EXCLUSIVE: Jason Scott Lee (Mulan) is set as a lead opposite Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Kathleen Rose Perkins in Disney+’s upcoming comedy series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D..
Written by Kourtney Kang and set in present-day Hawaii, Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. reimagines the Neil Patrick Harris-starring Doogie Howser M.D. as a half-hour medical dramedy with a female lead. It follows Lahela “Doogie” Kameāloha (Peyton Elizabeth Lee), a 16-year-old mixed-race girl who juggles a budding medical career and life as a teenager. Guiding Lahela — and also complicating things — is her family, including her spitfire Irish mother Dr. Clara Hannon (Perkins), who’s also Chief of Staff at the hospital and Lahela’s supervisor, and her Hawaiian “Local Boy” father (Jason Scott Lee) who struggles to accept that his daughter is no longer his little girl.
Lee’s Benny Kameāloha worked in finance on the mainland, but gave that up to return home and focus on what matters most: family. He now runs a shave ice flower truck, a career change that enables him to be a more present father to his three children.
Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. goes for a double gender swap as part of its female-empowerment theme. In Doogie Howser, created by the late Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, it is Doogie’s father who is a medical doctor working at the same hospital as his son; Doogie’s mother originally was a housewife and later became a patient advocate at her son’s hospital.
Bochco’s widow, Dayna Bochco, and son, Jesse Bochco, serve as executive producers for the reboot, along with Kang, Jake Kasdan and Melvin Mar. 20th Television, part of Disney TV Studios, is the studio.
Jason Scott Lee has a long history with Disney. He most recently played the lead villain Bori Khan in the studio’s live-action remake of Mulan. He also played Mowgli in Disney’s The Jungle Book live-action adaptation, and voiced David Kawena in both Lilo and Stich films.
Lee also is known for playing the title role in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. He recently shot the title role in David L. Cunningham’s period drama The Wind and the Reckoning based on the Jack London short story as well as Western thriller Boon opposite Neal McDonough. Lee is repped by Buchwald, Authentic Talent and Literary Management and attorney Geoff Oblath.
This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: deadline.com
