If you’re like me the odds are that certain series fall
through the cracks in your viewing habits. For one reason or another, either
your work schedule or the amount of time you have to watch TV, you miss a series
when if originally airs. In some cases that’s a good thing. Then there are the
other times when you regret not having enjoyed a show from the start. I recall
even now not watching the first season of BIG BANG THEORY because the initial
episode didn’t draw me in. Now I never miss it.
Such was the case for me with BECKER, the series that
featured Ted Danson as Dr. John Becker. I never tuned in when it first aired.
At the time I think I had grown weary of activists actors and Danson was among
those. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the right to do so but for me hearing
actors pontificate about the topics of the day didn’t appeal to me. So rather
than take the chance he would use a new series as a vehicle to do so I just
didn’t watch. It wasn’t until I later saw reruns of the series that I realized
what I had missed.
The series revolves around Danson’s character Becker. Becker
is a cantankerous doctor in New York City who seems to like absolutely no one.
Imagine Archie Bunker but more confrontational and vocal. In return few people
like Becker as well. Or so all of this seems the case on the surface. In
reality Becker is a doctor who honestly cares about his patients and those who
work for him. In return while they tire of putting up with his rapid fire rants
they have an affection for him as well.
Alongside Danson as Becker we have his long standing nurse
and office manager Margaret Wyborn (Hattie Winston) who has no problem telling
Becker where to get off if he gets out of hand. There is Linda (Shawnee Smith),
a younger worker in the office who has the job because she doesn’t mind Becker
and tolerates him. Hers is a somewhat bubble headed character but loveable all
the same. Perhaps the only true friend Becker has is in Jake Malinak (Alex
Desert), a blind news stand vendor who operates out of the diner Becker
frequents. That diner’s owner, Regina (Terry Ferrell) also tolerates Becker.
Original plans were to have Regina and Becker develop a romantic interest in
one another but fearful of Sam and Diane comparisons the producers nixed the
idea.
What makes the show work is the ensemble that melds together
so well here. That’s always a high bench mark to find in a series and they do
it with perfection here. The characters are well rounded and believable in the
world of sitcoms. But more than believable they are characters that you come to
care about, another item that can make or kill a series. It may be Becker’s
brush attitude and rants about people’s driving abilities that get the belly
laughs but it is the heartfelt moment he displays alone in his apartment or
when he shows at a patient’s house to regale him with why he needs to pay
strict attention to his instructions that make him a character we can love no
matter how gruff that exterior might be.
Characters are written on paper but given life by the actors
who portray them. A bad performance can make a character seem wooden,
unsympathetic or just one you don’t care about. None of the actors on hand here
fall into that category. Each of them takes the role they’ve been offered here
and knocks it out of the park. Even Nancy Travis who was brought in on season
four replacing Farrell and creating that love interest for Becker does an
exceptional job, a tough thing to do when another actress is departing.
With the series now available in complete format it means
those who loved the series can sit back and enjoy each and every episode they
loved when it first aired. For others like myself it means I can now watch them
at my leisure and enjoy each moment as if it were new since to me it actually
is. As I’ve progressed through episode after episode I find myself laughing out
loud in nearly each one. And I know that with this collection on my shelf I’ll
be going back to do so again and again. It really is that good. This box set is
definitely worth adding to your collection.
Click here to order.
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