5 TV Shows To Watch If You Like Best Medicine

There's a new medical series in town, and it's Fox's "Best Medicine" — which brings "The Good Wife" favorite Josh Charles on board as the titular Dr. Martin Best. ("Best Medicine" is adapted from a beloved medical comedy-drama, but put a pin in that; we will be discussing the inspiration shortly.) So what's the deal with "Best Medicine?"

Created by former "Sex and the City" writer Liz Tuccillo, "Best Medicine" features, again, Charles as the good Dr. Best, who leaves behind a successful medical career in Boston and opens a private practice in the small town of Port Wenn, Maine — a place with special significance, because a much younger Martin spent summers there as a child. Here's the thing about Dr. Martin Best: he's an amazing doctor, but his bedside manner, to put it lightly, stinks. This brusque, off-putting quality immediately rubs some Port Wenn dwellers, including local schoolteacher Louisa Gavin (Abigail Spencer), the wrong way. Still, Martin does his best, treating patients and getting used to the eccentric Maine hamlet ... despite a severe blood phobia induced by the tragic death of his sister years prior (which is what caused him to walk away from his job in Boston).

So what should you watch after "Best Medicine?" We went ahead and picked five comedy-dramas (or outright comedies with serious moments) that center around the medical profession, including the show that made "Best Medicine" possible. Here are five great shows to check out if you love "Best Medicine."

If you're looking for another story about a doctor who leaves behind a big city job to practice in a small down — and, perhaps, another show where the title is a play on the doctor's name — look no further than "Hart of Dixie." Like Dr. Martin Best, Dr. Zoe Hart, played by the always charming Rachel Bilson, has terrible bedside manner ... which ends up massively interfering with her professional goals as she loses out on a competitive fellowship in New York City. Stung, Zoe decides to work in the tiny town of Blue Bell, Alabama instead, where her late biological father maintained a practice; even though Zoe didn't have a relationship with said dad, she ends up inheriting half of that practice, giving her a job opportunity down South.

There's another challenge: Zoe has to bring in at least 30% of the clients in order to maintain her role at the practice, which is tough because, again, she isn't exactly the sweetest or kindest physician anybody has ever met. Throw in a love triangle between Zoe, local attorney George Tucker (Scott Porter), and George's fiancée Lemon Breeland (Jamie King) — made all the more complicated by the fact that Lemon's father, Bertram "Brick" Breeland (Tim Matheson), is the most popular medical practitioner in Blue Bell. "Hart of Dixie" ran for four seasons on The CW from 2011 to 2015, and if you love "Best Medicine," you'll definitely want to seek this one out.

When it comes to medical comedies, nobody does it better than "Scrubs." Created by Bill Lawrence, who would go on to make hits like "Shrinking" and "Ted Lasso," "Scrubs" centers around the lovable, goofy, and deeply empathetic Dr. John "J.D." Dorian (Zach Braff), who begins his physician residency at Sacred Heart Hospital alongside his best friend Dr. Christopher Turk (Donald Faison), experienced nurse and Turk's eventual wife Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes), and J.D.'s cohort and on-again, off-again girlfriend Dr. Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke). Often turning to his unwilling mentor Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) and clashing with the hospital's seemingly insensitive chief of medicine Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins), J.D. rises through the ranks at Sacred Heart, learning to be a better doctor and person along the way.

"Scrubs" is, yes, goofy and funny — a lot of the show takes place in J.D.'s increasingly outlandish fantasies, to that point — but it's also a pretty realistic show about the ups and downs of the medical system (a frequent, ongoing throughline is that Dr. Kelso abhors patients without insurance, which sometimes means their ailments go untreated). It also has some heartbreaking moments, for sure — an episode involving Brendan Fraser's character Ben Sullivan features a shocking, gutting twist at the very end that still manages to feel true and earned, even in a show that typically trafficks in such broad comedy. If you like "Best Medicine," you'll definitely love "Scrubs." Plus, if you want to continue the story — and see where J.D. and Elliot end up — you'll be pleased to hear that a reboot launched in 2026.

One of the newer entries on this list that's also the sole mockumentary we picked, NBC's "St. Denis Medical," created by Eric Ledgin and Justin Spitzer (the minds behind "Superstore"), is ostensibly a comedy. It's also a searing indictment of the flaws of the American medical system, which is quite the balancing act ... and it's one the show pulls off perfectly. "Fargo" breakout star Allison Tolman leads the cast as Alex, a supervising nurse who hardly ever leaves the hospital ... much to the chagrin of her husband Tim (Kyle Bornheimer) and their son. At work, Alex struggles with the increasingly ludicrous decisions made by the hospital's executive director Joyce Henderson (comedy heavyweight Wendi McLendon-Covey, known for everything from "Bridesmaids" to "The Goldbergs" to "Reno 911!") and works alongside nurses like Val (Kaliko Kauahi), physicians like Ron (David Alan Grier), surgeons like Bruce (Josh Lawson), and new nurses like Matt (Mekki Leeper).

"St. Denis Medical" is laugh-out-loud funny, sure, but it's also shrewd, taking on issues like hospitals attempting to upsell expensive procedures to patients (for which Joyce offers a prize of SZA concert tickets) or staffing issues at busy medical centers. If you like "Best Medicine" thanks to its particularly kooky characters and quiet commentary on the difficulties of the medical profession, you'll definitely want to check out "St. Denis Medical," especially thanks to recurring and guest spots from absolutely incredible stars like Ariana Madix, Wayne Knight, Sam Richardson, Lauren Weedman, Nico Santos, and Kristen Schaal. Also? For sitcom fans, it might be even better than "The Big Bang Theory."

Listen: "Grey's Anatomy" is really funny. Yes, it's overwrought, often patently insane, and features so many disasters that we can't even feasibly list them all here — disasters that kill doctors, for what it's worth — but it's also extremely funny. (Before his Season 11 exit, Patrick Dempsey's character Dr. Derek Shepherd reveals to his colleague, Chandra Wilson's Dr. Miranda Bailey, that it took him eight hours to write the words "Alzheimer's is a bad disease and we should cure it" while trying to concoct a clinical trial, and it's hysterical.) Shonda Rhimes' long-running medical series is, ostensibly, a drama that stars Ellen Pompeo as the titular Dr. Meredith Grey, who begins the series as a wide-eyed surgical intern before, ultimately, running the general surgery department at the fictional Seattle-based hospital eventually named Grey Sloan Memorial. 

Most of the funniest moments on "Grey's Anatomy" come courtesy of two of its strongest performers — Sandra Oh and Justin Chambers, who originated the roles of driven cardiac surgeon Dr. Cristina Yang and gruff pediatric surgeon Dr. Alex Karev before leaving the show in Season 10 and Season 16 respectively — but honestly, give "Grey's Anatomy" a chance to make you laugh as much as "Best Medicine" does. (Even the pilot episode finds time to be funny while setting up the entire series.) From antics that have absolutely nothing to do with surgery to genuinely hilarious personal moments between the doctors, "Grey's Anatomy" is legitimately, actually, and truly hysterical. Seriously!

It's impossible to talk about "Best Medicine" without talking about "Doc Martin," the direct inspiration for Josh Charles' 2026 series. A British comedy-drama centered around medicine that stars Martin Clunes as the titular Dr. Martin Ellingham, "Doc Martin," which was crafted by Dominic Minghella (brother of the late "The Talented Mr. Ripley" director Anthony Minghella and uncle of actor Max Minghella) and ran from 2004 to 2022. Still, in classic British TV fashion, it only released ten seasons — or in their parlance, "series" — throughout those 18 years, spanning just 79 episodes in total.

Don't let that dissuade you from watching "Doc Martin," though — the show is truly excellent, and it's actually a must-watch if you love "Best Medicine." Throughout the ten series, Martin, like Dr. Best, grapples with a debilitating fear of blood that destroyed a potential surgical career and decamps to Portwenn, a tiny town in Cornwall. Like in "Best Medicine," the crux of "Doc Martin" is his interactions and dealings with the oddballs in Portwenn as they need medical care, as well as his interactions with the people who work at his practice (or, in the regional parlance, "the surgery"). Again, like Dr. Best, Martin has an attitude problem when it comes to his bedside manner, often making his patients feel uncomfortable as he does his level best to treat them ... but his dry British wit ends up making these situations charming and funny instead of totally unpalatable. You can watch "Best Medicine" without watching "Doc Martin," but honestly? You should check this show out as soon as possible.