Dr. Kildare
The story of a young intern in a large metropolitan hospital trying to learn his profession, deal with the problems of his patients, and win the respect of the senior doctor in his specialty, internal medicine.
- 1961-1966
- 5 seasons
- NBC
- Drama
The story of a young intern in a large metropolitan hospital trying to learn his profession, deal with the problems of his patients, and win the respect of the senior doctor in his specialty, internal medicine.
Season 1 Episode Guide
34 Episodes 1962
Episode 0
Unaired Pilot
27 mins
In this pilot, an older and more experienced Kildare has assumed the role of mentor after the passing of Dr. Gillespie. Kildare and his intern, Dr. Grayson have a patient needing brain surgery after a head injury. The wife tells Kildare that the patient's friend had been paralyzed after such a surgery and that he made her promise not to consent. A young nurse trainee gets emotionally involved, making her wonder if she will be effective as a nurse. When the patient revives from the morphine, Kildare convinces him to consent to surgery. The anesthesiologist informs Kildare and his intern, Dr. Grayson, that the patient's breathing is too shallow to perform the surgery. Kildare realizes that the problem may have come from inhalation exposure and tries to find out what the patient has done in the past. The patient manages to communicate that he previously worked in a factory where fluorescent light bulbs were made, and Kildare diagnoses beryllium poisoning. Meanwhile, Kildare's intern is wanting to leave Blair and take what appears to be a lucrative practice. Kildare, in an effort to keep the intern at Blair, intervenes to get another departing intern the job. The surgery is a success, with both the intern and the nurse having learned something about themselves from the experience.
Episode 1
Twenty-Four Hours
Thu, Sep 28, 1961 60 mins
Kildare's ability to get along with his patients is tested by a difficult alcoholic.
Episode 2
Immunity
Thu, Oct 5, 1961 60 mins
An elderly Polish man is admitted to the hospital with smallpox, and Kildare and Gillespie try to find people he has been in contact with to prevent an epidemic.
Episode 3
Shining Image
Thu, Oct 12, 1961 60 mins
Kildare becomes involved in the life of a patient of his, a young woman dying of leukemia.
Episode 4
Winter Harvest
Thu, Oct 19, 1961 60 mins
Kildare believes that a highly respected older doctor is slowing down too much in surgery, and informs Gillespie of this even though the man is one of Gillespie's oldest friends and mentors. Gillespie must make the decision as to whether to suggest to his friend that he should retire.
Episode 5
A Million Dollar Property
Thu, Oct 26, 1961 60 mins
A popular actress comes to Blair for tests, along with members of her "circle" who try to come between Kildare and his patient.
Episode 6
Admitting Service
Thu, Nov 2, 1961 60 mins
Kildare feels that a doctor acted too hastily is releasing a man who is showing some vague but troublesome symptoms. When the man dies the next day, his relatives seek a malpractice suit against the hospital.
Episode 7
The Lonely Ones
Thu, Nov 9, 1961 60 mins
When Kildare becomes bothered by the lack of concern some people in the big city show for their fellow humans, Gillespie gives him a few days off to travel to his small home town. While there, he discovers that the fiancée of one of his close friends is addicted to heroin.
Episode 8
Holiday Weekend
Thu, Nov 16, 1961 60 mins
The staff at Blair prepares for an influx of accident victims on the holiday weekend, but they are not prepared for one of the victims being one of their own interns, who is critically injured.
Episode 9
The Patient
Thu, Nov 23, 1961 60 mins
After falling over a dressing cart, Kildare injures his back and is forced to spend a few days recuperating in a room with four others who don't mind seeing a doctor becoming a patient for once.
Episode 10
For the Living
Thu, Nov 30, 1961 60 mins
A friend of Kildare is in a coma after falling and hitting his head. The man's wife, son, and brother struggle with whether to continue treatment at home or in an institution, and even whether or not life is worth living for him anymore.
Episode 11
Second Chance
Thu, Dec 7, 1961 60 mins
A surgeon is diagnosed with a progressive paralytic disease, and fears for how it will affect both his career and his relationship with the woman he wants to marry. Meanwhile, Kildare becomes involved in the case of a young girl suffering from severe asthma attacks.
Episode 12
Hit and Run
Thu, Dec 14, 1961 60 mins
After his son's arm is paralyzed in an automobile accident, a man adamantly refuses to allow doctors to perform the operation which should restore it to full use. The man's wife unexpectedly died during surgery after another car accident a few years earlier, and he has been overly fearful and distrusting of doctors, hospitals, and surgery ever since.
Episode 13
Season to Be Jolly
Thu, Dec 21, 1961 60 mins
On Christmas Eve, an alcoholic, bitter, cynical department store Santa Claus is admitted to the hospital. The hospital chaplain is shocked to recognize the man as someone he knew in the past, who has let personal tragedies sink him into his current state of despair.
Episode 14
Johnny Temple
Thu, Dec 28, 1961 60 mins
A young man is admitted to Blair after being stabbed by a street gang. The youth soon exhibits erratic and unpredictable behavior which indicate he is severely paranoid and schizophrenic. However, his parents, particularly his father, refuse to listen to the recommendation of the doctors that he be admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Episode 15
My Brother, the Doctor
Thu, Jan 4, 1962 60 mins
Dr. Simon Agurski's older brother has been paying for his medical education, delaying his own career as an accountant, and his marriage, in the process. Upset by this sacrifice, Simon announces he will drop his plans to become a pediatrician and take a job with an insurance firm. He reconsiders, but the conflict with his brother continues to escalate.
Episode 16
The Administrator
Thu, Jan 11, 1962 60 mins
The hospital administrator, already unpopular with much of the staff, makes things worse by firing an employee he suspects of stealing equipment. Meanwhile, his marriage is also on the rocks as his neglected wife increasingly turns to drinking.
Episode 17
Oh, My Daughter
Thu, Jan 25, 1962 60 mins
Gillespie's daughter leaves her home in Paris to come to Blair for tests. When she is told she is pregnant, she bitterly and angrily denies it, and tries to jump out a window. A psychiatrist tries to discover the source of her fears.
Episode 18
The Search
Thu, Feb 1, 1962 60 mins
A woman and a little girl are admitted to the hospital and determined to be suffering from botulism poisoning. A dedicated but overly brash and assertive young pediatrician teams with a public health inspector to find the source of the toxin and prevent an epidemic.
Episode 19
The Glory Hunter
Thu, Feb 8, 1962 60 mins
A famous doctor, who has made a name for himself working with the poor people of India, comes to Blair for tests due to a suspected neurological disorder, and also to raise more money for his hospital overseas.
Episode 20
The Dragon
Thu, Feb 15, 1962 60 mins
When he makes a serious mistake with one of his patients, Dr. Eddie Moore asks Kildare to cover up for him. When Kildare refuses to do so, Moore tries to manipulate a vulnerable young nurse into taking the blame. Meanwhile, the young nurse's strict supervisor, Mrs. Fain, is surprised to find her husband back home after he abandoned her seventeen years earlier.
Episode 21
The Stepping Stone
Thu, Feb 22, 1962 60 mins
Maxwell Keller is admitted to Blair after collapsing from malnutrition at a surgical instrument store. Gillespie recognizes him as a veteran medical researcher who pioneered in attempting to eradicate polio. Keller still does his research now - out of the basement at the apartment he rents. Meanwhile a younger pathologist angers both Gillespie and Kildare by his lack of respect for Keller, and by his actions such as asking another elderly patient for permission to perform his autopsy.
Episode 22
The Bronc-Buster
Thu, Mar 1, 1962 60 mins
Kildare's rodeo rider cousin Lucky Elcott brings in his son who has been stricken with appendicitis. The boy is fine after surgery, but Kildare then notices symptoms in Lucky which turn out to be from rheumatoid arthritis. He tries to persuade Lucky to quit the rodeo, but is it just for his health, or also because Kildare is embarrassed by his cousin's happy-go-lucky, back-slapping style?
Episode 23
The Witch Doctor
Thu, Mar 8, 1962 60 mins
A young woman is admitted to Blair and discovered to be suffering from a subdural hematoma. Fearful of hospitals, she asks to be released, though Kildare tells her she needs to be operated on within days or she will die. Instead of returning to Blair, however, she seeks help from a charlatan who feeds on people's mistrust of the medical profession.
Episode 24
The Roaring Boy-O
Thu, Mar 15, 1962 60 mins
A down-and-out, alcoholic poet is found to be suffering from advanced cirrhosis. Unfortunately, his devoted girlfriend has taken to drink as well, and Kildare hopes he can still save her from the poet's fate.
Episode 25
Solomon's Choice
Thu, Mar 29, 1962 60 mins
Kitty, a nurse from Blair General Hospital, is ready to deliver a baby after suffering several miscarriages in the past. Winona Pine, a woman estranged from her husband, is also giving birth to a baby. When Mrs. Pine states she does not want to keep her newborn, Dr. Kildare gets caught up in a plan to help the baby find a loving home.
Episode 26
A Very Present Help
Thu, Apr 5, 1962 60 mins
A highly tenacious yet compassionate nun is determined to continue her social work at the hospital despite having medical issues herself. When finally admitted, she tries to help her roommate, a woman suffering from bone cancer who stubbornly refuses to let doctors amputate her leg and has become bitter toward God because of her situation.
Episode 27
One for the Road
Thu, Apr 12, 1962 60 mins
Dr. Paul Probeck, a recovering alcoholic himself, decides to start an alcohol rehabilitation program at Blair, with Kildare as one of his assistants. However, one of the men they are treating is highly uncooperative and doesn't even give his name. After talking to him Probeck starts to wonder if he may be the son he has never met.
Episode 28
The Horn of Plenty
Thu, Apr 19, 1962 60 mins
To patch up a disagreement he had with another doctor, Kildare attends a party at the doctor's home. One of the guests is the daughter of a wealthy patient of the doctor's, and she and Kildare find themselves falling in love. But can the relationship really work out?
Episode 29
The Chemistry of Anger
Thu, Apr 26, 1962 60 mins
Kildare is assigned to intern under Dr. Nicholas Keefe, a brilliant, highly driven, and extremely thorough resident who is admired for his skill, but not for his belligerent and inflexible intolerance of any imperfections from interns and staff. It is due to this difficulty that Gillespie turns down Keefe's application for the position of chief resident.
Episode 30
Something of Importance
Thu, May 3, 1962 60 mins
A research doctor is worried that he is going to be scooped on a cure for sickle cell anemia. He enlists the aid of two interns. The doctor in his haste to be first fudges the results.
Episode 31
A Distant Thunder
Thu, May 10, 1962 60 mins
A man has a mental breakdown in an arcade. He checks into Blair Hospital and it turns out he was a general in the war and needs psychological help.
Episode 32
The Road to the Heart
Thu, May 17, 1962 60 mins
A deaf child is brought into the hospital after accidentally swallowing poison. After his recovery, it is discovered that his deafness is treatable, but his overprotective mother refuses to allow the surgery which could cure him.
Episode 33
Operation: Lazarus
Thu, May 24, 1962 60 mins
Kildare is assigned to work in a psychiatric ward to help treat severely schizophrenic patients with a new experimental drug. He recognizes one of the patients as a brilliant orthopedist. However, when Kildare tells the man's wife about the promising breakthrough, she is less than enthused, as she has given up hope for his recovery, and thinks the hospital is just using her husband as a guinea pig.
