Doctor Odyssey: Gregory House on a Boat or Really Great Idea?

As TV fanatics gear up for another action-packed fall season, we’re geeking out about all the shows coming to our screens — both returning and new.

Doctor Odyssey is an interesting twist on the standard medical drama geared up to entertain today’s eclectic TV audience with a new premise.

While we’ve had plenty of medical mysteries over the years, Doctor Odyssey will be the story of a second-chance doctor solving medical cases aboard a luxury cruise boat.

Is that unique, or is it taking an already-done trope and trying to give it a new wig?

Doctor Odyssey: Knock-Off or Unique Premise?

News of Doctor Odyssey’s creation has been tight-lipped leading up to its ABC premiere on Thursdays at 9/8C starting September 26.

Unlike other shows, like High Potential, which aired promos months ahead of their releases, Doctor Odyssey kept its secrets tight until just a month ago.

Fans got their first taste of this modern-day Love Boat medical procedural through a brief teaser released during the Primetime Emmy Awards.

They received a second taste in the form of a longer trailer that Murphy withheld from release until a mere ten days before the series aired. There is no pilot episode.

Once the trailer hit social media, it set a record for the most views — 77. million within the first 48 hours — for a series that hasn’t aired yet. It surpassed the previous record held by This is Us, which starred Tracker‘s Justin Hartley.

This short promo introduced the location, the luxury cruise ship Odyssey.

Conspiracists wonder if the name is a possible hint at a supernatural component to an otherwise basic storyline.

Is the cruise ship a metaphor for Heaven?

And we met the boat’s characters, like Doctor Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson), Captain Robert Massey (Don Johnson), nurse practitioner Avery Morgan (Phillipa Soo), and RN Tristan Silva (Sean Teale).

The secrecy surrounding the promotion has birthed several theories.

One hypothesis suggests the show will be about more than a white-collar Connecticut doctor accepting the role of cruise ship physician.

However, Jackson, who will play the doctor, has said that this role is one of the most uncomplicated characters he’s ever played.

To be fair, he’s been in darker works like Fatal Attraction, Dr. Death, and the sci-fi drama Fringe, where he had a difficult relationship with his father.

So maybe a ship doctor is simple in terms of emotional complexity.

Or it could be that Doctor Odyssey will be more of a fluff show, with a strong comedic nonchalance to offset the heavier dramatic medical cases the staff will handle with the limited resources of a cruise ship.

Among the conspiracy theories about the new medical series is one that suggests a more metaphorical interpretation of the show’s name.

Mythology fans may see connections between the show and The Odyssey, an epic poem by Homer.

The poem tells the story of a warrior reluctant to return to his homeland a decade after fighting in the Trojan War.

Could the cruise ship and its guests be a symbolic depiction of Max’s personal journey as he experiences a new way of life on the sea after the isolation and trauma of Covid?

What Is Doctor Odyssey?

Doctor Odyssey is the brainchild of Ryan Murphy, the brilliant producer who gave us amazing franchises like American Horror Story and 9-1-1.

He is also behind the upcoming Grotesquerie series, featuring Kansas City Chiefs football star Travis Kelce.

Doctor Odyssey will give us a change of landscape, with storylines taking place on the open ocean, miles away from land.

And a hospital with all of its crucial life-saving resources.

How MacGyver-y.

House is the most popular show, but from what we know so far, there is little resemblance between the two.

We don’t know much else about the show to predict its direction. It’s been a good while since we’ve had a medical series dedicated to one doctor.

Gregory House was a handicapped addict willing to treat his body like a science experiment.

So far, it seems like Doctor Odyssey will be a less cynical and sarcastic pill popper and more fancy-pants Ivy-league doctor catering to the wealthy. I dare say it’s more similar to the series Royal Pains.

Both series seem to focus on do-gooder rich doctors and their similarly social-economic clientele base in luxurious locales. While Royal Pains took place in the Hamptons, we’ll be on the water mostly during Doctor Odyssey.

We haven’t received much news about where the Odyssey will dock on land, which has made fans even more eager for the show to air.

While I don’t foresee Doctor Odyssey giving me Gregory House vibes, there is another newcomer series that does.

Brilliant Minds stars Zachary Quinto in the role of Dr. Oliver Wolf Sacks, a real-life neurologist who inspired the series. The promos show Sacks taking the same medicine as his patient to understand the effects.

Very House-ish.

So that’s two new doctor series in two very different settings. Doctor Odyssey seems closer to the trend we’re seeing in new shows – very water-based.

We’re looking at you Rescue HI-Surf, Baywatch, and the potential Fire Country spinoff, Fire Country: Surfside, which is rumored to star Jared Padalecki as the main character.

Doctor Odyssey also promises some amazing talent from the legendary Don Johnson — you may know him as one half of Starsky and Hutch, but he’ll always be Nash Bridges to me — to Dawson’s Creek alum Joshua Jackson.

Not only will the show feature top acting talents like Jackson and Johnson, but also a slew of guest stars.

So far, we’ve received confirmation — and visual proof — of celebrity appearances, such as country music legends Shania Twain and Kelsea Ballerini and ’90s sitcom star, John Stamos.

Is that all Doctor Odyssey will be?

A network’s weak attempt to corner the market with a new medical mystery using pretty faces while jumping on board the “water” theme that seems to be the latest series trend we’ll be seeing.

Is Doctor Odyssey Gregory House on a Boat or a Unique Idea?

When a new series comes on, the premise has a 50/50 chance of being unique. Many times, it’s a reimagined trope that we’ve seen repeatedly attempted.

But we get it.

With all the streaming apps and cable, it’s a series-eat-series world with unlimited competition.

Finding an unused idea can be more challenging than keeping track of the latest celeb scandal.

Which is why fanatics like us exist for viewers like you.

While Doctor Odyssey promises first-class luxury, charming days spent on the open sea, and a slew of beautiful cast members, it’s unlikely to have the darker, depressed main character of the glorious House.

If you’re jonesing for an out-of-his-mind, think-outside-the-box mad doctor to give you Gregory House vibes, you might want to check out Dr. Oliver Wolf from Brilliant Minds, instead — also on its freshman season.

Check out both shows and then come back here and take our poll. We’re eager to know which doctor gives you Doctor House vibes.

Doctor Odyssey premieres tonight at 9/8c on ABC!