A female-led Doogie Howser reboot in the works for Disney+

If there is one thing Disney has had a strong reputation for doing over its many years as a studio, it’s being the platform for bringing many of the stars of tomorrow to the world’s attention even when they re still just young teenagers. Some people might not reflect back on the massive number of forgotten child stars as much of ringing endorsement, but even though many of these performers never go on to fulfil their potential, there are also many that have gone on to become a massive success story today across both the acting and music worlds.

It seems like Disney is ready to raise up a new child star, this time by reviving a series which was another platform for one of the more talented actors in the business today. Back in 1989, a young Neil Patrick Harris burst onto the scenes in the starring role of a hit series titled Doogie Howser, M.D, about a young boy genius who becomes a fully qualified medical doctor from the tender age of just thirteen. The series was a massive hit for both ABC and the actor himself, who has since gone on to plenty of success in both Broadway and other big series.  

And now according to Variety, Disney wants to reboot the series for its own streaming service. Only this time by doing what all revivals do these days, by giving it a gender twist to make it come across as entirely different from its predecessor. According to the report, this new series will have a female lead who works as a genius doctor in Hawaii, and the working title is Doogie Kealoha, M.D. 

There is still plenty of opportunity for executive producer and writer Kourtney Kang, who previously worked as an executive producer and writer on hit comedies How I Met Your Mother and Fresh Off the Boat to take this series in its own unique path that doesn’t have to tread too closely to its original source. Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar, who worked with Kang on Fresh Off the Boat, are also producing.

There are no further details on when this series will plan to air and indeed who that actress will be who will headline the new series. If this new spin does achieve the same level of success as its predecessor though, then we could have another future star on our hands.

Last Updated: April 9, 2020