How ABC's “Doctor Odyssey” puts a modern twist on the “traditional big network show.”

From the brilliant mind of Ryan Murphy Doctor Odysseya new high-octane procedural premiering Thursday, September 26 at 9pm ET/PT on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.

Doctor Odyssey follows Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson), a new onboard doctor on a luxury cruise ship where the staff – including Captain Massey (Don Johnson) and nurses Avery Morgan (Phillipa Soo) and Tristan Silva (Sean Teale) – work hard and play hard.

“Doctor Odyssey is both old-fashioned and very modern, as it has all the elements of a traditional, major network show with polish and plenty of style, but also doesn't shy away from talking about the world today – our emotional states, the tensions between men and Women, pandemics, hedonism and much more,” explains Jon Robin Baitz, who writes and executive produces the new series alongside Murphy and Joe Baken. “And yet it's really funny – it's clever, it's fun, and it's a pleasure to sink into the comfiest chair you have and watch.”

Baitz adds, “It feels like a new way to do something wonderfully old.”

Chart a new course

With Procedurals dominating the broadcast and streaming charts, Doctor Odyssey I couldn't set sail at a better time. ABC finished the 2023-2024 season as No. 1 in adults 18-49 entertainment for the fifth consecutive year, marking its longest winning streak in over 10 years – just weeks before the premiere. Doctor Odyssey caused record-breaking enthusiasm on social media. The trailer, released on September 17, received 77.8 million views in 48 hours, making it the most-watched trailer for a new television show on the network ever.

As momentum builds, the showrunners remain focused on one thing: telling good stories.

“The only way I know to keep this machine running is to work with Ryan and Joe to write imaginative, intelligent and entertaining scripts that respect the intelligence of the audience while taking the mission of entertainment seriously.” says Baitz. “Ryan brings a kind of brilliant showmanship alongside his great storytelling instincts. Joe has incredibly weird attitudes, but also takes the emotional life of the series very seriously. That's why we always have to challenge ourselves to do the job really well: to make a juicy, joyful, big-hearted, lively, contemporary and funny show. I like shows, their splendor, their traditions, their pace. So it’s about creating beautiful content that is reminiscent of times gone by but is brand new.”

It also helps that Jackson and Johnson are no strangers to working on primetime television, with the former having starred in them Dawson's Creek (1998–2003), Edge area (2008-2013) and The affair (2014-2018), and the latter starred in MiamiVice (1984–1990) and Nash Bridges (1996–2001). The two also serve as executive producers alongside director Paris Barclay, Eric Paquette, Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, Scott Robertson and Nissa Diederich.

According to Baitz, Jackson and Johnson are “smart, charming, wise and easy-going.”

“They bring a wealth of TV experience: instincts about what makes a show, how to manage a group of actors, how to protect and argue for these characters and how to advocate for them,” Baitz continues. “They know how to love the work and respect the process and the crew. They are the real deal – adults who are intimately familiar with all the important aspects of television and how they can benefit the process.”

All hands on deck

Given the situation on board a luxury cruise ship Doctor Odyssey will feature dozens of guest stars – from Kelsea Ballerini, Rachel Dratch, Gina Gershon and Laura Harrier to Cheyenne Jackson, Chord Overstreet, John Stamos and Shania Twain. “One of the joys in my life is casting,” says Baitz. “A few dozen plays on and off Broadway – a lifetime in New York theater – gives you a real sense of how to ‘populate’ a show.” The talent out there is simply endless, as is the generosity of the actors who want to join in and be part of the fun.”

“There is an endless pool of the known and the unknown – new faces, old hands,” Baitz continues. “What a joy to see someone you have missed for a long time on screen. What a surprise to see new faces who are drop-dead gorgeous – and to know that we'll be seeing more of them. Then there are the relationships we have with actors; An example is that Gina Gershon and I went to high school together and behaved very badly in plays. So, I did it because I was trying to make her laugh. This is one of the best things ever Doctor Odyssey– There are a lot of glamorous and exciting people on the cruise.”

And according to Baitz, the fun — and drama — is just beginning.

Throughout the season, he says, viewers can look forward to “deepening relationships between the main characters and complicated twists in their emotional lives.” As if that wasn't enough, Baitz teases: Doctor Odyssey will include “fun and tragedy, heroic medical thinking, fast-paced action, heartbreak, feuds, love, wonderful costumes and questioned life choices.”