As Good As New! THE GOOD DOCTOR Gives Birth to THE GOOD LAWYER as Veteran Castmates Reflect on Success

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Even a good doctor needs a good lawyer sometimes. “Is this billable time?” asks Dr. Shaun Murphy, played by Freddie Highmore, in a momentous new episode of THE GOOD DOCTOR, airing Monday, Mar. 13 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. The episode includes what’s known in the TV world as an “embedded pilot,” as it sets up a potential new series titled THE GOOD LAWYER. When Shaun needs legal representation after being sued for malpractice, he winds up putting his faith in a promising but inexperienced young lawyer named Joni DeGroot, who has obsessive compulsive disorder. Joni is played by Kennedy McMann, and the episode also features EMMY® Award winner Felicity Huffman, and Bethlehem Million. McMann (NANCY DREW) has described herself as having grown up with “debilitating OCD,” so she’s especially keen to portray a character who can offer insight into what it’s like living with it. Dr. Shaun Murphy, of course, has been providing a window into functioning with autism since THE GOOD DOCTOR debuted in 2017. Two of THE GOOD DOCTOR’s veterans – Fiona Gubelmann, who plays Dr. Morgan Reznick, and Will Yun Lee, who plays Dr. Alex Park – still can’t quite believe that the show is nearing the conclusion of its sixth season, let alone initiating a spinoff. “I remember my first day, and I remember Will’s first day … because I started first,” Gubelmann said with a chuckle, and a wink toward Lee. “We started right after each other. So I remember that like it was yesterday. And then the pandemic kind of melted two years of time, so it’s all a blur now.” Lee added, “it’s remarkable to me that after all these seasons, the show still makes me cry. And I know the scripts! So it’s kind of unbelievable. I don’t know what they do from script to screen, but I still cry when I watch almost every episode.” Morgan and Alex, who used to be a romantic couple, have certainly been put through the wringer over the years, and their scenes together are always powerful. They had another one in last week’s episode, when Morgan had to point out to Alex that while both of them specialize in being hard-headed, Morgan is actually better at letting things go than Alex is. “She’s my safety net,” Lee said of Gubelmann, when asked about their acting chemistry. “It’s a nice place to be.” “It helps, too, because outside of work, outside of acting, we’re close friends, which enables us to carry that on screen,” Gubelmann said. “We have a very good level of trust. We’ll talk about scenes, you know, if we have issues with certain things, or we’re worried about something or whatever, we can just have these great conversations and be like, ‘what if we try this? Or let’s try this?’ And then we show up and …” “And they say, ‘don’t do that,’ ” Lee interjected, and both he and Gubelmann had a good laugh. Joking aside, the prognosis for THE GOOD DOCTOR continues to be positive, and now there’s a potential spinoff with a strong cast called THE GOOD LAWYER that’s focused on another compelling character. “She is unique, she’s eager, and excitable, and whip-smart, she’s essentially a database of information, she holds onto details, and a part of that is because she has obsessive compulsive disorder,” said McMann recently, describing her character, Joni. “She has a tendency to make people a little uncomfortable because of what she goes through. But outside of that, she’s funny, and she’s loving, and she’s passionate, and she’s caring, and excited to be a part of hopefully helping Dr. Murphy.” Apparently there’s a lot of “good” to go around. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv