You’re reading the Watching newsletter. Every week, our team will bring TV and movie recommendations right to your inbox. Enjoy the edition below, and look for future newsletters on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. A charming fish-out-of-water comedy
Dear Watchers,Plunging big-city folks into a quirky small-town setting is a staple of television comedy, a formula that worked as well for “Schitt’s Creek” as it did for “Northern Exposure.” Now it comes to Fox with the charming hourlong dramatic comedy “Best Medicine,” premiering on Sunday at 8 p.m. “Best Medicine” is a remake of the long-running British series “Doc Martin,” and it stars the always reliable Josh Charles as Dr. Martin Best. (The title is a pun, you see.) Martin arrives from Boston in the seaside Maine town of Port Wenn, where he summered as a child, to take over as the local doctor. His taciturn nature immediately clashes with the twee charm of its inhabitants, including the resident pig at the local watering hole and the stray dog who keeps following Martin around. But Dr. Best has a reason for coming home: He is in the midst of a personal crisis, having frozen up while performing surgery back in Boston. Now, he faints at the sight of blood. As with other fish-out-of-water stories, much of the show’s pleasure resides in its cast of colorful locals. Of course there is the love interest, a local schoolteacher named Louisa, played by Abigail Spencer, with whom Charles (who often smoldered in “The Good Wife”) has an immediate chemistry. Louisa just called off her wedding to the dopey sheriff (played by Josh Segarra, one of TV’s finest goofballs), who is himself a highlight. Annie Potts, meanwhile, brings her signature wit to the role of Martin’s tough-talking aunt, a lobster trapper who puts him in his place. “Best Medicine,” developed by Liz Tuccillo, owes a lot to “Gilmore Girls.” Like the fictional Connecticut setting of that series, Stars Hollow, Port Wenn is a small New England town with copious traditions that look absurd to outsiders. It balances all of that cuteness with the spirit of a procedural. In each episode, Martin has to solve a new medical mystery, even though his meddling is often unwanted. Charles anchors everything by making Martin an amusing grump and a passionate medical professional. Of course, Martin starts to soften up toward Port Wenn over time, but predictability is another pleasure of “Best Medicine.” It’s the equivalent of TV comfort food, a cozy way to start the new year. Also this week
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