Last year, Disney Plus announced a reboot of Doogie Howser, M.D., titled Doogie Kealoha, M.D. This version will have Disney Channel star Peyton Elizabeth Lee playing a teenage girl who has just graduated from medical school and is embarking on her career as a doctor in Hawaii. And it turns out the new Doogie will have a pretty cool mentor: The Daily Show With Trevor Noah’s Ronny Chieng.
According to Deadline, the comedian will play “a heart surgeon putting young Doogie through the paces.” Daily Show fans are well aware of Chieng’s comedy chops and the actor had a standout role in Crazy Rich Asians. He’ll also appear in Marvel’s awaited first Asian-focused superhero flick, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings.
Besides Chieng, Deadline announced that Kathleen Rose Perkins, Jason Scott Lee, Mapuana Makia, and Matthew Sato will play supporting roles. The site also shared the official synopsis for the reboot:
Written by Kourtney Kang and set in present-day Hawaii, Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. reimagines the Neil Patrick Harris-starring Doogie Howser M.D. as a half-hour medical dramedy with a female lead. It follows Lahela “Doogie” Kameāloha (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), a 16-year-old mixed-race girl who juggles a budding medical career and life as a teenager. Guiding Lahela — and also complicating things — is her family, including her spitfire Irish mother Dr. Clara Hannon (Perkins), who’s also Chief of Staff at the hospital and Lahela’s supervisor, and her Hawaiian “Local Boy” father (Jason Scott Lee) who struggles to accept that his daughter is no longer his little girl.
Dare we say that this version of Doogie Howser sounds a bit more exciting? Because it actually does. Neil Patrick Harris is still the champ of hosting awards shows, though.