The University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center will have a leading role in the new Disney+ original series, Doogie Kamealoha, M.D., a reboot of the beloved 90s dramedy Doogie Howser M.D. The series, shot and set in Hawaiʻi, has transformed part of the UH Cancer Center into a fictional hospital set. The show began filming on February 1, with a blessing held in Waimānalo, one of several island locations where filming for the show will occur.
“We’re so pleased that the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center and its team are working on this series, showcasing how collaboration of community and production can work together to the benefit of economic recovery, while creating a medical series, which will deliver a new perspective for viewers that embraces our island home,” said Mike McCartney, Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism director.
Excitement has been building for Doogie Kamealoha, M.D., created and written by Hawaiʻi-born Kourtney Kang and set to release later this year on Disney+. The new Doogie series will star Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Lahela “Doogie” Kamealoha, the teenage child prodigy doctor; Kathleen Rose Perkins, as Dr. Clara Hannon, the Doogie character’s spit-fire Irish mother who is an M.D. and chief of staff at the hospital; and Jason Scott Lee as Benny Kamealoha, her Hawaiian father. Lee’s character in the show gives up a financial career on the continent to simplify his life and to spend more time at home in the islands with his three kids.
UH Cancer Center Director Randall Holcombe added, “UH Cancer Center is excited to be participating in the reboot of the Doogie Howser series, reimagined as Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. This is a collaborative effort between John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) and the Cancer Center that will help to bolster economic activity for the state, while also highlighting Hawaiʻi’s culture and people.”
In addition to filming within the UH Cancer Center set, filming will also take place in the center’s finished space, exterior spaces and other areas within the Kakaʻako campus shared by the UH Cancer Center and JABSOM.
