Dr. J meets Doogie Howser

Faced with the pressure of living up to his co-workers' expectations on the basketball court, Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris), who has no basketball skills, has nowhere to turn but to alter-ego, and Philadelphia 76ers living legend, Julius Erving.

After faking an ankle injury to miss the big game Howser comes around to feeling guilty about letting his teammates and co-workers down. Leave it to Erving to pile on the guilt as the pressure mounts on Doogie to play in the game. When faced with forfeiting the game Doogie finally comes through.



Of course the fate of the game would be decided by the young doctor, right? Fittingly none other than Dr. J offers Doogie with some words of advice with the game on the line.



The video of the ball going in or missing the hoop fades to a scene back at the hospital as Ray (Markus Redmond), who had previously held Doogie and his best friend Vincent Delpino (Max Casella) hostage in a gas station earlier in the series, as he settles a score with a patient he finds to be attractive. But the show wraps up the same way every episode does, with the young prodigy at the computer typing into his digital journal. The good doctor makes one last house call...



Full Episode: Air Doogie

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Happy Birthday Julius Errrrrrrving!

Dr. J was born on this day in 1950.

I may have never watched Dr. J play the game of basketball (I did not become remotely interested in the round ball until well after he retired) but I obviously have a tremendous amount of respect for the Sixers legend.

I was fortunate to hear Erving speak a few years back at Shippensburg University as the highlight of a minority scholarship dinner. My favorite story he told that night was how he first met Bill Cosby. I do not remember the exact story but it was back in his college days at UMass. He went to the locker room to get ready for a game or something and who is sitting there in the hot tub but the Philadelphia comedy legend himself. The biggest compliment that Erving ever received was right there in the hot tub when Cosby said he had heard of him and liked his game. Erving was floored!

Erving also starred in a video game with Larry Bird, before Michael Jordan replaced him in the NES version of the game. Enjoy this Commodore 64 footage, which I believe my childhood friend Jody had at his home, of One-on-One.

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