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{{Infobox television
  |  show_name = Marcus Welby, M.D.
  |  image = [[Image:Marcus Welby Intro Screen.jpg|270px]]
  |  caption = ''Marcus Welby, M.D.'' title card
  |  format = [[Medical drama]]
  |  creator = David Victor
  |  starring = [[Robert Young (actor)|Robert Young]]<br>[[James Brolin]]
  |  theme_music_composer = [[Leonard Rosenman]]
  |  country = United States
  |  language = English
  |  executive_producer = David Victor
  |  producer = David J. O'Connell<br>Allen Secher
  |  camera = [[Single-camera setup|Single-camera]]
  |  runtime = 45&ndash;48 minutes
  |  company = [[Universal Media Studios|Universal Television]]
  |  distributor = [[NBCUniversal Television Distribution]]
  |  network = [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
  |  audio_format = [[Monaural]]
  |  first_aired = {{Start date|1969|09|23}}
  |  last_aired = {{End date|1976|07|29}}
  |  status = Ended
  |  num_seasons = 7
  |  num_episodes = 169
  |  list_episodes = List of Marcus Welby, M.D. episodes
  |}}

'''''Marcus Welby, M.D.''''' is an American [[medical drama]] [[television program]] that aired on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred [[Robert Young (actor)|Robert Young]] as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner and [[James Brolin]] as the younger doctor he often worked with, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell. The pilot, ''A Matter of Humanities'', had aired as an ''[[ABC Movie of the Week]]'' on March 26, 1969.

==Overview==
As with most medical dramas of the day, the plots often concerned a professional conflict between well-meaning physicians. Here, Dr. Welby's unorthodox way of treating patients was pitted against the more strait-laced methods of Dr. Steven Kiley ([[James Brolin]]). The catch with this particular program was that the roles were reversed in that Dr. Kiley was much younger than Dr. Welby. In the similar series ''[[Medical Center (TV series)|Medical Center]]'', it is the older doctor who is more orthodox and the younger who is radical. The opening credits of "Welby" for each [[episode]] reminded viewers of the generation gap between the two doctors, Welby driving his long sedan and Kiley riding a motorcycle. Welby had served in the US Navy as a doctor during the war, and was a widower. He owned a sail boat and enjoyed the ocean.

The doctors worked alongside each other in their private practice in [[Santa Monica, California]], regularly working in conjunction with the nearby Lang Memorial Hospital. (This was later revealed in exterior shots to be the real-life St. John's Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica, California now renamed simply as [[Saint John's Health Center]].) At the office, their loyal secretary-nurse and friend was Consuelo Lopez ([[Elena Verdugo]]). Other characters that appeared throughout the years included Dr. Welby's frequent girlfriend Myra Sherwood ([[Anne Baxter]]), his daughter Sandy and her son Phil (first [[Christine Belford]], then [[Anne Schedeen]], as Sandy and Gavin Brendan as Phil), and Kathleen Faverty ([[Sharon Gless]]), another secretary. Dr. Kiley met and married public relations director Janet Blake ([[Pamela Hensley]]) in 1975, at the beginning of the show's last season on the air.
[[File:Robert young jane wyatt.JPG|thumb|left|150px|Young and Wyatt on ''Marcus Welby, M.D.'']]
In the episode ''Designs'' which aired on March 12th, 1974. Young was reunited with his ''[[Father Knows Best]]'' co-star, [[Jane Wyatt]]; she played a [[fashion designer]] whose marriage to an embittered paraplegic led her to fall in love with the gentle doctor while keeping her marriage a secret most of the episode.

==Medical features==
Its handling of many varied medical cases – some common, some uncommon – made it an instant hit for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. Story lines included [[impotence]], [[Major depressive disorder|depression]], [[brain damage]], [[breast cancer]], [[Infectious mononucleosis|mononucleosis]], [[sexually transmitted disease]]s, [[epilepsy]], [[leukemia]], [[dysautonomia]], [[rape]], [[Alzheimer's Disease]] and addiction to painkillers, among others. At its second season (1970–1971), it ranked #1 in the [[Nielsen ratings]], becoming the first ABC show to top the list. The same year, both Young and Brolin won [[Emmy Awards]] for their work, as did the show for Outstanding Dramatic Series. Young won a [[Golden Globe]] in 1972 for his performance. Members of the [[American Academy of Family Physicians]] served as technical advisers for the series and reviewed every script for medical accuracy.

==Controversy==
The show twice found itself at the center of controversy and protests by gay activists. In response to the 1973 episode "[[The Other Martin Loring]]", about a middle-aged man whom Welby advised to resist his [[homosexual]] impulses, the [[Gay Activists Alliance]] (GAA) [[Zap (action)|zapped]] ABC, occupying its New York headquarters and picketing.<ref>Capsuto, p. 92</ref> The next year, "[[The Outrage (Marcus Welby)|The Outrage]]" sparked nationwide demonstrations because its story of a teenage student's being sexually assaulted by his male teacher conflated homosexuality with [[pedophilia]]. Seven [[sponsor (commercial)|sponsors]] refused to buy [[television advertising]] time, and 17 [[television network]] [[affiliate]]s refused to air the episode.<ref>Capsuto, pp. 106–109</ref><ref>Tropiano, pp. 18–21</ref> This was the first known instance of network affiliates refusing a network episode in response to protests.<ref>Alwood, p. 150</ref>

==Episodes==
{{main|List of Marcus Welby, M.D. episodes}}
{{empty section|date=October 2011}}

==Nielsen ratings==
{| class="wikitable"
! season !! Ranking
|-
| 1969–70 || #8<ref>[http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1969.htm TV Ratings: 1969–1970]</ref>
|-
| 1970–71 || #1<ref>[http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1970.htm TV Ratings: 1970–1971]</ref>
|-
| 1971–72 || #3<ref>[http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1971.htm TV Ratings: 1971–1972]</ref>
|-
| 1972–73 || #13<ref>[http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1972.htm TV Ratings: 1972–1973]</ref>
|}

It was the first show in ABC's history to become the #1 show on television.

==Cancellation==
By the mid-1970s, the popularity of medical dramas began to wane. Ratings for both ''Marcus Welby, M.D.'' and CBS' ''Medical Center'' began to drop, as did the ratings for daytime dramas ''[[General Hospital]]'' and ''[[The Doctors (1963 TV series)|The Doctors]].'' Previous episodes initially went into [[Syndication (television)|syndication]] in the fall of 1975 as ''Robert Young, Family Doctor'' (to avoid confusion with the first-run episodes still airing on ABC).  The show ended its run in 1976 after a total of 169 episodes were made.

==Television movies==
In 1984, the reunion movie ''The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D.'' aired, with Young and Verdugo reprising their roles. Another movie was made in 1988, ''Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair.''

==DVD releases==
[[Shout! Factory]] (under license from [[Universal Studios Home Entertainment]]) has released the first two seasons of ''Marcus Welby, M.D.'' on  DVD in Region 1.<ref>http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Marcus-Welby-MD-Season-1/13247 Marcus Welby, M.D. - Shout! Factory Newsletter Announces Spring DVD for Season 1</ref><ref>http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Marcus-Welby-MD-Season-2/13963</ref>

[[Mill Creek Entertainment]] released a 10 episode best-of set entitled ''Marcus Welby, M.D.- The Best of Season One'' on March 22, 2011.<ref>http://www.millcreekent.com/marcus-welby-m-d-the-best-of-season-one-10-episodes.html</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! DVD Name
! Ep #
! Release Date
|-
| Season 1
| align="center"|26
| May 4, 2010
|-
| Season 2
| align="center"|24
| October 12, 2010
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Alwood, Edward (1998). ''Straight News: Gays, Lesbians and the News Media.'' Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-08437-4.
* Capsuto, Steven (2000). ''Alternate Channels: The Uncensored Story of Gay and Lesbian Images on Radio and Television.'' Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-41243-5.
* Tropiano, Stephen (2002). ''The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV.''. New York, Applause Theatre and Cinema Books. ISBN 1-55783-557-8.

==External links==
{{commons  category}}
*{{IMDBb title|id=0064636|title=Marcus Welby, M.D.}} (TV Movie/Pilot)
*{{IMDBb title|id=0063927|title=Marcus Welby, M.D.}}
* {{tv.com|80|Marcus Welby, M.D.}}
*{{IMDBb title|id=0087997|title=The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D.}}
*{{IMDBb title|id=0095589|title=Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair}}
*[http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/marcuswelby/marcuswelby.htm Encyclopedia of Television: ''Marcus Welby, M.D.'']
*[http://community.webtv.net/Mandy99/MarcusWelbyEpisode ''Marcus Welby, M.D.'' episode guide]

{{EmmyAward DramaSeries 1951-1975}}
{{GoldenGlobeTVDrama 1969-1989}}
{{TopUSTVShows}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2010}}

[[Category:1969 television series debuts]]
[[Category:1976 television series endings]]
[[Category:1960s American television series]]
[[Category:1970s American television series]]
[[Category:American Broadcasting Company network shows]]
[[Category:American drama television series]]
[[Category:Best Drama Series Golden Globe winners]]
[[Category:English-language television series]]
[[Category:American medical television series‎]]
[[Category:Nielsen ratings winners]]
[[Category:Television series by Universal Television]]
[[Category:Television shows set in California]]
[[Category:Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series winners]]

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