Becker (TV series)
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| Becker | |
|---|---|
 The cast of Becker's sixth season |
|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Creator(s) | Dave Hackel |
| Starring | Ted Danson Terry Farrell Hattie Winston Shawnee Smith Alex Désert Saverio Guerra Nancy Travis Jorge Garcia |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 129 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (including commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | November 2, 1998 – January 28, 2004 |
Becker was a CBS sitcom starring Ted Danson as the title character, John Becker. It takes place in The Bronx, New York, where Becker, a physician, operates a small medical practice. Although a good physician, Becker is constantly annoyed with his patients, his co-workers, his friends, and practically everything and everyone else in his world; yet Becker's temper belies a more complex character, his rants often being his way to keep the world from seeing whom he really is — a compassionate idealist afraid to appear emotionally vulnerable.
As a result of his outspoken nature, Becker is inaccessible to most people that do not know him. His patients and friends are nonetheless loyal, because Becker betrays a kind-hearted side that shows that, despite his cantankerous personality, he really does care about them.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
For the first four seasons, the main characters were:
- John Becker — Ted Danson
Becker, a Harvard Medical School graduate, runs a neighborhood medical practice. He is easily annoyed by things such as a flickering street lamp, noisy neighbors, the couple having very loud sex in the apartment above him, or his numerous failed attempts to quit smoking. Becker has a personal superstition that "All midgets are bad luck, whenever I see one, something bad happens to me". He has been married and divorced twice and is very stingy. He likes Chinese food, especially when he gets free coupons for it. He holds liberal views on many political issues but holds no respect for political correctness, and due to his cynical nature, he does not seem to be enthusiastic about any political party. He especially hates Richard Nixon (which cost him a relationship with a long time flame, Megan, whose father split them up after Becker made a nasty comment about Nixon).
Becker also appears to be an atheist; in one episode he states that "God is a concept of man" and that people use religion as a justification for immoral activity. He also openly states that "there is no Larry" (Larry being "God's first name", according to one of Becker's patients). When asked what he believes in, Becker states that he believes in science. Despite this, there are episodes where he claims God is out to get him. His nurse Margaret, who is a Christian, enjoys pointing out this incongruity.
- Margaret Wyborn — Hattie Winston
Becker's office manager, and one of the few people who can tolerate Becker and his ways, Margaret is a motherly-like figure to Becker and Linda. She is married to the often mentioned but never seen Lewis. She once thought about becoming a singer instead of a nurse. Margaret is a Christian, specifically a Baptist, (indicated when Linda says "Margaret, you're a Baptist right?" and she replied "yes") and often quotes the Bible. Margaret is often the most level-headed character.
- Linda — Shawnee Smith
A dim-witted girl whose surname is never revealed, she works at the doctor's office to establish independence from her wealthy parents, although her help is often of questionable value. Her mother is an alcoholic. She has been out with lots of men, including her on-again/off-again ex-boyfriend Gil, who is frequently mentioned (often in a negative context). Linda is popular with some of the patients, sometimes due to her outfits and her optimistic attitude; mostly kids enjoy her being around when it comes to take shots. She respects John a great deal, often calling him "Doctor" no matter where she is, and has even stuck up for him at a parent/teacher meeting she attended with John to straighten out the "sex talk" he gave to a classroom of little kids. She admires him, and does get along with him when he's having one his few good days. She did grow serious about her career and started reading a few of his text books and found herself being a total know-it-all. She also respects Margaret and is often helped out of a lot of tough situations. She has a soft spot for small animals and loves to go shopping, clubbing, and dating a new guy every week. One of her ex-boyfriends taught her some Mandarin (see the episode "Activate Your Choices").
- Regina "Reggie" Kostas — Terry Farrell
The owner and operator of a diner she inherited from her late father, Reggie is a former model and is unhappy being stuck running a diner. When Becker is away from the office or needs to eat, he can usually be found at her diner. Reggie is torn over her feelings for Becker — she loves him but also hates him at the same time. She is frequently taunted for her poor cooking and drops hints that the Board of Health has issued her warnings before. It appears theat Reggie shows an interest in the field of psychology, mentioning several theories in a number of episodes, to the point where Beker can be quoted to have referred to Reggie in such a manner as "you psychology types." Although disenchanted with her occupation, Reggie does seem to enjoy her customers, allowing Becker, for example, to opperate the register to process his own transactions.
- Jake Malinak — Alex Désert
Becker's best friend, Jake also works at the diner selling newspapers and miscellaneous items such as candy, magazines, cigarettes, gum, etc. Jake is blind following a car accident several years before. He lived with his grandmother as a youngster and was close to her before she died. Jake married a woman, Amanda (played by Lindsay Price), 24 hours after they met but they got the marriage annulled, deciding to live together instead. Amanda left Jake after 2 and a half years, taking all his possessions with her. The show ends with him going off to college in Chicago and stay with a relative who teaches at the University.
- Bob — Saverio Guerra
Bob loiters at the diner and is of Italian descent. He is an old high school classmate of Reggie's who is short, annoying, and refers to himself in the third person. Bob is a sex addict who also desperately wants to have sex with Reggie. Bob becomes the superintendent of Becker's apartment building in the third season, although he tries to do as little work as he can. As with Linda, Bob's last name is never revealed, although we do discover his middle name is Benito. Bob was a recurring character for the first two seasons, and was made a main character for Seasons 3 through 5. Although he avoids his job as a super at Becker's building, one of his few talents is that he is an excellent cook. Despite the food at Reggie's Diner being sub quality, he is still able to cook very well.
[edit] New characters after Season 4
- Chris Connor — Nancy Travis joined the show as the new neighbor who moves to the Bronx after traveling the world. Chris, originally supposed to be in the show for only 4 episodes, joined the show at the end of Season 4 and became a regular cast member in Season 5 after the producers of the show decided to replace Reggie with Chris. Chris takes over the diner and begins a love-hate relationship with Becker. She is his opposite — always nice and cheerful, but they eventually got together by the end of the series.
- Hector Lopez — Jorge Garcia is a friend of Jake. He was a cast member only during the sixth season and served as a replacement of sorts for Bob (Saverio Guerra did not renew his contract for the final season).
- Dirk Henderson - Jim Gaffigan was an obnoxious dictionary salesman-turned pro bass fisherman. In his first appearance, it is revealed that he was a one-time classmate of Becker at Harvard Medical School, but dropped out to pursue his lifelong dream of being a bass fisherman. The character was wildly unpopular and was killed in an implausible motor scooter accident in his second appearance.
[edit] Plot
The show revolved around Becker and the things that annoyed him, although the supporting cast also had their moments. The relationships between Becker and Reggie (later, Kris) formed the key plots of many episodes.
The show tackled more serious issues as well, such as race, homosexuality, AIDS, Cerebral AVM, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and political correctness.
[edit] Reception
Though a failure among television critics, the show performed well for its first four seasons, piggybacking off the ratings of its lead-in, Everybody Loves Raymond. However, CBS moved it to Sunday in 2002, and its ratings deteriorated quickly, eventually forcing the network to put it on hiatus. CBS had planned to cancel it after the fifth season, but gave it a last-minute reprieve because of a dearth of promising comedy pilots. Becker's sixth season was to be as a midseason replacement for the 2003-2004 season, and thus only 13 episodes were ordered. Despite this, CBS' comedy lineup forced them to move Becker's debut to the fall, where the show was moved to Wednesday and paired up with The King of Queens. Ratings remained low, and the show finished out its run in January 2004, after 129 episodes.
[edit] Terry Farrell's dismissal
Nancy Travis was originally signed for a four-episode story arc at the end of season four. She became a series regular, however, when Terry Farrell was inexplicably fired between the fourth and fifth seasons. The reason for Farrell's dismissal remains unclear. She has told interviewers that it came as a complete shock to her and that she is unsure of exactly why it happened, although she reportedly led a strike among the show's cast. It is thought that her romance with co-star Ted Danson may have also played a role in her dismissal.
[edit] Cast
- Ted Danson - Dr. John Becker
- Terry Farrell - Regina 'Reggie' Kostas (1998-2002)
- Hattie Winston - Margaret Wyborn
- Shawnee Smith - Linda
- Alex Désert - Jake Malinak
- Saverio Guerra - Bob (1998-2003)
- Nancy Travis - Chris Connor (2002-2004)
- Jorge Garcia - Hector Lopez (2003-2004)
[edit] Trivia
- In the series finale, Margaret tells Becker that "Mr. Nielsen is in room one," to which he replies, "I don't see what the problem is, these numbers aren't that bad" -- a reference to the Nielsen ratings that led to the show's cancellation.
- In the same episode, Becker gets into a brief argument with a patient regarding whether or not she had met the Roosevelts. Becker ends the conversation by saying, "I pity the poor bastard who's married to her." The joke is that Mary Steenburgen, the woman he argues with, is an actress who starred in Ragtime, the 1981 movie about the election of President Theodore Roosevelt. She is also Ted Danson's wife.
- In the fourth episode of the third season an altercation takes place between Becker and a female interest said to mimic the conversation had by the show's key demographic. In this scene Becker berates his female companion saying "All you do is talk, I just want to watch my favorite show, Doogie Howser, M.D.." It was believed by the show's producers that this conversation takes place in many homes across the country whenever Becker is on.
- At the end of an early season episode, Becker returns to his office to find Ray Barone (Ray Romano), Hilton Lucas (Bill Cosby), and Doug Heffernan (Kevin James) waiting in his waiting room- a small crossover reflecting CBS' Monday night lineup (which consisted of Cosby, where Hilton Lucas came from, The King of Queens, which explains Doug Heffernan's appearance, and Everybody Loves Raymond, of which Ray Barone was the title character). This scene, however, has been cut from the syndicated airings.
[edit] International Broadcaster and Syndication
- Australia - Network Ten and TV1
- Germany - Sat.1
- India - Star World
- Malaysia - Star World
- Middle East - MBC 4
- South Africa - M-NET
- Spain - Paramount Comedy
- Sweden - Kanal 5
- Thailand - UBC Series and Star World
- Turkey - ComedyMax
- United Kingdom - Five/Paramount Comedy 1
- United States - TBS (2005-2006), WGN Superstation
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Becker at the Internet Movie Database
Categories: Articles lacking sources from October 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Sitcoms | 1998 television program debuts | 1990s American television series | 2000s American television series | CBS network shows | Television series by CBS Paramount Television | Television shows set in New York | Television series named after fictional characters
