DON JOHNSON STARS IN “NEW LOVE BOAT” SERIES DOCTOR ODYSSEY

Cruise-ship medical drama picks up where Julie, Isaac, and Captain Stubing left off. 

A brand-new show with a familiar setting launches on September 26, as Miami Vice star Don Johnson joins Fringe and Dawson’s Creek alum Joshua Jackson and Hamilton star Phillipa Soo in a medical procedural aboard a luxury cruise ship. 

Showrunner Ryan Murphy, the producer behind 9-1-1, American Horror Story, and Glee, helms the ABC/Hulu drama, which pits its all-star cast against a steady stream of health situations, extreme weather, and interpersonal entanglements miles from shore. 

“I guess you can break the Ryan Murphy universe into the outrageous side and the scary side — and we are very much on the outrageous side,” Jackson said in a recent interview. “So, it’s a show built for fun to be enjoyed. It’s gonna look beautiful.”

Jackson plays Dr. Max Bankman, a well-meaning medical professional who decides to take to the sea after a near-death COVID-19 experience. Johnson plays the gruff, seen-it-all Captain Robert Masse , while Soo takes on the role of the ship’s Nurse Avery Morgan who becomes a love interest of Bankman’s. Sean Teale (Reign, The Gifted) fills out the medical staff as smolderingly handsome Nurse Tristan Silva.

“Ryan Murphy has created a world on this ship that is nothing short of opulent, and luxurious, and rich,” says Johnson, whose work on Miami Vice established the neon world of South Florida as the epitome of 1980s cool.

Says Teale: “Don Johnson is as much of a legend as you expect him to be. He’s funny, very compassionate, and he is very wise.”
Just like the hit show Love Boat, the main cast consists of a committed core of regulars joined by an ever-changing cast of big-name guest stars. Early episodes have John Stamos and Kelsea Ballerini in guest spots, with upcoming turns by Shania Twain, Gina Gershon, and Chord Overstreet.

“It’s more like a ’60s or ’70s romantic comedy than it is a modern procedural,” Jackson told Toronto Star. “There’s the little family of the medical team and the larger family of the people who work on the boat, and every week we have a new group of people who we are there to service and entertain and, in our case, keep alive or healthy.”
Watch a trailer here:

 

The show will air on ABC on Thursday evenings at 9 p.m. Eastern and be available the day after on Hulu.

 

Looking forward to the new show? Seen the debut episode? Let us know what you think in the comments!