Scott
Wolf- California I had never seen an episode of Dr. Quinn and it had already been on for several years. One episode in particular will always remain very special to me, and it aired during season four. It was the first episode I ever saw.
When my father passed away I was looking for something to help me lessen the pain and I found that in watching episodes of Mister Rogers Neighborhood. I wasn’t in the mood to laugh at sitcoms and there weren’t any shows that I wanted to sit and watch. The Neighborhood was calming and was full of great values.
When I learned that my hero, Fred Rogers, was going to be on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, I videotaped that episode. I was well aware of Mr. Rogers’ career and that he did not do guest appearances, particularly as a fictional character. Although Mr. Rogers was only on briefly, I quickly realized why he chose this series to be so fond of.
Dr. Quinn quickly became the other show I needed in my life at that time. Not only did it have heart, but it also held special meanings in regards to my father. The town of Colorado Springs looked remarkably like a real town my father was fascinated with called Bodie, and which we had visited together several times. Bodie is a ghost town which thrived right around the same time that Dr. Quinn took place. The schoolhouse, the general store, even the cemetery remain today as they did in the 1800s. My father was a gifted artist and painted a picture of Bodie which looks like a scene right out of the show. It became a ritual to record the reruns of Dr. Quinn which were aired in the morning, and watch it daily with my wife in the evening. She became as fond of the show as I was. I’m so glad “Deal With The Devil” was the first episode that I saw and I was so impressed with the relationship between Dr. Mike and Sully. Most sitcoms portrayed husbands as idiots and the wives as headstrong control freaks. I was newly married myself and that wasn’t the way it was with my relationship. It was so refreshing to see that Dr. Mike and Sully were truly in love and neither the man nor the woman had to “play stupid”. They were both strong, intelligent characters that treated each other with respect. That episode in particular exemplified the strengths of both Sully and Michaela. Sully was most obviously as masculine as any character ever portrayed, yet he had a sensitive side. He was not afraid of the fact that he was going to be a father, but he embraced the upcoming event and was creating a crib for his baby. It was so unusual to see a man so excited about having a baby. Dr. Mike was obviously excited about being a mother as she struggled to find something she could create for the baby but as the episode progressed I learned that she was a strong character with brains and charisma! I watched with anticipation to see how the reverend would possibly get out of a nightmarish situation he created for himself. He was about to lose the church due to a loan he received from Hank and it was blatantly obvious that Hank was not the type of person to be pushed around. I thought nothing could possibly change his mind. When Dr. Mike convinced Hank to give the reverend an extension on his loan it was so natural and realistic. I see so many shows with very unrealistic conclusions and this show certainly did not fall into that category. In a side story, Dr. Mike was taking care of a man who was obviously deathly ill and by the end of the episode had died. Although I had just lost my own father it was not difficult to watch that part of the show. The man had not lived the life that he desired and he was by his own admission not a part of his daughter’s life that he should have been. My father was always there for me. He never missed one of my birthdays or any special moment in my life. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was the perfect show for me. It happened to come into my life at a time when I needed it most, but it remains my favorite show and I now watch it with my own son. It was a realistic show about life and death. When Reverend Thomas (the character portrayed by Fred Rogers) arrived in the episode, he had a quiet, gentle demeanor about him, just as Mr. Rogers himself had. While Reverend Johnson did not act in the most desirable manner and nearly lost the church and infuriated his congregation, Reverend Thomas helped him to understand that it was okay as long as he learned from the situation. I printed a sign on my computer that read, “It’s not the building, it’s the people who are the church”, a quote from one of Reverend Thomas’ lines, and I hung that sign in my home office. To me it was a profound statement. That sign is also symbolic to me for another reason. It is a reminder of how Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman came into my life. |
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