BECKER (TV SERIES)

'''Becker''' is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from 1998 to 2004. The show starred Ted Danson as the title character, Dr. John Becker, and took place in Bronx, New York, where Becker operates a small medical practice. Although a good physician, Becker is constantly annoyed with his patients, co-workers, friends, and practically everything and everyone else in his world; yet Becker's temper belies a more complex character, his rants often being his way to keep the world from seeing whom he really is — a compassionate idealist afraid to appear emotionally vulnerable.
As a result of his outspoken nature, Becker is inaccessible to most people that do not know him. His patients and friends are nonetheless loyal, because Becker portrays a kind-hearted side that shows that, despite his cantankerous personality, he really does care about them.

Contents

Characters

New characters in Season 5 and 6

Plot

Reception

Terry Farrell's dismissal

Trivia

International Broadcaster and Syndication

See also

References

External links

Characters

★ Ted Danson - Dr. John Becker

★ Terry Farrell - Regina 'Reggie' Kostas (1998-2002)

★ Hattie Winston - Margaret Wyborn

★ Shawnee Smith - Linda

★ Alex Désert - Jake Malinak

★ Saverio Guerra - Bob (1998-2003)

★ Nancy Travis - Chris Connor (2002-2004)

★ Jorge Garcia - Hector Lopez (2003-2004)
For the first four seasons, the main characters were:

★ 'John Becker' — Ted Danson
Becker, a Harvard Medical School graduate, runs a neighborhood medical practice. He is easily annoyed by things such as a flickering street lamp, noisy neighbors, the couple having very loud sex in the apartment above him, or his numerous failed attempts to quit smoking. Becker has a personal superstition that "All midgets are bad luck, whenever I see one, something bad happens to me". He has been married and divorced twice and is very stingy. He likes Chinese food, especially when he gets free coupons for it. He holds liberal views on many political issues but holds no respect for political correctness, and due to his cynical nature, he does not seem to be enthusiastic about any political party. He especially hates Richard Nixon (which cost him a relationship with a long time flame, Megan, whose father split them up after Becker made a nasty comment about Nixon).
Becker also appears to be an atheist; in one episode he states that "God is a concept of man" and that people use religion as a justification for immoral activity. He also openly states that "there is no Larry" (Larry being "God's first name", according to one of Becker's patients). When asked what he believes in, Becker states that he believes in science, and in one episode he tells a priest that he became an atheist, but was raised agnostic. However, Becker has occasionally contradicted himself, such as one episode in which he delights in the fact that "sometimes God just hands you one." His nurse Margaret, who is a Christian, enjoys pointing out this incongruity.

★ 'Margaret Wyborn' — Hattie Winston
Becker's office manager, and one of the few people who can tolerate Becker and his ways, Margaret is a motherly-like figure to Becker and Linda. She is married to the often mentioned but never seen Lewis. She once thought about becoming a singer instead of a nurse. Margaret is a Christian, specifically a Baptist, (indicated when Linda says "Margaret, you're a Baptist right?" and she replied "yes") and often quotes the Bible. Margaret is often the most level-headed character.

★ 'Linda' — Shawnee Smith
A muddle-headed girl whose surname is never revealed, she works at the doctor's office to establish independence from her wealthy parents. Although her help is often of questionable value she can occasionally show surprising competence. She once described herself as being like a spare tire, something that can really come through and save the day when needed, but not someone you want to rely on unless you have to. Her mother is an alcoholic. She has been out with lots of men, including her on-again/off-again ex-boyfriend Gil, who is frequently mentioned (often in a negative context). Linda is popular with some of the patients, sometimes due to her outfits and her optimistic attitude; mostly kids enjoy her being around when it comes to take shots. She respects John a great deal, often calling him "Doctor" no matter where she is, and has even stuck up for him at a parent/teacher meeting she attended with John to straighten out the "sex talk" he gave to a classroom of little kids. She admires him, and does get along with him when he's having one of his few good days. She did grow serious about her career and started reading a few of his text books and found herself being a total know-it-all. She also respects Margaret and is often helped out of a lot of tough situations. She has a soft spot for small animals and loves to go shopping, clubbing, and dating a new guy every week. One of her ex-boyfriends taught her some Mandarin (see the episode "Activate Your Choices").

★ 'Regina "Reggie" Kostas' — Terry Farrell
The owner and operator of a diner she inherited from her late father, Reggie is a former model and is unhappy being stuck running a diner. When Becker is away from his office or apartment, he can almost always be found at her diner. Reggie is torn over her feelings for Becker — she loves him but also hates him at the same time. She is frequently taunted for her poor cooking and drops hints that the Board of Health has issued her warnings before. Although disenchanted with her occupation, Reggie does seem to enjoy her customers and lets them make it a sort of extension of their homes, allowing Becker, for example, to operate the register to access the cigarettes he keeps there. Reggie eventually went on to acquire a degree in psychology but had a panic attack when the jokes of the episode hinged on the uselessness of the degree. In the 5th season's premiere episode titled '''Someone's In The Kitchen with Reggie?''', she and John sleep together because she was jealous of the fact Chris liked John. The following day, she left town, only leaving a message telling everyone that she regretted sleeping with John and that she couldn't face the humiliation of it. She also said that she wanted to pursue a better career for herself. In the following episode titled '''Do The Right Thing''', Jake announced that he received a phone call from her and that she went to Miami to meet up with a few of her modeling friends and that they were going to travel through Europe for a while. (The reason why Reggie was taken out of the show was because Terry Farrell was fired.)

★ 'Jake Malinak' — Alex Désert
Becker's best friend, Jake also works at the diner selling newspapers and miscellaneous items such as candy, magazines, cigarettes, gum, etc. Jake is blind following a car accident several years before. He lived with his grandmother as a youngster and was close to her before she died. Jake married a woman, Amanda (played by Lindsay Price), 24 hours after they met but they got the marriage annulled, deciding to live together instead. Amanda left Jake after 2 and a half years, taking all his possessions with her. The show ends with him going off to college in Chicago and staying with a relative who teaches at the University.

★ 'Bob' — Saverio Guerra
Bob loiters at the diner and is of Italian descent. He is an old high school classmate of Reggie's who is short, annoying, and refers to himself in the third person. Bob is a sex addict who also desperately wants to have sex with Reggie. Bob becomes the superintendent of Becker's apartment building in the third season, although he tries to do as little work as he can. As with Linda, Bob's last name is never revealed, although we do discover his middle name is Benito. Bob was a recurring character for the first two seasons, and was made a main character for Seasons 3 through 5. Although he avoids his job as a building superintendent at Becker's building, one of his few talents is that he is an excellent cook. Despite the food at Reggie's Diner being sub quality, he is still able to cook very well. Bob disappeared after the fifth season. His absence was explained by Jake in the Season 6 premiere episode in which Jake claimed he went on a vacation. He was never referred to again. (The reason Bob was taken out of the show was because Saverio Guerra decided not to renew his contract for the sixth season.)

New characters in Season 5 and 6

★ 'Chris Connor' — Nancy Travis
Chris Connor joined the show as the new neighbor who moves to the Bronx after traveling the world. Chris, originally supposed to be in the show for only 4 episodes, joined the show at the end of Season 4 and became a regular cast member in Season 5. Chris takes over the diner and begins a love-hate relationship with Becker. She is his total opposite — always nice and cheerful, but they eventually got together by the end of the series.

★ 'Hector Lopez' — Jorge Garcia
Hector Lopez is a friend of Jake. Jake knew Hector as a little brother of one of his childhood friends. When Jake talked about him as kid, he said that he would do anything to get money including selling his parents' condoms, to which he responded by saying, "Hey, those weren’t scams, they were business ventures. Besides I got a baby sister out of it." He was a cast member only during the sixth season and served as a replacement of sorts for Bob (Saverio Guerra did not renew his contract for the 6th seasons).

Plot

The show revolved around Becker and the things that annoyed him, although the supporting cast also had their moments. The relationships between Becker and Reggie (later, Chris) formed the key plots of many episodes.
The show tackled more serious issues as well, such as race, homosexuality, AIDS, Cerebral AVM, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and political correctness.

Reception

Though a failure among television critics, the show performed well for its first four seasons, piggybacking off the ratings of its lead-in, ''Everybody Loves Raymond''. However, CBS moved the show to Sunday in 2002, and its ratings deteriorated quickly, eventually forcing the network to put it on hiatus. CBS had planned to cancel it after the fifth season, but gave it a last-minute reprieve because of a dearth of promising comedy pilots. Becker's sixth season was to be as a mid season replacement for the 2003-2004 season, and thus only 13 episodes were ordered. Despite this, CBS' comedy lineup forced them to move ''Becker's debut to the fall, where the show was moved to Wednesday and paired up with ''The King of Queens''. Ratings remained low, and the show finished out its run in January 2004, after 129 episodes.

Terry Farrell's dismissal

Between the fourth and fifth seasons,Terry Farrell was fired.^[1] The reason for Farrell's dismissal remains unclear. She has told interviewers that it came as a complete shock to her and that she is unsure of exactly why it happened, although she reportedly led a strike among the show's cast. After Terry's dismissal, actress Nancy Travis was hired to play Chris Connor, the new neighbor in Becker's apartment building who moves to the Bronx after traveling the world. Nancy, originally supposed to be in the show for only 4 episodes, became a series regular after the firing of Terry Farrell. Chris takes over the diner and begins a love-hate relationship with Becker.

Trivia

★ In the series finale, Margaret tells Becker that "Mr. Nielsen is in room one," to which he replies, "I don't see what the problem is, these numbers aren't that bad" -- a reference to the Nielsen ratings that led to the show's cancellation.

★ In the same episode, Becker gets into a brief argument with a patient regarding whether she had met the Roosevelts. Becker ends the conversation by saying, "I pity the poor bastard who's married to her." The joke is that Mary Steenburgen, the woman he argues with, is Ted Danson's wife.

★ In the fourth episode of the third season an altercation takes place between Becker and a female interest said to mimic the conversation had by the show's key demographic. In this scene Becker berates his female companion saying "All you do is talk, I just want to watch my favorite show, Doogie Howser, M.D.." It was believed by the show's producers that this conversation takes place in many homes across the country whenever Becker is on.

★ At the end of an early season episode, Becker returns to his office to find Ray Barone (Ray Romano), Hilton Lucas (Bill Cosby), and Doug Heffernan (Kevin James) waiting in his waiting room- a small crossover reflecting CBS' Monday night lineup (which consisted of ''Cosby'', where Hilton Lucas came from, ''The King of Queens'', which explains Doug Heffernan's appearance, and ''Everybody Loves Raymond'', of which Ray Barone was the title character). This scene, however, has been cut from the syndicated airings.

★ Becker's erratic and irascible bedside manner could be said to form the blueprint for the title character of the later Fox show House, M.D. The two characters have occasionally been compared by critics.[1]Some have gone so far as to say House is a rip-off of Becker.

★ In the ''South Park'' episode "My Future Self n' Me", Butters complains that his future self watches a lot of ''Becker''.

International Broadcaster and Syndication

★ Australia - Network Ten and TV1

★ Germany - Sat.1

★ India - Star World

★ Ireland - RTE

★ Malaysia - Star World

★ Mexico - American Network

★ Middle East - MBC 4

★ New Zealand - TV2

★ Norway - TV2

★ South Africa - M-NET

★ Spain - Paramount Comedy

★ Sweden - Kanal 5

★ Thailand - True Series and Star World

★ Turkey - ComedyMax

★ United Kingdom - Five/Paramount Comedy 1

★ United States - TBS, WGN Superstation

★ Kenya - KBC

See also

★ List of Becker episodes

References

1. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000395/news

External links

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★ Jump The Shark - Becker

★ WGN Superstation - Becker