The Origin Story…

The idea for the TV Doctor podcast was born more than a decade ago when I met my homegirl Tish. We immediately bonded over some experiences we both had, the most significant of which is the loss of a father. When we were first getting to know each other, finding out that we had both lost our dads was a total bonding moment.

So, Grey’s Anatomy was in its third season at this point, and it was completely rocking everyone’s world. There’s NO ONE who wasn’t watching Grey’s back then. There’s an episode in which one of the characters, George, loses his dad. He’s standing outside the hospital, just living in that pain and that grief, and my Woman Crush Everyday (the exquisite Cristina Yang played by the equally exquisite Sandra Oh) comes outside and stands next to him. And after a beat or two, she tells him that there’s a club called “The Dead Dads Club” and she tells him that you can’t be in it until you’re in it. The scene is fairly short, actually, and she doesn’t say anything that’s particularly touching or tender at all. In fact, it’s a little harsh, I guess. But something about that line, that scene, just hit me like a damn bolt of lightning and I called Tish the second the episode ended, and she was trying to call me at the exact same time because, and here’s the thing, that television moment resonated and put a name on this terrible bond we shared. We were members of the Dead Dad’s Club.

Now, I want to be clear here. I’m not suggesting that watching a one-minute scene in Grey’s Anatomy somehow cured the pain of the loss of my dad. Nothing will fix that. I miss him every day. But while TV couldn’t CURE my pain, it did relieve it for a while. It provided my friend and I with a way to talk about our pain in a way we hadn’t considered. We laughed about how abrupt the idea of a Dead Dads Club was, and how much we loved Cristina Yang, and the show in general. It helped. TV helped.

So, that’s the energy I’m trying to bring to y’all. I’m a television critic by nature and nurture, and I promise to use all my training and instinct to “prescribe” the very best show or episode to help you when you’re in need. If you have some “symptoms” and you’re ready for your dose of televisual healing, then you’ve come to the right place. The (TV) Doctor is in!