'Doogie Howser' Star Neil Patrick Harris Speaks out on Disney+ Reboot

Doogie Howser star Neil Patrick Harris has spoken out on the upcoming Disney+ reboot, and it sounds like he's as excited for it as fans are. Harris was launched into stardom at 16 years old when he played the title character on Doogie Howser M.D., a classic 90s medical dramedy. In 2020, Disney+ announced a reboot titled Doogie Kamealoha, M.D., which will be set in Hawaii and feature a female lead played by 16-year-old actress Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who is most well-known for playing the title role on the Disney Channel series Andi Mack.

During a recent Variety interview, the reboot came up, and Harris stated that he is "so happy" about it. "The creator (Kourtney Kang) of it was a big producer on How I Met Your Mother. I think setting it with a female protagonist is a great call… I think it's in really good hands. I feel like it's a passion project for many and I can't wait to watch it." The original series was co-created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley and ran for four seasons. At this time, it appears that neither Kelley nor Harris are attached to the reboot. Sadly, Bochco passed away in 2018.

Today's #JustforVariety podcast is here. I chat with @ActuallyNPH. We talk It's a Sin (one of the best dramatizations of the early days of the AIDS epidemic I have ever seen!), openly gay actors, superhero movies, the Doogie reboot and more @varietyhttps://t.co/mJOAHbk3cw

— Marc Malkin (@marcmalkin) February 16, 2021

A synopsis of the Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. describes it as being about Lahela "Doogie" Kameāloha, "a teenaged wunderkind juggling her high school life with an early medical career." In addition to Lee the new show will also star Kathleen Rose Perkins (Fresh Off the Boat), Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (American Horror Story: Apocalypse), Jason Scott Lee (Mulan), Mapuana Makia (Finding 'Ohana), and newcomer Wes Tian. The show does not have an announced premiere date but is currently scheduled to debut sometime in 2021.

In 2019, Doogie Howser, M.D. celebrated its 30th anniversary, and Harris reminisced about his time on the show during a USA Today interview. "Is that right? 30 years? Wow, no – as you can hear by my stunned reaction, I haven't given it much thought at all," he said. The actor then added that the occasion made him "feel like I've lived a whole lot of chapters." Harris continued, "I look back on that with fondness. That was a very remarkably wonderful chapter for somebody who had never really been in the entertainment business before."