{ "id": "epn09f2fz9", "slug": "young-doctors-in-love", "title": "Young Doctors in Love", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s", "label": "Comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t", "label": "Satirical, black, and parody comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Satirical, black, and parody comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s", "label": "Comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t", "label": "Satirical, black, and parody comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Young Doctors in Love is a 1982 American comedy film spoofing hospital soap operas, directed by Garry Marshall and starring Michael McKean and Sean Young.", "snippet": "Young Doctors in Love is a 1982 American comedy film spoofing hospital soap operas, directed by Garry Marshall and starring Michael McKean and Sean Young.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.satirical-black-and-parody-comedies-of-t", "markdown": "# Young Doctors in Love\n\n**Young Doctors in Love** is a 1982 American comedy film that spoofs hospital soap operas, following a group of medical interns through their first year of residency at the fictional City Hospital. Directed by [Garry Marshall](https://www.edgepedia.org/garry-marshall) in his feature directorial debut, it was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer for ABC Motion Pictures and released by 20th Century Fox on 16 July 1982.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) The film stars [Michael McKean](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-mckean), Sean Young, and [Harry Dean Stanton](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-dean-stanton), with Dabney Coleman, Héctor Elizondo, Patrick Macnee, and a young Michael Richards in supporting roles.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/young-doctors-in-love)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | 16 July 1982 (regional), distributed by 20th Century Fox; rated R; running time about 95–96 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) |\n| Director / writers | Garry Marshall's motion picture directorial debut; screenplay by Michael Elias and Rich Eustis[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) |\n| Production | ABC Motion Pictures; producer Jerry Bruckheimer; cinematographer Don Peterman; production designer Polly Platt[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) |\n| Budget | Estimated between $7 and $7.5 million by contemporary sources[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) |\n| Box office | $30,688,860 domestic gross; opening weekend $4,206,265 in 709 theaters[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Young-Doctors-in-Love) |\n| Reception | 35% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 17 reviews; 5.5/10 on IMDb from about 3,700 users[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_doctors_in_love) |\n| Music | Original score by Maurice Jarre; uncredited excerpts from *Rocky* (Bill Conti) and *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* (John Williams)[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_doctors_in_love/cast-and-crew) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and plot\n\nThe story covers a one-year span in the lives of interns beginning their residency at City Hospital: psychiatrist Dr. Walter Rist (Patrick Collins), gynecologist Dr. Thurman Flicker (Rick Overton), anesthesiologist Dr. Charles Litto (Kyle T. Heffner), pediatrician Dr. Milton Chamberlain (Gary Friedkin), sports medicine doctor Dr. Bucky DeVol ([Ted McGinley](https://www.edgepedia.org/ted-mcginley)), and the debt-ridden allergist Dr. Phil Burns ([Taylor Negron](https://www.edgepedia.org/taylor-negron)). They answer to the intimidating hospital administrator Dr. Joseph Prang ([Dabney Coleman](https://www.edgepedia.org/dabney-coleman)) and the pathologist Dr. Oliver Wendell Ludwig (Harry Dean Stanton). The central romance pairs the arrogant, ambitious Dr. Simon August (Michael McKean), who intends to become \"the greatest surgeon the world has ever known,\" with the small-town Vermont idealist Dr. Stephanie Brody (Sean Young), who suffers from a mysterious and eventually life-threatening condition.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE)\n\nRunning alongside the medical comedy is a Mafia thread: crime lord Salvatore \"Sal\" Bonafetti (Titos Vandis) suffers a stress-induced stroke, and his son Angelo ([Héctor Elizondo](https://www.edgepedia.org/hector-elizondo)) smuggles him into the hospital disguised as a woman named \"Angela,\" pursued by the assassin Malamud ([Michael Richards](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-richards)), who is himself mistaken for a patient and subjected to unnecessary procedures.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) A third thread follows Dr. Burns, who romances the head nurse Norine Sprockett ([Pamela Reed](https://www.edgepedia.org/pamela-reed)) to get the key to the locked prescription cabinet.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/young-doctors-in-love) The plot resolves with Stephanie's operation, which Simon must perform himself after Dr. Prang chases his accountant at gunpoint during a nurses' strike, and with Simon and Stephanie marrying in the hospital hallway.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE)\n\n## Production\n\nOn 13 October 1981, *The New York Times* announced that ABC Motion Pictures had chosen *Young Doctors in Love* as one of its first three projects since creating the television corporation's motion picture branch in 1979; it was the first of the three to enter production.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) Although a 16 November 1981 start had been predicted, filming actually began on 30 November 1981 in Los Angeles, on a forty-one-day schedule that also took the crew to Downey and Venice, California. Hospital scenes were shot in the former drug detoxification wing of the Rancho Los Amigos hospital in Downey.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE)\n\n**Casting strategy.** Marshall and Bruckheimer deliberately cast then-unknown actors to find new comedic talent and save on production costs. The film marked theatrical debuts for Patrick Collins, Ted McGinley, Michael Richards, Kyle T. Heffner, and [Crystal Bernard](https://www.edgepedia.org/crystal-bernard), and first feature appearances for Taylor Negron and Rick Overton.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) It also features [Demi Moore](https://www.edgepedia.org/demi-moore) in one of her early film roles, as a new intern.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/young-doctors-in-love)\n\nThe film's connection to television soap opera was deliberate and visible: it includes a block of \"soap cameos\" by actors associated with ABC daytime dramas, including [John Beradino](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-beradino), Emily McLaughlin, Stuart Damon, Jacklyn Zeman, Kin Shriner, and Demi Moore.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) Early publicity materials listed [Mr. T](https://www.edgepedia.org/mr-t) among the cameos, but he does not appear in the theatrical release.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) The end credits carry jokey acknowledgments, including \"There were no laser beam effects used in this film\" and \"Marijuana plants were supplied by City Police Department,\" and are followed by a shot of two confetti-covered ducks entering the empty hospital hallway after the wedding.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE)\n\n## Reception and box office\n\nThe film opened regionally on 16 July 1982 and earned $4,206,265 on its opening weekend, ranking third, in 709 theaters. It ran for fifteen weeks, peaking at 796 theaters, and finished with a domestic gross of $30,688,860, all of it domestic; adjusted for inflation, The Numbers places the domestic total at $118,058,157.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Young-Doctors-in-Love) *The Hollywood Reporter* reported in October 1982 that the picture had grossed $30.5 million in its first nine and a half weeks.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE) Against a budget of roughly $7 to $7.5 million, the film was a substantial commercial success.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE)\n\nCritical reception was mixed to negative. Roger Ebert, the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic and 1975 [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) winner, gave the film two stars, writing that it aimed to do to *General Hospital* what *Airplane!* had done to the *Airport* movies, but that the joke was anticipated by Mel Brooks's *Silent Movie* and that the result was \"not very funny and not very inventive.\" He singled out Harry Dean Stanton's lecture on bodily secretions as the film's one wonderfully funny scene, and praised Dabney Coleman's egotistical surgeon.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/young-doctors-in-love-1982) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 35% Tomatometer from 17 reviews and a 34% audience score.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_doctors_in_love) Reviewers over the years have been divided in a consistent way: Joe Pollack of the *St. Louis Post-Dispatch* called it \"a mixture of good sight gags, pretty good one-liners and an inane plot,\" while Jay Boyar of the *Buffalo Courier-Express* wrote that \"neither the medical profession nor anything else is really being lampooned. It's just a bunch of jokes.\"[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_doctors_in_love)\n\n## Place in the spoof cycle\n\nThe film belongs to the wave of parody comedies that followed the box-office success of *Airplane!* in 1980. Its target was the daytime hospital soap opera, above all *General Hospital*, which was then at the height of its popularity; contemporary reviewers noted the difficulty of parodying a genre that already parodied itself.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/young-doctors-in-love-1982) The Washington Post's Rita Kempley, reviewing at release, described it as \"a young and restless parody of daytime soaps\" and noted it was the first venture of ABC Motion Pictures.[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/07/16/take-your-funny-bone-to-doctors/24fb2edc-f7e1-4d40-9d21-5e9ee0198561/) Later assessments have placed its humor closer to a cross between the film *MASH* and *Airplane!*, with constant undercutting of authority and a dense stream of verbal and visual gags.[8](https://www.moviegazetteonline.net/blu-rays/blu-ray-review-young-doctors-love/)\n\nThe film found much of its audience after theaters, on cable and home video, and was released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber on 31 October 2017 with a commentary by Pat Healy and Jim Healy.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Young-Doctors-in-Love) • [8](https://www.moviegazetteonline.net/blu-rays/blu-ray-review-young-doctors-love/) It is not currently available on streaming services in the United States.[2](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/young-doctors-in-love)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Young Doctors in Love (1982), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/56908-YOUNG-DOCTORS-IN-LOVE)\n2. [Young Doctors in Love streaming information and cast, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/young-doctors-in-love)\n3. [Young Doctors in Love (1982) box office and financial information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Young-Doctors-in-Love)\n4. [Young Doctors in Love, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_doctors_in_love)\n5. [Young Doctors in Love cast and crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/young_doctors_in_love/cast-and-crew)\n6. [Young Doctors in Love movie review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/young-doctors-in-love-1982)\n7. [Take Your Funny Bone To 'Doctors', Rita Kempley, The Washington Post, 16 July 1982](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/07/16/take-your-funny-bone-to-doctors/24fb2edc-f7e1-4d40-9d21-5e9ee0198561/)\n8. [Blu-ray Review: Young Doctors in Love, Movie Gazette Online](https://www.moviegazetteonline.net/blu-rays/blu-ray-review-young-doctors-love/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s › Satirical, black, and parody comedies of the 1980s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/young-doctors-in-love", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/young-doctors-in-love.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Young Doctors in Love\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/young-doctors-in-love. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Young Doctors in Love](https://www.edgepedia.org/young-doctors-in-love)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/young-doctors-in-love](https://www.edgepedia.org/young-doctors-in-love). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Young Doctors in Love\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/young-doctors-in-love. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Young Doctors in Love is a 1982 American comedy film spoofing hospital soap operas, directed by Garry Marshall and starring Michael McKean and Sean Young." }