Peyton Elizabeth Lee’s Lahela Kamealoha reminds everyone of Doogie Howser, Neil Patrick Harris’ wunderkind (and very much fictional) teen doctor in the first trailer for Disney+’s remake of that very same fictional TV show.
That’s because, like Doogie, Lee’s Dr. Kamealoha is a “real life” version of Doogie Howser, herself being a teen prodigy doctor. Even though the show, like “Doogie Howser,” is also very much a work of fiction. In the world of “Doogie Kamealoha,” the show “Doogie Howser” very much existed, which would mean that Harris exists as an actor (and yes the show’s producers are trying to get him to make an appearance if it gets renewed).
Watch the trailer in the player above. “Doogie Kamealoha” premieres on Sept. 8.
Set in modern-day Hawaii, the 10-episode reboot follows Lahela “Doogie” Kameāloha (Lee), a mixed-race 16-year-old girl, juggling a budding medical career and life as a teenager. Guiding Lahela (and also complicating things) is her family, including her spitfire Irish mother (Kathleen Rose Perkins) who’s also her supervisor at the hospital, and her “Local Boy” father (Jason Scott Lee) who struggles to accept that his daughter is no longer his little girl.
The series also stars Matthew Sato, Wes Tian, Emma Meisel, Mapuana Makia and Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman.
The original “Doogie Howser, M.D.” starred a very young Harris as a teenage physician balancing the challenge of practicing medicine with the everyday problems of teenage life. The show ran for four seasons on ABC, from 1989-1993, and was created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley.
Bochco died in 2018; his widow, Dayna, and son, Jesse, will executive produce the reboot alongside Kang, Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar.