Get a Case of the Warm Fuzzies From ‘Best Medicine’s’ First Season

At the conclusion of its first season, Fox’s Best Medicine is a lot like Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. It’s corny and overly optimistic. But it’s full of heart and serves a lighthearted look at the human condition. They even give us a lovely wedding to cry over.

The misanthropic Dr. Best, played by Josh Charles at his surliest, has moments of introspection and human interaction that create fractures in the walls he’s built around his heart and psyche. At the end of the season, though, despite the dog, despite his feelings for Louisa (Timeless’s Abigail Spencer), despite the curious little boy who adopts him as a father-figure, and the receptionist who connects him to and protects him from the world, he is still mostly a curmudgeon. The town of Port Wynn does not magically transform Dr. Best over this season. He is slowly adapting to it, as the townfolk are adapting to him. It’s similar to Dr. Fleischman’s character arc on Northern Exposure. Best Medicine is not as quirky or philosophical as the ’90s cult classic, but it has its moments.

It also doesn’t have the same sense of seriousness as the original British series, Doc. Martin. Martin Clunes does show up in a short arc as Dr. Best’s father, along with Designing Women’s Judith Ivey as his mom in a nice nod to the original. The humor is definitely American. Occasionally purile, the show takes jabs at content creators and teen culture, along with all of the tropes of living in a small town, in a playful way. It is a very unserious show. While Fox occasionally tries its hand at “prestige” dramas, they don’t go high-brow with their comedies, and Best Medicine is no different. It is emotionally intelligent, but the humor veers into “lowest common denominator” territory.

Anyone looking for a medical show should stick with The Pitt. But, if you’re looking for a silly-but-kind distraction from the state of the world, and you’ve already binged all of North of North, Best Medicine should have a place on your watchlist.

In a show with a large ensemble cast, there are some standout performances. Nickelodeon alum Cree (formerly Cree Cicchino) plays Elaine, Dr. Best’s receptionist. The character is meant to skewer influencer and content-creator culture. When we’re introduced to her, Elaine is portrayed as a stereotypical incompetent member of Gen Z. But her enthusiasm constantly draws members of the community into her video projects and gets everyone rooting for her as she decides what direction to take with her life over the course of the season.

Josh Segarra (Abbott Elementary) as the dopey town sheriff, Mark, is very fun to watch. He’s a bumbling idiot who was previously engaged to the town’s favorite school teacher, Louisa. When Dr. Best moves to town, Mark tries his hardest to impress him and make the doctor his friend. There’s an awkward love triangle that develops between Mark, Louisa, and Dr. Best that feels forced and like an artificial way to prolong the will they/won’t they between Dr. Best and Louisa. But Segarra has created a really strong, idiosyncratic character who elicits a lot of sympathy, but also wears his sense of joy on his sleeve.

Jason Veasey (Only Murders In The Building) is the comedic straight man in the show’s only gay couple. He does some great scene work with Stephen Spinella, who plays his romantic and business partner.

There are strong performances all around, including the three teens who play the town’s Greek Chorus. But the actors cannot save the script from being occasionally cringe. Best Medicine falls short of being appointment television, but it might give you a mild case of the warm fuzzies. Which Dr. Best will immediately misdiagnose as something incredibly serious and then realize his error.

All episodes of Best Medicine are available to stream on Hulu.