Norman Felton, the show’s producer, capitalized on the familiarity of the Dr. Kildare name but created a new formula for medical series, one that stressed the compassion of doctors and followed a young intern’s passage into the practice of medicine. Dr. Kildare maintained the older doctor-younger doctor dynamic of the film version but sought to add a more realistic dimension to the depiction of medicine and the intern’s life.

Each thursday night, NBC viewers could tune in to watch Dr. Kildare at Blair General Hospital, where he worked as a gifted and caring intern, training under the expert tutelage of Dr. Leonard Gillespie. Together they offered healing and comfort to patients who arrived at the hospital in moments of stress and crisis. Throughout the course of the show’s five-year run, Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie dealt intimately and personally with issues ranging from alcoholism and malpractice to suicide and mental illness. These stories informed the audience about the ailment of the week as they entertained millions of viewers. Episodes included a nonstop stream of guest stars, from William Shatner and Peter Falk to Robert Redford, all of whom contributed to the popularity and freshness of the show.

Beyond the appeal of its compelling stories, many viewers tuned to Dr. Kildare to watch the handsome young actor Richard Chamberlain in the title role. From the pilot episode, viewers showed intense interest in Chamberlain, whose good looks made him especially popular with female viewers. Chamberlain was also portrayed in the press in a way that conflated his own attributes with those of the fictional Dr. Kildare. He was said to be “good,” “high-minded,” and “trustworthy,” and it was noted that he looked up to Raymond Massey, the actor who played Dr. Gillespie, in much the same way that the young intern admired his mentor. For many viewers, Chamberlain’s face became the face of medicine, and magazine and newspaper stories often focused on the phenomenon of fans writing to Chamberlain for medical advice or stopping him in Central Park to ogle him.

Chamberlain and Dr. Kildare shared the medical stage with Vince Edwards of Ben Casey, the American Broadcasting Company’s (ABC’s) medical drama that ran from 1961 to 1966 on Monday nights. The two shows were different in emphasis and style, however, with Edward’s Dr. Casey a less “user-friendly” hero for the small screen, a difficult and hotheaded doctor who at times allowed his temper to get the better of him. Edwards and Chamberlain were frequently compared in the press, with descriptions of their personalities mirroring those of the characters they played on television.

Producer Felton’s conception of Dr. Kildare stressed the human elements over medical accuracy. Guided by the American Medical Association (AMA), whose imprimatur appeal at the end of every program, the series did use on- and off-set technical advisers to maintain “cutting-edge” procedures. But producers were willing to gloss over some details when a storyline demanded more drama. And other “opposing forces” were also at work. Medical executives, advertisers, and the AMA all had an effect on the end product, and innovative medical techniques were tempered with compassion, personality, and even humor. 

Not all the compromises garnered praise, however. During the period of Dr. Kildare’s run, the practice of medicine was itself changing. Hospital strategies no longer focused on a one-on-one approach but more frequently relied on teams of doctors, specialists, nurses, and administrators working in concert. Costs were escalating, and the Kennedy administration was proposing Medicare to help senior citizens pay for health care. The AMA was opposed to Medicare, and several critics in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal charged that the AMA’s association with Dr. Kildare prohibited the show from exploring any aspect of what was often referred to as “socialized medicine.” Indeed, the AMA and the advisory board for the show did want to maintain Dr. Kildare as a promotion for mainstream medicine. For the most part, the show’s agenda received little criticism, and the AMA’s gamble paid off.