When screenwriter Kourtney Kang heard that Disney was considering a reboot of the popular 1990s TV show “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” she saw it as a chance to do something personal.
“I always wanted to do a show about my family,” she said. “My dad is Korean, my mom is an Irish Catholic lady from upstate Pennsylvania. My dad’s family is fourth-generation. His family was on the very first boat from Korea to Hawaii, and his family has been in Hawaii all these years.”
Kang thought about how to “connect all these dots” and came up with “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.,” which premieres Wednesday on Disney+. Kang, who was born in Hawaii but moved with her family to Philadelphia as a child, is the creator and executive producer and wrote the premiere episode.
Like the old show, the new “Doogie” features a child genius, Dr. Lahela Kamealoha, played by Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who is juggling a career and adolescence. As in the old show, one parent is a doctor at the hospital where she works, but in the reboot it’s her mother, Dr. Clara Hannon, who is also Lahela’s supervisor, played by Kathleen Rose Perkins.
Veteran actor Jason Scott Lee (“Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” “Mulan”), a Pearl City High graduate, puts his Hawaiian roots on display as Benny Kamealoha, Lahela’s father. Benny, a laid-back local who quit the intense world of business, runs a shave-ice truck. Lahela also has two brothers, whereas the original Doogie was an only child.
The family makeup reflects Kang’s life. She has two brothers and is now mother to three girls.
“The goal was to really take this thing that we all grew up watching and loving and make it our own,” she said.
For “Doogie Kamealoha,” she wanted Hawaii to be more than “a postcard, just a pretty thing in the background.” Some scenes have quaint localisms that might provoke a knowing chuckle from islanders, but potentially broader amusement, even bewilderment, from mainland audiences, like the device Benny uses to tenderize an octopus — a laundry machine.
“My uncle John, in real life, he found a washing machine on the side of the road, and he fixed it up, and he would throw an octopus in there,” said Kang, adding that the scene immediately resonated with a member of the crew. “We all came together with these little specifics that hopefully will make it feel special.”
Kang called Lee “the heart” of the show, not just in portraying the culture of Hawaii, but also as the anchor of the family. “There’s just something about an Asian Hawaiian guy. (They’re) just different from an Asian mainland guy,” she said, “and Jason so encompasses the local spirit.”
Lee, now a Hawaii island resident, had appeared on a few episodes of “Hawaii Five-0” and had a small role in an independent film in Hawaii, but had not worked extensively in Hawaii before. Working on “Doogie Kamealoha” offered the chance for growth as well as self reflection, he said.
“It was such a different character than what I was used to doing, to kind of step into a comedic role,” he said. “Everything about it was refreshing — meeting new people, new cast members and making them part of the ohana, and also being able to share” his knowledge of the islands and island culture.
Lee was also intrigued by the variety of themes that could be addressed in the show, such as parenting, family relationships and career. “There are so many subplots that create this interesting tapestry that’s going on underneath it all, that propels the show forward,” he said.
Perkins was attracted to the show, in part because “it was going to be in Hawaii,” but mainly because she thought it was a “very smart reboot” of the original, set in a different culture and with reversed gender roles. “You don’t have to be a fan of the old show to fall in love with this show,” she said, “but if you were, you still get what you got out of that show.”
She particularly enjoys the show’s portrayal of parents from different backgrounds who bonded over love for family. “They’re not just from different cultures, they’re just wildly different people,” she said. “They have very different natures, and they complement each other so well.
“And they’re aware of it. They’re not annoyed by each other. They’re not that bickering couple that you see on a lot of TV shows.”
Peyton Elizabeth Lee is a veteran Disney performer — she did some commercials for Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, and played the title character in “Andi Mack,” among several projects — who was interested in portraying “a girl stuck between two worlds.”
“I’m not obviously in real life a teenage doctor, but I am a teenage actor, and so I definitely have a unique insight into what it feels like to be a young person in a professional setting, and have those two worlds colliding in a sense,” she said.
For her, the biggest challenge was playing a doctor. Her research into the role included conversations with doctors and studying medical terminology. By the time filming started, “It wasn’t just memorizing a lot of gibberish,” she said. “It was important to me to know what I was saying … and say it in a way that seemed natural, that I said it all the time.”
Lee identified with other aspects of the character. She is biracial — Chinese on her father’s side — and she’s done some surfing as well, though she had to work at it for the show. “I definitely got a lot better, shooting that part of the show,” she said.
“Doogie Kamealoha” is the latest in string of hit shows in Kang’s portfolio. She was co-executive producer for “How I Met Your Mother,” which starred Neil Patrick Harris, the original Doogie Howser, as well as “Fresh Off the Boat,” a sitcom about an Asian American family.
As a child, Kang wanted to be in television or movies but admits, “I’m not a very good actor.” It wasn’t until her final semester in college that she took a playwriting course.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is what I want to do with my life,’ ” she said. She went on to graduate school, studying at the same school as Steven Bochco, the creator of “Doogie Howser.” Then she moved to L.A. and “got anybody I could coffee,” and started submitting scripts to production companies.
“To be able to do this, I think, is a combination of working really, really hard and being really, really lucky,” she said. “It really has very little to do with talent. I think it’s all about how much you want it and how much you want to work for it.”
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WATCH IT
“Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.”
Premieres Wednesday on Disney+.
