ABC, Please Let Doctor Odyssey Sail On

The Pitt has its real-time accuracy. Pulse has its illicit, post-MeToo romance. 9-1-1 Lone Star had the scene where a woman gets a harmonica stuck in her mouth. These are all well and good, but none of them depict the medical emergencies that may occur on a luxury cruise liner called The Odyssey gliding through the Caribbean. Doctor Odyssey is the bright spot in network TV’s lineup: a medical drama neither too serious nor gory, altogether silly, but completely well-meaning and ideal for weeknight viewing. This show is a mid-afternoon Cherry-Vanilla Coca-Cola. It’s a loose-fitting pair of jeans. It is comfort and joy, and it is also apparently on the bubble for renewal. ABC has already renewed long-time staples like Grey’s Anatomy and Abbott Elementary, and newcomers High Potential and Will Trent will see the light of the fall 2025 TV season. There are only three episodes left in this first season, and though Deadline says the season finale could work as a series finale, that ought not be the fate of his medical miracle. What will it take for Doctor Odyssey to get the green light? Begging? Pleading? Bribery? Consider this our desperate plea: We need to see season two of Doctor Odyssey.

While Doctor Odyssey is neither as profound as The Pitt nor as abjectly memeable at 9-1-1 and its spinoffs, it is a distinctly memorable landmark in the network television landscape. The Ryan Murphy–helmed medical “drama” (mostly I am laughing as I watch) is set in a fantasy world where every week, The Odyssey hosts a new themed cruise and the medical emergencies that occur are thematically linked to whatever the cruise may be. You want a guy swallowing a rubber duck on purpose? Boom. You want Margaret Cho poisoning Kate Berlant? Bang. You want Don Johnson saying “Serve the house down boots mama”? Easy. You want three medical professionals having a threesome to cope with the stress of their jobs? Doctor Odyssey provides.

In many ways, Doctor Odyssey is the perfect network television show — one that combines all the wacky inanities of the Ryan Murphy universe with an endless recyclability of form and function. There will always be new theme weeks, new guest stars, new relationship obstacles for the central ménage à trois. Joshua Jackson, who plays Doctor Odyssey (his name is “Max,” yes, but he is simply the titular Doc Odd to most of us) lends the show an affable and classic “TV star” performance. This is a man you can watch week to week without getting tired of his face or mannerisms. Broadway’s Phillipa Soo lends the show a theatrical gravitas, whereas Skins alum Sean Teale is both bad boy and whiny wimp. This is TV made easy. It is also apparently TV made expensive with stars who cost money and sets that are decadent if not ridiculous — like the sleek in-patient bay decked out with mid-century modern aesthetics. The price point is also what makes the show feel like it’s worthwhile: You can tell that real effort went into the universe of The Odyssey.

More than anything, however, Doctor Odyssey is a source of joy. It is a show where almost nothing bad happens, where a “cougar” can get pregnant and a man can recover from a shark attack like it’s nothing. The characters love each other, the medical equipment looks like it’s out of an Architectural Digest video, and every case can be solved by negotiating the stakes of a polyamorous relationship. These characters deserve more weeks out on the water, arguing and kissing and saving the lives of those who were probably not going to die anyway. This band of medical misfits deserves to experience even more themed weeks, like Christmas Week, Travel Reporter Week, Christopher Nolan Movies Week (Doctor Odyssey x The Odyssey crossover event!), Jazz Week, Caffeine Addiction Withdrawal Week, and, who could forget, Broadway Week. I’m making them up on the spot, but you have to admit that you’d watch! Another season of Doctor Odyssey could give us all of that and more, if only ABC were willing to invest in love, sex, and the open sea. Besides, the cost of joy is priceless.

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