Dr. Ken

Dr. Ken
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Jared Stern Ken Jeong John Fox
Starring	Ken Jeong Suzy Nakamura Tisha Campbell-Martin Jonathan Slavin Albert Tsai Krista Marie Yu Kate Simses Dave Foley
Composer(s)	Gabriel Mann
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Ken Jeong John Davis John Fox Jared Stern Mike Sikowitz Mike O'Connell
Camera setup	Multiple-camera
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Old Charlie Productions Davis Entertainment ABC Studios Sony Pictures Television
Distributor	Disney-ABC Domestic Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	720p (16:9 HDTV)
Original release	October 2, 2015 – present
External links
Website

Dr. Ken is an American multi-camera sitcom created, written, and co-executive produced by its lead actor, Ken Jeong, who based the concept on his experience as a doctor prior to becoming a stand-up comedian. The ABC Studios/Sony Pictures Television co-production was picked up to series on May 7, 2015,^[1][2] and debuted on ABC on October 2, 2015.^[3][4] On October 20, 2015, ABC ordered a full season of 22 episodes for the first season.^[5]

Summary

The series chronicles the life of a wisecracking Korean physician who works at a badly-run HMO. He has a therapist wife, a brilliant but socially clueless son, and a popular and self-centered daughter.

Cast

Main

• Ken Jeong as Dr. Kendrick "Ken" Park.^[6] Ken is a constantly-joking, narcissistic, sometimes-thoughtless resident doctor employed at Welltopia Medical Group. He loves his family and coworkers, but is often oblivious to their feelings. He has a younger sister, Dr. Wendi (Margaret Cho), who he is jealous of.
• Suzy Nakamura as Dr. Allison Park.^[6] Allison is Ken's intelligent wife and mother to Molly and Dave. She is a trained therapist and often gives Ken advice about his life. Her children have a tendency to treat her with more respect than Ken. Allison is often exasperated with Ken's antics and pushes him to become a better man, although she occasionally becomes fed up with him.
• Tisha Campbell-Martin as Damona Watkins.^[6] Damona is the sassy and loud-mouthed office manager of Welltopia where Dr. Ken works. While she is technically under the jurisdiction of Dr. Park, she is seen as his equal in the office. She develops a sexual relationship with Pat, although she hates herself for it. It is revealed that she controls the schedules and vacation days for the office.
• Jonathan Slavin as Clark Leslie Beavers.^[6] Clark is a registered nurse who works with Ken and is usually his most devoted fan in the office. He is openly gay and prone to speaking in a loud volume when nervous or scared. He is a bit of a drama queen and can overreact to many situations. He is good friends with Damona and Dr. Julie Dobbs.
• Albert Tsai as Dave Park.^[6] Dave is Ken's ten-year old son who is considered "odd" among his peers and family. Though intelligent, he has a number of strange quirks, such as biting people when he feels cornered and conserving water to a drastic measure for the drought. When he is sad, he will eat food without utensils in bed. It is implied numerous times that he is not popular in school. Ken and Allison often attempt to bribe him with pizza.
• Krista Marie Yu as Molly Park.^[6] Molly is Ken's sixteen-year old daughter and a typical American teenager, obsessed with hanging out with friends, texting, and boys. She has several love interests throughout the series and has a habit of disobeying her parents. While she shows dislike toward her parents and brother, she does have some affection toward her family.
• Kate Simses as Dr. Julie Dobbs.^[7] Julie is Ken's protege and a trained doctor, although she is unsure of herself. She speaks in a nervous, high-pitched voice and is referred to as "fragile" by both herself and coworkers. She has a tendency to keep on talking when she's nervous, divulging Ken's secrets. She is an extremely thorough worker, to the point of spending three hours with a patient.
• Dave Foley as Pat Hein.^[6] Ken's boss and the manager of Welltopia, Pat is an insensitive and slightly racist man who often is the butt of the joke. He considers himself a benevolent dictator among his coworkers, although is shown to be duped on several occasions. After separating from his wife, he lives on a house boat parked outside his ex-wife's house and fancies himself as a ladies' man, although he only succeeds in sleeping with Damona.

Recurring

• Marques Ray as Juan-Julio, the parking garage attendant at Welltopia
• Dana Lee as D.K. Park, Ken's stern father
• Alexis Rhee as In-Sook Park, Ken's mother

Guest stars

• Margaret Cho as Dr. Wendi Park, Ken's sister, a talk show host.^[8]
• Dr. Oz as himself^[9]
• Joel McHale as Ross
• Danny Pudi as Topher
• Jim Rash as Devon Drake
• Ian Chen as Henry
• Randall Park as Gary Chon
• George Wyner as Dicky Wexler
• Jeff Ross as Doug

Reception

Dr. Ken has received very negative reviews from television critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 7% approval rating, based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 2.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "Somebody please get Dr. Ken a doctor; seeking any signs of life. Or humor."^[10] On Metacritic, the series has a score of 26 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."^[11]

Indiewire TV Critic Ben Travers and TV Editor Liz Shannon Miller, both negatively ranked the trailer released for Dr. Ken.^[12] Marc Berman of TV Media Insights gave the new series very low odds of survival.^[13] Greg Braxton reported in a Los Angeles Times article that during the Television Critics Association press tour when one critic compared the series to All American Girl starring Margaret Cho that Ken Jeong defended his series claiming he would have more creative control as both a writer and producer of Dr. Ken.^[14]

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	Scott Ellis	Story by: Jared Stern & Ken Jeong & John Fox Teleplay by: Jared Stern & Ken Jeong & Mike O'Connell	October 2, 2015	100	6.71[15]
Ken's job is threatened after he makes fun of a patient who believed he just have a small hemorrhoid. Ken's daughter, Molly, passes her driving test, so Ken decides to put a GPS on her, which Allison disapproves of. Ken gets arrested at a rave and while in jail with Clark, he learns that Molly ended her friendship with Avery. At Welltopia, Ken receives an apology from the patient who got a colonoscopy treatment that he recommended, which proved to really be a serious polyp that would've proved fatal had Ken not cared about the patient's well being by being tough on him.
2	"The Seminar"	Scott Ellis	Mary Fitzgerald	October 9, 2015	103	5.72[16]
After Clark writes a patient complain form against Ken and he's forced to take a bedside manners seminar, they become enemies. Damona and Julie must team up and help Ken and Clark reconcile. Ken's parents visit his house, and Allison is forced to deal with them while Ken's away.
3	"Ken Helps Pat"	Andy Cadiff	Matthew Libman & Daniel Libman	October 16, 2015	102	5.76[17]
When Pat forces everyone to work on Saturdays, Ken tries to get him to change his mind, only to realize Pat's gonna shoot a nail into his toe to win his wife back. When Dave receives a nickname at school, Allison and Ken are on opposite sides over how to handle it.
4	"Kevin O'Connell"	Mark Cendrowski	Paul A. Kaplan & Mark Torgove	October 23, 2015	106	5.97[18]
When the gang is invited to a banquet honoring Allison's ex-boyfriend Kevin O'Connell (Will Yun Lee), Molly and Dave wonder if Ken is their real dad. Molly has to decide what she wants to be for a school project, but she's having trouble deciding what to be.
5	"Halloween Aversary"	Anthony Rich	Erik Sommers	October 30, 2015	105	5.77[19]
It's Halloween, so Ken decides to redo his proposal from 20 years ago. When he and Allison get into a fight, it's up to Clark to save the proposal redo. Julie accidentally gives Pat a fentanyl lollipop, so Damona helps her work up the courage to tell him. Molly accidentally wrecks Ken's prized plastic skeleton named Gary and must enlist Dave's help to fix him.
6	"Ken Teaches Molly a Lesson"	Andy Cadiff	Mike Sikowitz	November 6, 2015	101	5.38[20]
After Molly drinks at her friends' party, Ken teaches her the dangers of alcohol. When Allison discovers they haven't had fun together, she invites Dave to a book reading.
7	"Dr. Wendi: Coming to L.A.!"	Ken Whittingham	Hilary Winston	November 13, 2015	104	5.26[21]
Ken's sister, Dr. Wendi Park (Margaret Cho) invites him to be on her talk show, but they end up arguing on TV. Ken and Wendi's parents reprimand the two for their behavior.
8	"Thanksgiving Culture Clash"	Ken Whittingham	Mike O'Connell	November 20, 2015	107	6.07[22]
Ken and Allison suffer estrangement when both their families come for Thanksgiving, leading to a culture clash between them. Molly gets a Japanese Kanji tattoo, which angers both parents. Dave must do a class assignment on his family's Thanksgiving traditions.
9	"Ken Cries Foul"	Rob Schiller	Mike Sikowitz	December 4, 2015	109	5.32[23]
Ken gets frustrated when Dave wants to skip his basketball game, preferring to attend a community meeting on water conservation instead. Ken later realizes that his son's happiness is more important than a basketball game.
10	"The Master Scheduler"	Beth McCarthy-Miller	Paul O'Toole & Andy St. Clair	December 11, 2015	108	4.80[24]
Allison is excited about an upcoming trip to Hawaii over New Year's weekend, but there is a problem: Ken forgot to submit a form to Damona to get the time off from work. Damona says there is no way she'll be able to get late approval from the "Master Scheduler", which turns out to be a position she just made up.
11	"Delayed in Honolulu"	Anthony Rich	Mike Sikowitz	January 8, 2016	113	5.40[25]
Ken and his family are delayed at Honolulu Airport, where Ken makes a bad impression on fellow passenger Dr. Oz and clashes with an airline booking attendant. With Dr. Ken away, Julie is put in charge of the clinic on "Black Monday" (the first work day after the holidays), and her slow, deliberate method of treating patients starts to annoy Damona and Clark. Allison finds herself annoyed with Molly texting her boyfriend, and tries to show her another example. Dave wins money playing poker with some college kids, and gets to board early by bribing the attendant with the few bucks he won.
12	"Ken's Physical"	Victor Gonzalez	Paul A. Kaplan & Mark Torgrove	January 15, 2016	111	5.28[26]
When Allison gets upset that Ken hasn't had a physical in years, Julie arranges to do the physical in order to prove her skills. Damona pulls a prank on Clark at work, and Clark's attempt to prank her back fails miserably. Meanwhile, Molly is having trouble landing a job to pay for a ski trip, due to her being fired consistently. Ken must also deal with Dave being invited to dinner with the camera crew that is shooting a commercial next door, then having dinner with Barb and her husband, Andy, whom Ken dislikes.
13	"D.K. and the Dishwasher"	Scott Ellis	Mary Fitzgerald	January 29, 2016	114	5.13[27]
Ken's stern father spends two weeks with the family, and starts to make his son feel inadequate by fixing all the things on Ken's lengthy to-do list while also usurping Ken's fatherly role. At the office, Damona reveals that she and Pat slept together after getting drunk at a party. Though insisting it was a one-time thing, Damona is still hurt when Pat announces that the incident inspired him to get back together with his wife.
14	"Dave's Valentine"	Anthony Rich	Paul O'Toole & Andy St. Clair	February 5, 2016	116	4.81[28]
Dave wants to take a girl in his class to a Valentine's Day dance, but Ken is against it because the girl's dad is an ambulance-chasing lawyer (Joel McHale) who once took Ken to court. Elsewhere, Damona and Pat attend Julie's Valentine's Day party as a couple, where Damona also helps Julie stand up to her unreliable boyfriend, Topher (Danny Pudi).
15	"The Wedding Sitter"	Anthony Rich	Daniel Libman & Matthew Libman	February 19, 2016	112	4.89[29]
Ken and Allison are invited to a wedding for one of Ken's coworkers, where Allison finally reveals she hates it when Ken is a "selfish dancer". Damona, Julie and Clark are all invited at the last minute, but they wind up at the wrong reception, forcing Clark to leave a guy he just met when the group is thrown out. At home, Molly doesn't want to babysit Dave, so she gets an elderly neighbor to watch him. Dave then gets his Asian American friend Henry (Ian Chen from Fresh Off the Boat) to come over so he can leave the house too, hoping the senile old woman won't notice the switch.
16	"Meeting Molly's Boyfriend"	Victor Gonzalez	Nicole Sun	February 26, 2016	110	5.12[30]
Ken is impressed with Molly's new boyfriend Sean but when Allison talks to Sean's mom (who is one of her patients), it appears that Sean is cheating on Molly with a girl named Chloe. After Ken tries to get Sean to confess, Molly reveals she had an "overlap" with her old boyfriend and Sean because she thought Sean was still with Chloe. Because of this incident, Ken learns that Allison had an overlap with him and an old boyfriend twenty years ago when they first dated. At work, Pat tries to butter up the staff to give him good performance reviews.
17	"Ken at the Concert"	Scott Ellis	Nicole Sun	March 4, 2016	115	4.75[31]
Ken gets Molly tickets to a concert by a popular boy band when he feels like he doesn't spend enough time with her, but she pushes him away when he embarrasses her in front of her friends. Meanwhile, Damona tries to break up with Pat, and Dave steps on a nail and goes to drastic measures to avoid getting a tetanus shot.
18	"Dicky Wexler's Last Show"	Mark Cendrowski	Erik Sommers	March 11, 2016	117	4.53[32]
Ken is delighted when his long-time favorite patient/comedian Dicky Wexler (George Wyner) comes in for a checkup. Unfortunately, tests reveal that Dicky’s cancer has come back and he must stay at the hospital, keeping him from performing what was going to be his last stand-up show. But Ken is determined to get Dicky what he wants! Meanwhile, Allison runs into a former patient coming out of another therapist’s office, causing her to question her own abilities and friendship with the woman.
19	"Ken's an Expert Witness"	Jean Sagal	Mike O'Connell	March 18, 2016	118	5.23[33]
When Ken is invited to be a medical expert witness at a trial, his confidence level, normally quite high anyway, goes through the roof. However, when the plaintiff’s lawyer (guest star Jim Rash) hammers him and shreds his credibility on the stand, Ken’s confidence wavers. With the help of the HMO staff, Ken regains his swagger, both in and out of the courtroom. Meanwhile at home, Allison helps Dave sew a replica designer dress for Molly, in the hopes of winning her respect and appreciation. Also, Julie accompanies Juan-Julio to his lip-synch show and becomes part of his act, making her think Juan-Julio likes her romantically.
20	"Dave's Sex Talk"	Eric Dean Seaton	Hilary Winston	April 8, 2016	119	4.68[34]
Dave gets an impromptu birds-and-the-bees talk from Julie after Ken has been avoiding it, but he's not off the hook with Allison when she learns he took full credit. Meanwhile, Clark thinks his boyfriend is about to break up with him, and he gets dubious advice from Pat on how to handle the situation.
21	"Korean Men's Club"	Anthony Rich	Farhan Arshad	April 15, 2016	121	4.70[35]
Ken, at the insistence of Allison, reluctantly joins a civics-minded community group – but it may not be what it seems. Elsewhere, the HMO staff sees that Pat is living in his office and, despite Clark's vehement objections, Julie tells Pat about an available apartment in Clark's building.
22	"Ken Tries Stand-Up"	Anthony Rich	Richard Lowe	April 22, 2016	120	4.59[36]
A visit from Ken's college friend Doug (guest star Jeff Ross), a touring stand-up comedian, ultimately spurs Ken to pursue his own lifelong dream of stand-up comedy. But when he tries to come up with material, he quickly realizes it's not as easy as he thought, and his appearance at an open mic event doesn't initially go as planned. Meanwhile, D.K. tries to get Dave to exercise more by offering to buy him a video game if his grandson can beat him at various physical challenges.

References

1. "Development Update: Thursday, May 7 – Three New Comedies Heading to Series at ABC". The Futon Critic. May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
2. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (May 7, 2015). "'The Muppets', Comedy from 'Community' Star Ken Jeong Among ABC Orders". Variety. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
3. "Official Disney ABC press release - Dr. Ken". DisneyABCpress.com. June 10, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
4. Friedlander, Whitney (June 10, 2015). "ABC Sets Fall Premiere Dates for 'Muppets,' 'Wicked City,' 'TGIT' & More". Variety. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
5. Porter, Rick (October 20, 2015). "'Dr. Ken' lands a full-season order from ABC". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
6. "About Dr. Ken TV Show Series". ABC.com. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
7. Petski, Denise (August 13, 2015). "Kate Simses Joins ABC's 'Dr. Ken' As Series Regular". Deadline.com. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
8. "'Dr. Ken' Casting Scoop: Margaret Cho to Play Ken Jeong's Sister". yahoo.com. 26 August 2015.
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12. Liz Shannon Miller and Ben Travers (12 May 2015). "ABC Fall 2015 Trailers Ranked: 'The Catch,' 'Muppets,' 'Q - Indiewire". Indiewire.
13. "'Dr. Ken' (ABC) - Odds of Survival: 6-1 - TV Media Insights - TV Ratings & News - Network TV Show Reviews and Daily Ratings". TV Media Insights – TV Ratings & News – Network TV Show Reviews and Daily Ratings.
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External links

• Official website
• Dr. Ken at the Internet Movie Database