‘The Doctors’ makes a house call to Chicago
BY SANDY THORN CLARK May 16, 2011 7:26PM
Drs. Drew Ordon (from left), Jim Sears, Lisa Masterson and Travis Stork — known to TV audiences as “The Doctors” — tape a show in Chicago that will air Tuesday. | John J. Kim~Sun-Times
‘The Doctors — Chicago style’
5 p.m. Tuesday on WCIU-Channel 26. “The Doctors” regularly airs at 5 p.m. weekdays on WCIU.
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Updated: August 16, 2011 12:25AM
Leave it to “The Doctors” — those four Emmy-nominated TV docs known for their ability to dispense easy-to-understand medical information while having fun — to turn a house call to Chicago into a lovefest appropriately dubbed “The Doctors — Chicago Style,” set to air nationally Tuesday.
As an audience of local fans last week crammed into an impromptu TV studio on John Hancock Center’s 95th floor, it didn’t take an applause directive to elicit squeals and enthusiasm for the celebrity docs — ER physician Travis Stork, pediatrician Jim Sears, obstetrician/gynecologist Lisa Masterson, and plastic surgeon/reconstructive surgery expert Drew Ordon — and it didn’t take audience adulation for the physicians to fall for Chicago.
America’s Dog hot dogs, Gino’s pizza, the Bulls, the Cubs, Cubby Bear, Navy Pier, Second City, Willis Tower and Chicagoans all earned raves from the docs. “The city is beautiful. The people are beautiful,” exclaimed Dr. Lisa, a self-described “huge” Bulls fan who also enjoyed time with the moms and moms-to-be of Chicago’s Bump Club and Beyond and a visit, accompanied by Dr. Jim, to Namaste Charter School.
Dr. Jim, an avid sailboat racer who has enjoyed viewing Chicago’s skyline — “the best skyline anywhere” — while competing in Chicago Yacht Club’s Race to Mackinac, was impressed with Namaste’s emphasis on curriculum, physical education, nutrition, yoga, and anger management. “This [concept] is going to spread all over the country. It could solve the health care crisis,” predicted the pediatrician, astonished that first graders devoured tilapia, carrots and brown rice.
“I’m sorry I missed that [visit to Namaste]. I was at the Cubby Bear bar,” quipped Chicago native Dr. Drew prefacing a segment on the benefits of drinking beer in moderation. “A beer a day helps your heart,” Dr. Jim reminded. Speaking from his experience as an ER physician at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Dr. Travis said he has seen patients claiming to have only consumed one glass of beer “but an 80-ounce glass of beer isn’t one glass — it’s a six-pack.” Dr. Drew conducted breathalyzer tests at the Cubby Bear, using a Bactrack Element Professional Alcohol Detector, identical to those included in audience members’ goodie bags.
The audience — many using cell phones to capture photos of the stars — voted on the caloric content of stadium foods including caramel corn (360 calories) vs. a pretzel with cheese sauce (593 calories) and a hot dog with relish and mustard (280 calories) vs. nachos (692 calories). Dr. Drew hinted Dr. Jim wanted three hot dogs at Wrigley Field, but refrained “because we all need flat stomachs” when fitness guru Jillian Michaels joins the panel for its fourth season this fall.
Off-camera, the docs acknowledged they have bonded as family. “We truly have fun. We can tease and disagree,” Dr. Lisa said. “We hope the audience sees confidence and experience, but arrogance is not in the equation,” Dr. Drew added.
Asked how they juggle the shows (normally taped Thursdays and Fridays at Paramount Studios in Hollywood), their private practices, and personal lives, all four stressed the importance of balance.
Dr. Lisa, 42, who balances raising her 19-year-old son, a private practice, working on the staffs of UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and overseas travel with her Maternal Fetal Care International charity, responded matter-of-factly: “Women juggle everything.”
Dr. Drew, 60, cited a responsible partner in his private practices in California (Beverly Hills and Rancho Mirage), a “very, very busy” wife, and two college-age children who want to become doctors (his daughter plans to attend Northwestern) as reasons he can balance responsibilities and still enjoy surfing, skiing, golf and tennis.
Dr. Jim, 44, admitted each summer’s hiatus from “The Doctors” has enabled him to find some balance as the father of two, a pediatrician in a family practice in Capistrano Beach, Calif., and an author. His brown eyes welled with tears anticipating this fall when his daughter will enroll in the University of Mississippi, but he’s looking forward to racing on his new 21-foot sailboat.
Dr. Travis, 33, a self-avowed “adrenaline junkie,” explained, “When you become a doctor, it’s go, go, go. We tell viewers about the importance of taking breaks, and I have to practice what I preach.” He chooses the outdoors and mountain and road biking for his breaks.
Claiming their fans re-energize them, the four agreed their Chicago house call was just what “The Doctors” ordered.
Sandy Thorn Clark is a Chicago-based free-lance writer.
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