Dr. Ken

Dr. Ken is an American multi-camera sitcom that aired on ABC from October 2, 2015 to March 31, 2017.[1][2] The series was created, written, and co-executive produced by its lead actor, Ken Jeong, who based the concept on his experience as a doctor prior to becoming a stand-up comedian. This television show was an ABC Studios/Sony Pictures Television co-production.[3][4]

Dr. Ken
GenreSitcom
Created by
Starring
ComposerGabriel Mann
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes44 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Ken Jeong
  • John Davis
  • John Fox
  • Jared Stern
  • Mike Sikowitz
  • Mike O'Connell
Production locationsSony Pictures Studios, Culver City, California
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes
Production companies
DistributorSony Pictures Television
Release
Original networkABC
Picture format720p (16:9 HDTV)
Original releaseOctober 2, 2015 (2015-10-02) –
March 31, 2017 (2017-03-31)
External links
Website

On October 20, 2015, ABC ordered a full season of 22 episodes for the first season.[5] On May 12, 2016, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 23, 2016.[6] On May 11, 2017, ABC cancelled the series after two seasons.[7]

Premise

Dr. Ken is about a Korean-American doctor (Ken Jeong), with a questionable bedside manner; his wife, a talented therapist (Suzy Nakamura); and his two children: son Dave (Albert Tsai) and daughter Molly (Krista Marie Yu).

Cast

Main
Ken Jeong and Suzy Nakamura interviewed on Sidewalks in 2017.
  • Ken Jeong as Dr. Kendrick "Ken" Park.[8] Ken is a constantly-joking, narcissistic, sometimes-thoughtless general practitioner employed at Welltopia Medical Group. He loves his family and coworkers but is often oblivious to their feelings. He has a younger sister, Dr. Wendi (Margaret Cho), of whom he is jealous.
  • Suzy Nakamura as Dr. Allison Park (née Kuramata).[8] Allison is Ken's intelligent Japanese-American wife and mother to Molly and Dave. She is a trained therapist/psychiatrist and often gives Ken advice about his life. Her children have a tendency to treat her with more respect than Ken. Allison usually tolerates Ken's antics, using them as an opportunity to push him to become a better man, although she occasionally becomes fed up with him.
  • Tisha Campbell-Martin as Damona Watkins.[8] Damona is the sassy and loud-mouthed office manager at Welltopia where Dr. Ken works. While she is technically under the jurisdiction of Dr. Park, she is seen as his equal in the office. She develops a sexual relationship with Pat, although she hates herself for it. It is revealed that she controls the schedules and vacation days for the office.
  • Jonathan Slavin as Clark Leslie Beavers.[8] Clark is a registered nurse who works with Ken and is usually his most devoted fan in the office. He is openly gay and prone to speaking in a loud volume when nervous or scared. He is a bit of a drama queen and can overreact to many situations. He is good friends with Damona and Dr. Julie Dobbs.
  • Albert Tsai as Dave Park.[8] Dave is Ken's son, age ten at the start of the series, who is considered "odd" among his peers and family. Though intelligent, he has a number of strange quirks, such as biting people when he feels cornered and conserving water to a drastic measure for the drought. When he is sad, he will eat food without utensils in bed. It is implied numerous times that he is not popular in school. Ken, Allison, and Molly often attempt to bribe him with pizza.
  • Krista Marie Yu as Molly Park.[8] Molly is Ken's daughter, age sixteen at the start of the series, and is a typical American teenager, obsessed with hanging out with friends, texting, and boys, though she is also very studious. She has several love interests throughout the series and has a habit of disobeying her parents. While she often tries to deceive her parents and brother, she does show some affection toward her family.
  • Kate Simses as Dr. Julie Dobbs[9] (season 1). Julie is Ken's protege and a trained doctor, although she is unsure of herself. She speaks in a nervous, high-pitched voice and is referred to as "fragile" by both herself and coworkers. She has a tendency to keep on talking when she's nervous, divulging Ken's secrets. She is an extremely thorough worker, to the point of spending three hours with a patient. On the season 2 premiere, it was revealed that she left the hospital to do a medical internship elsewhere.
  • Dave Foley as Pat Hein.[8] Ken's boss and the manager at Welltopia, Pat is an insensitive and slightly racist man who often is the butt of the joke. Although he considers himself a benevolent dictator among his coworkers, he's shown to be duped on several occasions since Ken, Damona and Clark are well aware that Pat frequently has ulterior motives. After separating from his wife, he lives on a boat parked outside her house. He fancies himself as a ladies' man, although he only succeeds in sleeping with Damona.
  • Dana Lee as D.K. Park, Ken's stern, traditional father (season 2, recurring season 1). In the season 2 premiere, he starts to live in the Park household, saying his wife In-Sook (Ken's mother) left to visit family in Korea for a year. D.K. later confesses he and In-Sook are divorced. As he started living with his son's family, he gets more flexible in adapting to American cultures, such as being in a relationship with an American woman his age, much to Ken's dismay.

Recurring
  • Marques Ray as Juan-Julio, the parking garage attendant at Welltopia
  • Alexis Rhee as In-Sook Park, Ken's mother and D.K.'s ex-wife
  • Stephen Guarino as Connor, Clark's partner and later husband
  • Jerry Minor as Eric, Damona's boyfriend after she moves on from Pat
  • Justin Chon as Jae, Molly's boyfriend in Season 2
  • Zooey Jeong as Emily, Dave's brief girlfriend in Season 2
  • Gillian Vigman as Megan, Pat's brief girlfriend in Season 2

Guest stars

Jeong previously starred alongside guests stars Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jim Rash and Jonathan Banks on the television comedy series Community. In the episode "Ken's Big Audition", Ken auditions for a fictional version of the show, in which Brie, series creator Dan Harmon, and other Community cast members Erik Charles Nielsen, Danielle Kaplowitz, Richard Erdman and Luke Youngblood also appear.[13]

Episodes
Main article: List of Dr. Ken episodes
Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 22 October 2, 2015 (2015-10-02) April 22, 2016 (2016-04-22)
2 22 September 23, 2016 (2016-09-23) March 31, 2017 (2017-03-31)

Reception

Dr. Ken received highly negative reviews from television critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 7% approval rating, based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 2.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "Somebody please get Dr. Ken a doctor; seeking any signs of life. Or humor."[14] On Metacritic, the series has a score of 26 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."[15]

Indiewire TV Critic Ben Travers and TV Editor Liz Shannon Miller, both negatively ranked the trailer released for Dr. Ken.[16] Marc Berman of TV Media Insights gave the new series very low odds of survival.[17] During the 2015 Television Critics Association press tour, Ken Jeong defended against a comparison drawn between his series and the ill-fated All American Girl starring Margaret Cho, claiming that he would have more creative control as both a writer and producer of Dr. Ken.[18]

Ratings
Season Timeslot (ET) Episodes Premiered Ended TV season Rank Viewers
(in millions,
including DVR)
Date Premiere viewers
(in millions)		 Date Finale viewers
(in millions)
1 Friday 8:30 pm 22 October 2, 2015 (2015-10-02) 6.71[19] April 22, 2016 (2016-04-22) 4.59[20] 2015–16 72 6.13[21]
2 22 September 23, 2016 (2016-09-23) 4.02[22] March 31, 2017 (2017-03-31) 4.02[23] 2016–17 86 5.12[24]

References
  1. "Official Disney ABC press release - Dr. Ken". DisneyABCpress.com. June 10, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  2. Friedlander, Whitney (June 10, 2015). "ABC Sets Fall Premiere Dates for 'Muppets,' 'Wicked City,' 'TGIT' & More". Variety. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  3. "Development Update: Thursday, May 7 – Three New Comedies Heading to Series at ABC". The Futon Critic. May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  4. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (May 7, 2015). "'The Muppets', Comedy from 'Community' Star Ken Jeong Among ABC Orders". Variety. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  5. Porter, Rick (October 20, 2015). "'Dr. Ken' lands a full-season order from ABC". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  6. Welch, Alex (May 12, 2016). "'The Real O'Neals', 'The Catch' and 'American Crime' renewed at ABC for 2016-17". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  7. Andreeva, Nellie. "'Secrets & Lies' & 'Dr. Ken' Canceled By ABC". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  8. "About Dr. Ken TV Show Series". ABC.com. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  9. Petski, Denise (August 13, 2015). "Kate Simses Joins ABC's 'Dr. Ken' As Series Regular". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  10. "'Dr. Ken' Casting Scoop: Margaret Cho to Play Ken Jeong's Sister". yahoo.com. 26 August 2015.
  11. "Delayed in Honolulu". The Futon Critic. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  12. "'Dr. Ken' Meets 'Community': On Set With Dan Harmon and Ken Jeong". Yahoo. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  13. "Ken Jeong's 'Dr. Ken' Manages to Reboot 'Community' and Heal Dan Harmon's Rift with Sony at the Same Time". Indiewire. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  14. "Dr. Ken: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  15. "Dr. Ken - Season 1 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  16. Liz Shannon Miller and Ben Travers (12 May 2015). "ABC Fall 2015 Trailers Ranked: 'The Catch,' 'Muppets,' 'Q - Indiewire". Indiewire.
  17. "'Dr. Ken' (ABC) - Odds of Survival: 6-1 - TV Media Insights - TV Ratings & News - Network TV Show Reviews and Daily Ratings". TV Media Insights – TV Ratings & News – Network TV Show Reviews and Daily Ratings.
  18. Los Angeles Times (4 August 2015). "Ken Jeong moves to center stage on ABC comedy 'Dr. Ken'". latimes.com.
  19. Porter, Rick (October 5, 2015). "Friday final ratings: 'Dr. Ken' and 'Hawaii Five-0' adjusted up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  20. Porter, Rick (April 25, 2016). "Friday final ratings: 'The Vampire Diaries' and '20/20' adjust down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  21. "Full 2015–16 TV Season Series Rankings". Deadline Hollywood. May 26, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  22. Porter, Rick (September 26, 2016). "Friday final ratings: 'Hawaii Five-0' adjusts up, 'MacGyver' and 'Exorcist' hold". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  23. Porter, Rick (April 3, 2017). "'Last Man Standing' finale adjusts up, 'The Originals' adjusts down: Friday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  24. "Final 2016-17 TV Rankings: 'Sunday Night Football' Winning Streak Continues". Deadline Hollywood. May 26, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
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