Product Description
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Becker centers on the life of Dr. John Becker, a cantankerous,
yet dedicated and talented physician, who, in spite of his
constant rants, has a decent heart underneath the sarcasm. Becker
will continue to unleash his views at the local diner, even in
Reggie's continuing absense. Jake (Alex Desert), the blind
proprietor of the local newsstand continues to turn a deaf ear to
John. Bob, Becker's b, obnoxious apartment super (Saverio
Guerra), persists in annoying virtually everyone. At the office,
Becker's head nurse Margaret (Hattie Winston) continues to make
order out of chaos, keeping John and his space-cadet nurses-aid
Linda (Shawnee Smith) in line. New to the neighborhood is Chris
Konnors (Nancy Travis), Becker's new neighbor, with whom he must
contend on a daily basis. Although her positive attitude is a
major annoyance to Becker, he slowly begins to have feelings for
her.
.com
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Having conducted our seasonal check-up, the prognosis is
positive for Becker, which, following a y first season,
showed a steady improvement with sharper writing, funnier jokes,
and a more at ease ensemble. Dr. John Becker (Ted Danson in his
Golden Globe-nominated role), who operates out of a Bronx
neighborhood clinic, is pretty strong medicine, and this season,
the writers upped his dosage with more potent misanthropic rants
against "a world that sucks." Prone to losing his temper and
alienating everyone, Becker is "not good on the phone, not good
in person, you’re just not good," his much more likeable chief of
staff Margaret (Hattie Wilson) tells him. Whether fighting the
phone company over a call he insists he didn’t make or, dismissed
for jury duty, railing against a justice system that doesn’t
"value my intelligence and want my talents," Becker sees
conspiracies and stupidity everywhere. He is invariably his own
worst enemy, as in the season opener in which he saves a grateful
woman’s life and repays her acts of gratitude toward him by
accusing her of being a stalker (spoiler alert: she’s really a
nun). Becker is an equal rtunity offender with an unkind word
for all, including blind newspaper vendor Jake (Alex Desert), and
"Reggie" (Terry Farrell), owner of the struggling diner where
Becker holds court and slings insults. But we do get to see his
more vulnerable side after he is accidentally during a
street altercation. He even gets a girlfriend this season, the
doctor (Frances Fisher) who treats him (surprise; he’s even a
bigger pain in the ior as a patient). But no a of
pathos can redeem two of the most annoying and obnoxious
characters in prime time, flaky and "hardcore unemployable"
nurse’s assistant, Linda (Shawnee Smith) and loser Bob (Saverio
Guerra). Becker does have a heart, but it also has a brain. One
of the best episodes this season is "Crosstalk," in which atheist
Becker and a priest (Frasier’s John Mahoney) anxiously await the
results of a patient’s operation and debate the nature of faith.
Becker wasn’t exactly a water-cooler show, but it’s solid,
dependable, and worth checking out if you missed it the first
time around. --Donald Liebenson