Doogie Howser, M.D.

Doogie Howser, M.D.

Dr. Doogie Howser

Vinnie Delpino

Katherine Howser

Dr. Benjamin Canfield

Nurse Curly Spaulding

Dr. David Howser

Raymond Alexander

Janine Stewart (61 episodes, 1989-1993)

Dr. Jack McGuire

In 2008 Neil Patrick Harris appeared in TV and print ads for Old Spice deodorant spoofing his Doogie Howser character (he said that he could recommend the product as a "former make-believe doctor" and because he "used to be a doctor for pretend;" (he also tried to use a stethoscope on a patient's nose instead of his chest).

Star Neil Patrick Harris reportedly drew inspiration from watching Robert Young in Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969). Learning that Young was ill and pondering death, Harris visited Young with tapes of "Doogie Howser" and helped cheer him up.

Doogie was born September 21, 1973. His sixteenth birthday, which is celebrated in the pilot episode, is only two days after the pilot aired (September 19, 1989).

In the Season One opening credits, the article discussing Doogie graduating from high school says that he is 12-years-old in the first line. The next article, however, says that he graduated from Princeton, a college, at age 10. This was later changed, in Season 2, from 12 to 9-years old.