Did Dr. Kelly Brackett Really Need To Lighten Up?

[Sgt. Saunders]

Dr. Kelly Brackett was certainly an extremely dedicated and highly competent emergency room physician at Rampart Hospital in Los Angeles. Dr. Brackett’s ability to instantly diagnose a new patient’s medical condition and to then immediately implement an effective medical treatment for that patient’s ailment was almost uncanny. The man was truly amazing.

Nevertheless, Dr. Brackett’s “bedside manner” (or more to the point, lack of one) really perplexed me. While Dr. Brackett’s medical colleagues, Doctors Joe Early and Mike Morton and head nurse Dixie McCall, always treated their patients and each other, with respect, kindness and empathy, the good Dr. Brackett acted in a gruff and curt manner. I mean, it seems as if Dr. Brackett had a perpetual chip on his shoulder and a humongous
burr up another part of his anatomy.

Couldn’t the man ever lighten up? And, why was he such an Ebenezer Scrooge in the emergency room? Maybe when Dr. Brackett looked in the mirror and saw those horrific sideburns and that overly blow-dried mop of hair he was sporting, THAT alone soured his disposition and made him a veritable bete noire in the emergency room?

Perhaps Dr. Brackett might have wanted to consult with the very able Dr. Marlena Evans, who would prescribe the curmudgeonly Dr. Brackett some much needed prescriptions to mellow him out? And, speaking with the unfailingly calm and cordial Fireman Roy DeSoto wouldn’t have hurt either. We can only hope that the dedicated, but crabbed Dr. Brackett reached out and got some much needed help for his personality problems.

[Tankeryanker]

I never saw Brackett the way you do. I always liked him and felt he had a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. He was a no-nonsense type of doctor who had lots to do.

[1960'sTVfan]

There is nothing wrong with Robert Fuller's portrayal of Dr. Brackett, he was excellent in the role. His hairstyle was common for men in the 1970's, with the fluffy hair and sideburns.

If I have the story correct, Robert Fuller wasn't originally interested in the role of Dr. Brackett, but then decided to accept the role because he and Jack Webb were good friends.

It's been awhile since I watched any episodes, but from what I recall the characters are seen only at their jobs doing their work, and their home lives are not seen. The two paramedics, Johnny is a single guy and Roy is married. Roy talks about his wife in the episodes but I don't think she is ever seen, does Roy's wife appear in any of the episodes?

In the pilot movie for the series, I believe Dr. Brackett has a relationship with Nurse Dixie, but the relationship was dropped once the series began.

[Sgt. Saunders]

I recall that Dr. Brackett was originally dead-set against the Los Angeles firemen providing initial medical assistance to the injured people those first responders encountered on their many emergency calls.

After those firemen received medical training, Dr. Brackett had to agree that these now firemen/paramedics were, indeed, qualified to provide initial medical assistance to injury victims. I give Dr. Brackett credit to admit he was wrong about the competence of members of the LA Fire Department as legitimate medical colleagues working in conjunction with the doctors and nurses at Rampart Hospital.

Now, if only Dr. Brackett could take a page out of the books of his trusted colleagues, Dr. Joe Early and Nurse Dixie McCall, and emulate their unfailingly compassionate and thoughtful conduct in the emergency room.

[bmasters9]

Originally Posted by 1960'sTVfan

It's been awhile since I watched any episodes, but from what I recall the characters are seen only at their jobs doing their work, and their home lives are not seen. The two paramedics, Johnny is a single guy and Roy is married. Roy talks about his wife in the episodes but I don't think she is ever seen, does Roy's wife appear in any of the episodes?

--About the characters only being shown at work (firemen/paramedics and doctors/nurses), this is why, in the fifth-season episode "Right at Home," Roy's annoyance with how Eddie was driving him crazy and causing trouble in the neighborhood was only talked about at the station, and not shown on screen. Also, had it been portrayed on screen, we probably would have seen Roy getting quite frustrated with Eddie and yelling at him, and all that would have required an additional second unit (the second unit[s] that was/were used were only meant to show the fires and other disasters and medical emergencies that the firemen/paramedics responded to, IIRC). Furthermore, the extent of the bad things that Eddie did were at the station, where he bit Chet's finger, and took a poster down off the wall to look at it; there was no real destructiveness.

--And to the other part of that, Roy's wife Joanne was only briefly shown in the pilot movie in Jan. 1972 (the scene at John's birthday party), and no further beyond that, IIRC (after that, she is only verbally mentioned whenever she is brought up).

[Willbo]

I really liked this show as my dad was a fire fighter. I enjoyed all the characters but would have liked to occasionally seen them at home or off duty. I liked all the hospital staff as well.