Dr Kildare
 This
popular 60s medical drama gave us a look at life in Blair General
Hospital and story of a young intern trying to learn his
profession, deal with problems of the patients, and win the
respect of the senior doctor in his specialty, internal medicine.
Kildare was the young intern and Dr. Gillespie was his mentor.
The show was originally a series of hour-long self-contained
dramas, and was based on a successful radio series and long
running series of 1940s films starring Lionel Barrymore as Dr
Gillespie and Lew Ayres as Dr Kildare.
It did not flinch from realistic portrayals of hospital life
and the life-and-death aspect of the work.
For the first two years, Kildare was one of a trio of interns.
Dr Argurski, Kildare and Dr Gerson. Later the drama shifted to the
ever warm-eyed James Kildare's relationship with his patients at
Blair Hospital, and, to compete with Peyton Place, its
producer Norman Felton changed it to a continuing serial.
Previously only a bit-part actor, the series changed Richard
Chamberlain's life - he received over 35,000 letters a month and
went on to success on stage, in films and most spectacularly on
television in mini-series such as Shogun and The Thorn
Birds.
A 1972 revival of the show, entitled Young Dr Kildare,
starred Mark Jenkins in the role of Dr James Kildare and focused
on his years as an intern. This series ran for 24 episodes.
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