Series synopsis
Becker is an American comedy television series that premiered on CBS on November 2, 1998. It ended on January 28, 2004. It was created by Dave Hackel. It stars Ted Danson, Hattie Winston, Shawnee Smith and Alex Désert.
Becker is a dedicated, outspoken and talented doctor with a gruff exterior. While he tends to offend those who try to get close to him, he is extremely dedicated to his medical practice in the Bronx, N.Y., where he always goes the extra mile to help those in need. But Dr. John Becker looks at the world around him and sees a society gone mad, full of incongruities and just plain wrong thinking. And he has no qualms about saying anything that comes to mind – anything.
Premise
Becker is a dedicated, outspoken and talented doctor with a gruff exterior. While he tends to offend those who try to get close to him, he is extremely dedicated to his medical practice in the Bronx, N.Y., where he always goes the extra mile to help those in need. But Dr. John Becker looks at the world around him and sees a society gone mad, full of incongruities and just plain wrong thinking. And he has no qualms about saying anything that comes to mind – anything.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Ted Danson as Dr. John Becker
- Hattie Winston as Margaret Wyborn
- Shawnee Smith as Linda
- Alex Désert as Jake Malinak
- Saverio Guerra as Bob
- Terry Farrell as Regina "Reggie" Kostas
- Jorge Garcia as Hector Lopez
- Nancy Travis as Chris Connor
Supporting cast
- French Stewart as Jim / Jerry / Stephanie
- Davenia McFadden as Annette Johnson
- Mariel Hemingway as Ruth Saunders
- Derek Basco as Jimmy
- Randy Sklar as Ricky
- James Pickens Jr. as Cliff
- Molly Hagan as Sara
- Lin Shaye as Mrs. Cooper
- Kyla Pratt as Keisha
- James Wellington as Man #2
- Jeremiah Morris as Mr. Foreman
- John DiMaggio as Mr. Thalasinos
Guest cast
- French Stewart as Jim / Jerry / Stephanie
- Davenia McFadden as Annette Johnson
- Mariel Hemingway as Ruth Saunders
- Derek Basco as Jimmy
- Randy Sklar as Ricky
- James Pickens Jr. as Cliff
- Molly Hagan as Sara
- Lin Shaye as Mrs. Cooper
- Kyla Pratt as Keisha
- James Wellington as Man #2
- Jeremiah Morris as Mr. Foreman
- John DiMaggio as Mr. Thalasinos
Episodes
This series spans 6 seasons with 129 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 22 | November 2, 1998 | May 17, 1999 |
| Season 2 | 24 | September 20, 1999 | May 22, 2000 |
| Season 3 | 24 | October 9, 2000 | May 14, 2001 |
| Season 4 | 24 | October 1, 2001 | May 20, 2002 |
| Season 5 | 22 | October 6, 2002 | April 20, 2003 |
| Season 6 | 13 | October 8, 2003 | January 28, 2004 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Pilot Becker deals with an HIV-positive child, and the fact that Reggie has inherited his favorite diner from her father. |
November 2, 1998 |
| 2 |
Take These Pills and Shove 'Em Becker must make a house call after a patient has an adverse reaction to his brutal bedside manner. He remains hellbent on convincing his patient, Mr. Marino, to acknowledge the fact that his diabetes has just triggered a minor heart attack and his condition needs to be monitored. Unfortunately, Mr. Marino is convinced that Becker is just trying to get away with a medical scam. Meanwhile, Jake takes a sculpting class in order to meet women. |
November 9, 1998 |
| 3 |
Sex in the Inner City Despite his best efforts, Becker can't escape the sexual overtones that follow him throughout the day. He starts his morning at the cafe where Reggie and Jake are discussing the various things they do to release sexual tension. When Reggie suggests jogging, Becker quickly dismisses the idea, declaring that he doesn't have any such issues. As his day progresses, a bemused Becker is faced with various circumstances that make him all too aware of his sex life -- or, rather, lack thereof. |
November 16, 1998 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Point of Contact Becker performs his doctorly duties at the diner when a woman begins to choke on her food. After regaining her composure, the woman intensely expresses her gratitude to Becker, which takes him more than a little off-guard. As the days go by, Becker's fears are compounded when she begins to drop by the office and his apartment bearing gifts and well-wishes. Soon enough, Becker is outright panicked, and convinced that she's a certifiable lunatic who's become a danger to his well-being. |
September 20, 1999 |
| 2 |
Imm-Oral Fixations Becker is grumpier than usual after he decides to quit smoking, but he gets a lift from Reggie's friend (Marjorie Monaghan), an ex-smoker who tells him the only substitute that worked for her was sex. |
September 27, 1999 |
| 3 |
Cyrano De-Beckerac When Dr. John Becker finds out that one of his patients is dating Reggie, he decides to give the guy some free advice on how to "court her properly." Meantime, Linda becomes a volunteer for Big Sisters and gets stuck being a mentor to a greedy brat who takes advantage of her at every turn. |
October 4, 1999 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Film Critic Becker tries in vain to see a movie without the experience being ruined for him, while Margaret has trouble coping with her marital problems. |
October 9, 2000 |
| 2 |
SuperBob Becker's super dies and Bob takes his job, and the diner is packed, but no one is a paying customer. |
October 16, 2000 |
| 3 |
One Wong Move Challenged to do so by his friends, Becker changes his routine with disastrous results. When he eats at a new Chinese restaurant, Linda gets a stalker, Margaret gets food poisoning, Bob gets punched in the nose, and Reggie and Jake lose $80 to a scam artist. |
October 23, 2000 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Psycho Therapy At the end of last season, John was thrown in jail for contempt of court during a malpractice case. Tonight, he's released after reluctantly apologizing to a judge, who orders him to see a therapist and work on his problem with authority. However, the therapist, Katherine Simmons, is dealing with her own authority issues, which John winds up "helping" her work out. Becker is shocked one night when she shows up at his apartment a changed woman. Elsewhere, Jake grows weary of his new girlfriend's annoying habit of describing for him every little thing she's doing; and Linda lobbies for a raise. |
October 1, 2001 |
| 2 |
Breakfast of Chumpions John is more irritable than usual when he tries to quit smoking; Reggie believes a friendly customer stole all of her good luck and left her with his bad fortune. |
October 8, 2001 |
| 3 |
Jake's Jaunt Everyone's shocked when Jake announces that he got married over the weekend to a woman he met at a friend's wedding. After realising he may have rushed things, Jake gets an annulment. |
October 15, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Someone's In The Kitchen with Reggie? Becker spends the night with Reggie, but whilst trying to sneak out of the diner, Jake discovers him and finds out everything. Becker decides to dump Chris, and when she comes to the diner he tells her that he slept with Reggie and can't be with her. Later Becker has second thoughts and after a conversation with Linda about following your heart, decides to dump Reggie and be with Chris. He goes to the diner but Reggie is nowhere to be seen. The phone rings. It's Reggie. She's realized she hit rock bottom when she slept with Becker and has decided to leave town. Becker goes to Chris and tells her he changed his mind, and she's ready to be with him too until she finds out that Reggie left town and she assumes she's some sort of consolation prize. Meanwhile Linda argues with Margaret over what the term "next Thursday" means. |
October 6, 2002 |
| 2 |
Do the Right Thing John tries desperately to persuade Chris that he chose to be with her before he learned that Reggie was leaving town, but Chris doesn't believe him. Also, Jake and Bob decide to follow in Reggie's footsteps and get out of town, and Margaret and Linda try to find out the identity of a man who claims he is a former patient. |
October 13, 2002 |
| 3 |
L.A. Woman Neighbors John and Chris do whatever they can to annoy each other, from smoking cigars to using a sander at 4 A.M. to strip a floor; Linda pretends she is from L.A. to impress a new guy she is dating; Jake worries that Amanda is decorating his apartment in an overly feminine fashion. |
October 20, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
What's Love Got To Do With It? John and Chris reluctantly confront their feelings for each other in the sixth-season opener. Meanwhile, Chris is furious over an outrageously high hospital bill and tries to get some of the charges dismissed in a meeting with an unsympathetic hospital administrator (Paul Dooley). Jake sells his dreadlocks to pay his rent. |
October 8, 2003 |
| 2 |
Dates & Nuts Chris pressures John into setting a time and a place for their first date, only to have it interrupted by a medical emergency; Hector talks Jake into making some extra money by participating in a drug test that goes terribly awry; Linda makes Margaret feel guilty about getting out of paying a traffic ticket. |
October 15, 2003 |
| 3 |
A Little Ho-mance John tries to plan a romantic first date with Chris, but unforeseen obstacles keep cropping up; Jake gets shocking news about his grandmother after she dies in a retirement home. |
October 22, 2003 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | CBS |
|---|---|
| First aired | November 2, 1998 |
| Last aired | January 28, 2004 |
| Runtime | 22 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Wednesday at 21:30:00 |