Trivia / The Good Doctor

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• Acting for Two: Dylan Kingwell plays both the deceased Steve Murphy in flashbacks and a present-day patient named Evan.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Nicholas Gonzalez (Dr. Neil Melendez) retweeted several fans who were criticizing the writers for killing his character, which suggests that he was also not satisfied with his departure.
  • Jasika Nicole (Dr. Carly Lever) admitted disappointment at not being asked to return to the series after the finale of Season 3, and she feels like she "was just used as a prop to push forward the other white characters’ narratives".
• Creator-Driven Successor: The show is from the creators of House, and uses the same structure of the Patient of the Week. The Good Doctor may be seen as that show's family-friendly counterpart, with an infinitely more friendly protagonist (although like Gregory House, Shaun Murphy also has his share of emotional baggage that interferes with his coexistence with patients and co-workers).
• Descended Creator: Daniel Dae Kim is currently the antagonist and new chief of surgery, Jackson Han.
• Directed by Cast Member: Freddie Highmore directed episode 14 of Season 2 where Jackson Han makes his debut; episode 16 of Season 3, where Shaun confesses his love to Lea; and episode 10 of Season 4, which is focused on Lea.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor:
  • Season 2 one-time character Javier Maldonado is autistic. His actor Alex Plank has Asperger Syndrome.
  • Hollis Jane Andrews also has dwarfism like her character Sophie in Season 5.
  • Newbie resident Dr. Danica Powell is an amputee, just like her actress Savannah Welch who lost her right leg after being hit by a car on November 2, 2016.
  • Like Clay, Lim's boyfriend in Season 6, his actor Michael Patrick Thornton is also a wheelchair user.
  • Charlie Lukaitis is autistic, as is her actress Kayla Cromer.
• Distanced from Current Events: In Season 5's "One Heart", as a trauma patient is being rushed in, Asher originally announced that he "fell 30 feet from a scaffolding at a concert." The original line was used in CTV's promo and remains intact in the closed captioning. However, in the actual episode, the last three words of Asher's line are overdubbed with a nurse saying, "Bay three's open." The line was likely edited at the last minute due to the episode airing ten days after ten people were killed at Astroworld, an annual concert in Houston, Texas.
• Early-Bird Release:
  • The show airs on CTV Atlantic three hours earlier than on ABC and the rest of CTV, at 7:00 PM Eastern time instead of 10:00.
  • The Season 6 episode "Hot and Bothered" was available for streaming in English on Amazon Prime in Hong Kong a week before it aired in North America, likely due to the service not getting the memo that the episode was delayed a week for the second time. Savvy North American fans could stream it before its air date using a VPN.
• Fake American: Freddie Highmore and Antonia Thomas are actually British.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: Asher is gay and dating a male nurse. Noah Galvin is also gay and has been in a relationship with actor Ben Platt since 2020.
• Milestone Celebration: "Hot and Bothered" is the series' 100th episode. This is acknowledged near the beginning of the episode when an elderly patient passes through the ER carrying a "Happy 100th Birthday" cake. The final scene has everyone eating the cake, with the final shot focusing on what's left of it, showing only the words "Happy 100th".
• The Original Darrin: Tatul Bernodat reprised the role of Lea, for the first time since Season 1, in the last three episodes of Season 3 as her replacement Paloma Odrioloza was unable to record the dialogues because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, Paloma re-recorded the dialogues of said episodes for their broadcast in Sony a year later, while on Prime Video the first edition of the dubbing of the episodes is maintained.
• The Other Darrin:
  • In their flashback appearances in Season 1, Shaun's parents were played by Rebecca Husain and Kirby Morrow. In Season 3's "Friends and Family", where they appeared in the present day, they were played by Joanna Going and Michael Trucco. In a flashback in Season 7's "The Overview Effect", Trucco reprised his role, while Shaun's mother was played by Patricia Cullen.
  • In flashbacks from Seasons 1-6, young Shaun and Steve were respectively played by Graham Verchere and Dylan Kingwell. Even younger versions in "Friends and Family" were played by Winslow Fegley and Logan Pierce (though Verchere still appeared in the episode's other flashbacks). In "The Overview Effect", they were played by Kashton Brostl and Miles Marthaller.
  • Dr. Isabel Barnes was played by Marsha Thomason in her Season 1 appearances. When she returned in Season 6's "Boys Don't Cry", she was played by Golden Brooks.
  • In the Argentine dub:
    • Paloma Odriozola replaces Tatul Bernodat as Lea since Season 2. However, another actress replaced Paloma in the Season 4 episodes "Decrypt" and "We're All Crazy Sometimes".
    • Shaun's parents were voiced by Juan Manuel Echave and Silvia Aira in Season 1. For Season 3, they were replaced by Santiago Florentín and Constanza Faraggi.
    • María Laura Cassani played Jessica Preston in Season 1. Tatul Bernodat replaced her in the Season 4 premiere.
    • Hernán Bravo replaces Adrián Wowczuk as Andrews in the Season 2 episode "Aftermath".
    • Julia Cremonte voiced Carly in Season 1. For Season 2 and Season 3, she was replaced by Luciana Mauri.
    • Alejandro González replaces Pablo Gandolfo as Alex Park in the Season 2 episodes "Xin" and "Faces".
    • Sol Nieto replaces Mara Brenner as Morgan from Season 3 onwards.
    • Patricio Lago replaces Alejandro Graue as Shaun (during his teenage years) in Season 3.
    • Alejandro Gómez replaced Wenceslao Corral as Jared Kalu since his return in Season 6.
    • Claudia Panonne dubbed Marsha Thomason in Season 1, but in Season 6 was replaced by Luciana Falcón.
    • The last three episodes of Season 3 featured changes in some of the voices of the characters due to the recording dates concurring with the COVID-19 pandemic. Diego Brizzi no longer voices Melendez as he had retired, so he was replaced by Mario De Candia in those episodes and the first two episodes of Season 4. On the other hand, Tatul Bernodat briefly replaced Sol as Morgan. Marcos Abadi and Claudia Pannone replace Pablo Gandolfo and Mariela Alvarez as Park and Lim for the rest of the show.
• Out of Order: The Season 6 episode "Old Friends" chronologically takes place before "The Good Lawyer", as shown by the events at the end of the episode. However, since the latter episode was produced as a backdoor pilot for a potential spin-off that does not reference any previous episode, it was produced before the former. Because of this, some international broadcasters and streaming services list "The Good Lawyer" before "Old Friends" instead of after, as they go by production order.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Glassman's second wife, Debbie Wexler, is played by Sheila Kelley, the real-life wife of Glassman's actor, Richard Schiff. Unlike Glassman and Debbie, Schiff and Kelley are still happily married today.
  • Glassman's patient in "Faith", Hannah, is played by Ruby Kelley, Schiff's real-life daughter.
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • Season 4 started with a plotline about COVID-19.
  • Dr. Marcus Andrews not returning for Season 7 has to do with Hill Harper running for Senate in Michigan.
• Role Reprise: Diego Brizzi plays once again the attending surgeon and the titular character's boss, which he did before in the Argentine Spanish dub of the Korean adaptation (Kim Do Han/Neil Melendez).
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: Graham Verchere◊ as the younger Shaun for Freddie Highmore.
• Screwed by the Network: "Hot and Bothered", the show's 100th episode, got delayed twice by ABC. Originally scheduled to air November 7, 2022, it was first delayed to the 14th due to a special promoting the upcoming CMA Awards, only to get delayed again to the 21st due to a last-minute 20/20 special interviewing former Vice President Mike Pence.
• Typecasting: Freddie Highmore returns to his typically cute, gentle roles after his departure to psychopathic murderer.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Daniel Dae Kim originally pitched the show to CBS, the network that aired Hawaii Five-0, which he starred in. However, Daniel left the show due to pay disputes over him and Grace Park not getting the same grade pay as their white co-stars, which led him to pitch The Good Doctor to ABC.
  • Daniel Dae Kim originally wanted an Asian actor in the role of Dr. Shaun Murphy, but showrunner David Shore preferred Freddie Highmore.
  • Freddie Highmore almost rejected the offer to star in the series at the beginning, having just finished Bates Motel (which had five seasons) and a little apprehensive about the idea of immediately starting a new series that could last several years. He changed his mind after talking to showrunner David Shore about the project and accepted the role.
  • Paige Spara was originally hired to appear in just two episodes. The writers liked the actress and her chemistry with Freddie Highmore, and this added to the positive reception of the character by the fans (at the time) made them increase her screentime in the series, to the point that she was promoted to the main cast from the second season onwards and become the protagonist's love interest.
  • In the original script of Season 3 episode "Autopsy", after Shaun asked Lea if she didn't want to date him because he is autistic, the episode would end with Lea apologizing to Shaun and giving him a kiss on the cheek before leaving. During rehearsals, Freddie Highmore and Paige Spara came to the conclusion that the scene would be much more powerful if Lea left without saying anything.
  • The showrunner David Shore made it clear that from the beginning, the writers planned to end Season 3 with Shaun and Lea becoming a couple. However, he admits that the writers have for some time considered discarding those plans and making Carly remain Shaun's girlfriend. They finally decided to stay true to the original plans.
  • The writers considered not incorporating the COVID-19 pandemic into the fourth season's plot, but finally decided that it would sound false.
  • Sheila Kelley, who plays the character Debbie, would originally appear in episode 5 of Season 4, but her scenes were cut from the script when Kelley and Richard Schiff were diagnosed with Covid-19.
  • According to David Shore, if Antonia Thomas hadn't decided to leave after Season 4, the character Claire would stay longer in the series (Thomas' contract was for six seasons).
  • According to Freddie Highmore and co-showrunner Liz Friedman, by the time of the second season David Shore had already planned that the series would end eventually with Shaun becoming a father (it is unknown if Shore had already planned that Lea would be the mother of his child) and that his son would be named Steve, in honor of his late brother. Over the years, Shore changed his mind when he realized that Shaun's routine as a father had great dramatic potential for the series. The idea of his son being named Steve remained, and that ended up happening in the Season 6 finale.
• You Sound Familiar: Some of the cast members in the Argentine Spanish dub of the Korean adaptation.
  • Alejandro Graue voiced Han Jin Wook. He returned to voice the show's titular character, Dr. Shaun Murphy.
  • Pablo Gandoldo voiced Jo Jung Mi. This time, he voices Dr. Alex Park in the first three seasons, before he was replaced by Marcos Abadi in Season 4.

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