Josh Charles Charms as a Cantankerous Small Town Doctor in Fox’s Cutesy ‘Best Medicine’: TV Review

The protagonist of the lighthearted new Fox series “Best Medicine” may be a doctor, but the hourlong show isn’t really a medical procedural. Instead, the series borrows a time-honored setup from “Schitt’s Creek,” infinite Hallmark movies and its own source material, the long running British series “Doc Martin”: uptight big city professional gets reluctantly acquainted with the charms of small-town life. In this case, the titular curmudgeon — yes, the name is a pun and the character is called Doctor Best — is played by erstwhile “The Good Wife” star Josh Charles, whose cantankerous charm keeps the sometimes forced-feeling zaniness in check through the first four episodes.

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“Best Medicine” takes place in a corner of coastal Maine currently best known to outsiders from Graham Platner campaign ads. (Ironically, this celebration of the country’s quieter corners was developed by Liz Tuccillo, an alumna of the quintessentially urban “Sex and the City” and co-author of the hit self-help book “He’s Just Not That Into You.”) Charles’ Boston heart surgeon used to vacation there as a kid, and returns when a childhood trauma-triggering incident at work gives him an occupationally hazardous fear of blood. Conveniently, the town doctor has just passed away, giving Martin — inheriting a first name from his English predecessor — a new job and a chance to work on his abysmal bedside manner.

Martin wants nothing more than to diagnose his patients, treat their illnesses and move on with his day. Unfortunately for him, that’s not really the gig, as he learns the hard way when one woman’s use of estrogen cream to treat symptoms of perimenopause accidentally reveals her infidelity. (Both her male partners develop breasts due to estrogen contact. It’s called gynecomastia!) Dr. Best is more like a communal therapist, expected to be on call at all times to consult whatever minor problems his new neighbors may be working through, strictly medical in nature or not — “like the world is one giant doctor’s office,” he laments.

Every episode of “Best Medicine” establishes a new yet equally beloved local tradition to confound the fiercely anti-sentimental doctor: a baked bean dinner; a high-school baseball game against archrivals Bar Harbor; a handsome hermit who comes out of the woods once a year to teach the local ladies wilderness survival skills. Martin’s no-nonsense aunt Joan (Annie Potts), incompetent assistant Elaine (the mononymous actor Cree) and partner in will-they-won’t-they flirtation Louisa (Abigail Spencer), a teacher, serve as his guides through these local rituals. These women are flanked by an ever-expanding cast of quirk-forward local characters, from the gay couple who own a local restaurant and let their pet pig wander the kitchen to a father-and-son handyman duo who like to make unsolicited repairs.

On the one hand, it’s a relief that “Best Medicine” feels like the first rural-set story in half a decade to make no mention of the opioid crisis. But as endearing as these Maine denizens may be — like Louisa’s ex-fiancé Mark, played by Hollywood’s go-to funny himbo Josh Segarra — they collectively lack edge in a way that’s less than convincing. Lip service is paid to the decline of small towns, yet any contributing factors to that shift are ignored in the name of an insistently sunny (literally; no snow here!) disposition. Martin’s former bully Glen (Patch Darragh) has the makings of a villain before he’s swiftly reformed. Mark briefly flirts with manosphere-style aggrievement, but anger doesn’t suit him.

Any hint of acid comes from Martin himself, a necessary counterpoint to the sugar in such abundant supply. “I’m not meant to be a town doctor because I don’t like people,” he complains, but Charles doesn’t play the physician as mean-spirited or even especially irritable. Martin just has little patience or understanding of social niceties, which happen to be the stock and trade of his new home: “I find the people demanding, irrational and far too chatty at supermarkets,” he sighs. To invoke another iconic TV doctor from the same network, Martin’s like a less gleefully bitchy Dr. House, a parallel that extends to his penchant for solving diagnostic mysteries like the source of a seemingly foodborne illness.

Martin will doubtless have his edges sanded down over time, though hopefully later rather than sooner. For now, the contrast between Martin and his patients has a productive friction that gives Charles plenty of grouchy misanthropy to work with. Amid so much communitarian sweetness, a spoonful of bitter helps “Best Medicine” go down. 

“Best Medicine” premieres on Fox on Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. ET, with remaining episodes airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET starting on Jan. 6.