, 1973 (1973-02-28)
524September 10, 1973 (1973-09-10)April 15, 1974 (1974-04-15)
624September 9, 1974 (1974-09-09)March 24, 1975 (1975-03-24)
724September 8, 1975 (1975-09-08)March 15, 1976 (1976-03-15)

Ratings

The show's Nielsen ratings are as follows:

SeasonRanking
1969-70
1970-71#8
1971-72#13
1972-73#21
1973-74#39
1974-75#27
1975-76#35

Home media

Warner Bros. has released the seven seasons on DVD in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. These are manufacture-on-demand releases, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

DVD nameEp. #Release date
The Complete First Season26July 12, 2011
The Complete Second Season24September 18, 2012
The Complete Third Season24June 25, 2013
The Complete Fourth Season24March 18, 2014
The Complete Fifth Season24July 15, 2014
The Complete Sixth Season24March 15, 2016
The Complete Seventh Season24July 19, 2016

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-01-16. Retrieved 2010-01-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. By Love old tv shows (2016-05-28). "Medical Center: The Complete First Season". Wbshop.com. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  3. By mpratt. "Medical Center: The Complete Second Season". Wbshop.com. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  4. "Medical Center DVD news: Announcement for Medical Center - The Complete 3rd Season". TVShowsOnDVD.com. 2013-06-25. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
  5. "Medical Center DVD news: Announcement for Medical Center - The Complete 4th Season - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  6. "Medical Center DVD news: Announcement for Medical Center - The Complete 5th Season - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  7. "Medical Center DVD news: Announcement for The Complete 6th Season - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 5 November 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  8. "Medical Center DVD news: Announcement for The Complete 7th Season - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
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