‘Marcus Welby, M.D.,’ a prescription for success

Abortion, autism, depression, rape, VD, drug addiction and hemophilia were just among the many hotbed topics explored in the classic ABC medical series “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” which aired on the network from 1969 to 1976.

A critical and audience favorite when it premiered, “Marcus Welby” laid the groundwork for such subsequent medical series as “ER” and “House, M.D.”

On Tuesday, Shout! Factory released the Emmy Award-winning show’s first season on DVD.

The series was a comeback for its star, Robert Young, who had been in movies since the early 1930s and starred in the long-running, family-friendly ‘50s series “Father Knows Best,” in which he played the all-knowing patriarch. Despite his stable screen image, Young had battled alcoholism and clinical depression in his personal life.

David Victor, a producer on the popular NBC medical series “Dr. Kildare,” created “Marcus Welby.” It was centered around a veteran physician who takes in young doctor Steven Kiley (James Brolin).

Welby and Kiley don’t see eye to eye. Welby is the caring but no-nonsense physician who makes house calls in his car; Kiley travels around on his motorcycle, but his more clinical bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired. Keeping the peace is the practice’s secretary-nurse Consuelo Lopez (Elena Verdugo).

Among the series’ many directors was a young Steven Spielberg, who is represented in this collection with “The Daredevil Gesture,” about a teenage hemophiliac. Spielberg handles the episode well, but don’t look for any of the special flourishes that turned him into a directorial superstar.

The two-hour pilot, which is included in the set, premiered in the spring of 1969.

Because medicine has made gigantic leaps since then, the show does seem dated. But seen in the context of its time, it is remarkable that the series addressed contentious topics such as abortion in the pre-Roe vs. Wade days.

The series also triggered controversy with gay-themed storylines. In one 1973 episode, “The Other Martin Loring,” Welby advises his patient not to give in to his gay impulses; in the 1974 episode “The Outrage,” a teenage boy is molested by his male teacher. The gay community felt the latter episode equated homosexuality with pedophilia, and several ABC affiliates refused to air it.

Some doctors took umbrage with Dr. Welby’s paternalistic relationship with his patients because their own patients wondered why they didn’t act like the good doctor on TV. It may have been the first time that real doctors got involved in a major discussion as to whether a fictional character was good or bad for their image.

Young and Brolin and the series all won Emmys for their work in the premiere season. The show continued until 1976, when it was felled by declining ratings. Young and Verdugo reprised their roles for the 1984 reunion movie, “The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D.” Four years later, Young put on the stethoscope one more time for “Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair.”

Young died in 1998 at the age of 91 of respiratory failure.

The seven-disc set includes no extras, save for a booklet on the series and an episode guide. The quality of the image is decent, though at times the soundtrack seems to be speeded up a notch and there are some weird editorial cuts.

susan.king@latimes.com