Never to late to review: “Marcus Welby, M.D.”

At first glance, Marcus Welby is a slow-moving, quaint look at the world of medicine. At second glance, it is very slow-moving. At third glance, it is a cavalcade of TV legends — people who went on to portray characters like Frank Burns, Howard Cunningham, and that guy — you know the guy — on the show about the thing — yeah, that’s the guy (you do a lot of that watching this show).

Presently available as a free download on iTunes, “A Matter of Humanities” served as the two-hour pilot episode of “Marcus Welby, M.D.” Health insurance was not the evil-of-the-day in 1969’s medical community. According to Dr. Welby, doctors rejecting the less-prestigious role of general practitioner in favor of higher-paying positions as a specialist were the real trouble-makers. A heart attack forced the good doctor to settle down and take on an associate in the form of James Brolin. Fans of the much more recent medical series “House” will enjoy that one of the first conditions talked about on “Marcus Welby, M.D.” was lupus, the disease most commonly rejected on that series about a general practitioner.

James Brolin played Dr. Kiley, a young whipper snapper who arrived at Dr. Welby’s combination home/office (which had a striking resemblance to the “Leave it to Beaver” house) on a motorcycle. Viewers were led to believe Kiley was a rebel, with his big, poofy hair and his motorbike. I find it hard to picture the square-jawed Brolin portraying anything but a straight-laced guy you’d want your daughter to bring home (then again, he did play Reagan once).

As for Dr. Welby himself, well, Robert Young was the father from “Father Knows Best,” and this series seemed to at least attempt the transition from that era to an era where he was only somewhat certain he sort of knew best. Welby is a smart man, and an abrasive man (in that sanitized manner commonly found in TV shows of that era). Unlike Dr. House, Welby isn’t likely to be addicted to painkillers, nor are viewers likely to tune in to see him solve medical mysteries. The series seemed to be centered on Welby knowing the answer.

It is sad for me to admit the series is dated, but not because of the obvious reasons. I’m sad because I know younger generations will find the shows I know and enjoy to be equally out of touch and impossible to relate to. I would point to “St. Elsewhere,” another medical drama that was considered realistic if not groundbreaking — how juvenile it must seem compared to today’s television. Watching “Marcus Welby, M.D.” made me laugh at times, seeing the nursing staff in their little nursing outfits and their little nursing hats, or seeing the doctors congregating in a hospital board room — smoking.

In the end, it was the goofy reminders of a bygone time that entertained me. The show itself was just flat and unsatisfying.