After the required break for the holidays, Dr Ken returns with Delayed in Honolulu and provides a comical look at “Black Monday,” celebrity doctors, as in Dr Mehmet Oz, Ken’s being a 90s “hip-hop” wanna be and Dr Dobbs stepping up to the line for a waiting room full of flu sufferers. While Ken gets the lion’s share of the action, with his approaching and annoying Dr Oz, the rest of the ensemble cast get some “standout moments.”
Dr Ken and family are trapped in the Honolulu airport and Dr Dobbs is the physician in charge as Ken’s official locum has the flu. Ken’s airport layover problems includes one of their seats being separate from the rest, Dr Oz has the one needed to keep the family together and he is, ultimately, annoyed by Ke and refuses to swap tickets.
Back at Welltopia, Kate is slowly seeing to the full waiting room of flu patients, Pat has Julio help him overcharge the waiting room for drinks and snacks while Damona and Clark get stressed out by how long it is taking Dr Dobbs to get through each individual patient on the waiting list.
Standout Moments:
Pat’s line about the waiting flu patients:
“When life gives you phlegm, you make ‘phlegm-onade.'”
Molly ditching Trevor after his desperate texting and (too many) emojis when he gets mom Allison’s text dumping him.
Ken’s faux English approach to get Dr Oz to trade tickets:
Ken: “Hello, Dr. Oz. Nice to meet you. Big fan…”
Dr Oz: “Nope.”
Ken: “Bollocks!
Alison accidentally sending the “dump” text to Trevor and Ken immediately distancing himself from the whole thing.
Dr. Dobbs (Kate Simses) wishing Damona “Best wishes” on Black Monday.
Clark’s line about the overly full waiting room:
“Have you seen the waiting room? It looks like “the walk-in dead.”
Dave playing cards with the college lads from Arizona State and starting his deal with “my Old Maid deck.”
Dr Oz having to come back to Dr Ken and trade the ticket so he can charge his new “8.”
Dave, turning into The Cincinnati Kid and cleaning out the college kids.
Honorable Mentions:
The $20 faint gag.
Dr Dobbs’ line about addicts in the waiting room, of which there are actually two:
“And if you’re a drug seeker looking to score some Vicodin, it’s not gonna happen.”
Pat being bullied by Julio about the bacon wrapped hotdogs.
Dave, again, paying off the extra baggage fees and the desk attendant from his “winnings.”
“And this is for you. Get yourself something nice.”
Allison’s “I have fat thumbs, it’s the last place I lose weight.”
Ken’s response, “Let me! My thumbs are like babies’ pinkies.”
Overall thoughts:
Ken Jeong’s Dr Ken Park goes back into full “Woody Woodpecker” mode, with a 90s hip-hop wannabe vibe, that cranks things up nicely. The fun behind the entire Honolulu delay is first counting the ways things will go wrong and then watching them happen. We know that Ken is going to ultimately irritate Dr Oz (the TV doctor looks humorless and a bit “up his own bum.”) just as we know that utilizing his WW luck, Ken will ultimately get what he needs from Oz.
Sidenote: Dr Mehmet Oz does a splendid job “sending himself up” here and proves that it is not just “Dr Phil” who can take a joke.
Once again the interaction between Albert Tsai and Krista Marie Yu is spot on, the “Hey! You spilled my macadamia nuts” and the response of “Text walkers get priority” was funny and delivered with just the right amount of sibling irritation.
The Welltopia crew, Kate Simses, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Jonathan Slavin and Dave Foley kill it with the whole “Black Monday” scenario and Marques Ray (as Juan-Julio) gets his chance to shine.
Dr Ken has characters that are fun and funny. Ken’s obvious channelling of his “inner thug/Hip-Hop artist yo” continues to be amusing, as is Alison’s, and in this episode Dr Oz’ reaction to it. The gags in this comedy can be enjoyed by everyone.
Dr Ken airs Fridays on ABC. Tune in and catch a comedy show that is uncomplicated and guaranteed to make you laugh.
