Disney+ announces ‘Doogie Howser’ reboot, set in Hawaii
Hawaii will be returning to the entertainment scene in the near future after Disney+ confirmed Thursday it will be producing a Hawaii-based reboot of “Doogie Howser, M.D.” for its streaming service.
The show, which has been given a working title of “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.,” will go into production later this year for a 10-episode run, according to a Disney+ release. Mention of the comedy first surfaced in the spring.
Disney+ said the show will follow Lahela “Doogie” Kamealoha, “a mixed race 16-year-old girl, juggling a budding medical career and life as a teenager.” Her parents will be a “spit-fire Irish mother” who supervises her at the hospital, and a Hawaiian “Local Boy” father struggling to accept that his daughter is coming of age.
“Doogie Howser, M.D.,” which also explored the trials and tribulations of a teenage doctor, ran on ABC from 1989 to 1993 and helped launch the career of Neil Patrick Harris.
Disney+ said the show will be “set in modern-day Hawaii,” but it is unclear whether it will be shot in Hawaii. There will be a local connection in executive producer and writer Kourtney Kang, who was born in Hawaii. Kang was nominated for an Emmy for her work as a producer for “How I Met Your Mother,” which starred Harris, and was co-executive producer of “Fresh of the Boat,” a comedy about an Asian American family living in Florida in the 1990s.
No mention was made of casting for the new show.