PHYSICIAN SPOTLIGHT

“What caught my attention about the script was that he (Dr. Gordon) was able to find the humor in health care – which should qualify him to be president.”

– Veteran Actor Alan Thicke

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – It helps to have a sense of humor in the medical profession, especially during these days of managed health care, malpractice lawsuits and healthcare reform. And Dr. Doug Gordon, M.D., has made an art of it.

The Space Coast diagnostic radiologist combined his medical expertise and comedic sense to write and produce “National Lampoon’s “RoboDoc,” which premiered at Hard Rock Live in Orlando in May of 2008, and is scheduled for release on DVD on Nov. 10.

The movie can be purchased or rented through multiple outlets including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Netflix and Blockbuster. (To order the ROBODOC DVD CLICK HERE).

Star Power

“RoboDoc” is an outrageous take on what happens when the perfect doctor, a robot, is created to help a hospital avoid malpractice lawsuits, and a deliciously villainous malpractice attorney sets out to sabotage those efforts.

If you're weary of the same old media pundits opining over healthcare reform, click on the movie below to get RoboDoc's perspective on the issues.

With star power like Alan Thicke, David Faustino, Michael Winslow, David DeLuise, Corin Nemec and Will Haze — and the reach of the National Lampoon distribution network — the humorous film will seriously raise Gordon’s profile.

“Most of my patients have no idea that I write comedy in addition to practicing medicine. I’ve kept the two things separate until this project,” said Gordon of his practice with Open MRI of Rockledge and Cape Canaveral Hospital in Cocoa Beach.

Gordon’s partners supported his RoboDoc efforts, allowing him to take three months off while the movie was being filmed.

The radiologist wrote the movie in collaboration with his eldest brother Scott Gordon, M.D., a Kissimmee orthopedic surgeon. Scott Gordon also wrote and created the music for the film, served as the executive producer and had a small part.

Brother Tom, a popular New Jersey talk radio show host on 101.5 FM, served as associate producer and creative consultant. Their mother, Sydelle, who lives in Clermont with their father, Bernard, had a bit part in the film.

The three brothers have worked together on various comedy projects over the years. Tom Gordon has often served as the promoter, marketer and business consultant for the group.

“My Dad told us always to stick together. He held up a pencil and showed how easy it was to break, and then held up seven pencils (in a bunch) and showed how they couldn’t be broken,” Gordon said.

It was Scott Gordon who first served as a model for Doug Gordon’s interest in both comedy and medicine. Nine years Doug Gordon’s senior, the older brother’s college adventures provided the fodder that inspired the younger brother’s comic strips.

“My Dad kept copies of them all,” Doug Gordon said.

The attention 10 year-old Doug Gordon gained from his first attempts at comedy writing led him to write a humor column for his New York high school and college newspapers and later one for his medical school newsletter. Humor columnist Dave Barry was his hero, and Gordon focused his sharp wit on social commentary and political humor.

He first became interested in medicine after his older brother Scott pursued a medical degree.

“Scott blazed the trail for me, and I followed in his footsteps,” Doug Gordon said. “Although I enjoyed comedy writing, and it was a great creative outlet for me, it wasn’t what I considered a serious profession.”

But neither was Gordon interested in becoming “a Marcus Welby type doctor.” He became fascinated by radiology when he came across the specialty during medical school. Reading CAT scans reminded him of geography, which Gordon had always enjoyed and excelled in.

“I thought ‘this is the geography of the body.’ I’m a visual person, so looking at images all day sounded great to me,” Gordon said. “But I had no idea how much I’d have to study because of my choice.”

Radiology is especially challenging because of the need to understand the body from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet, he said.

The Gordon Brothers Team

While Gordon was working on his medical degree, one of his older brothers, Tom, suggested they work together on some song parodies. Brothers Jason, now an attorney based in Cocoa Beach, and Scott also became part of The Gordon Brothers team.

The brothers’ work wasn’t an overnight success, but they kept at it and from 1988 to 1994 wrote radio comedy bits for Alan Colmes, Rush Limbaugh and the All Star Comedy Network.

Doug Gordon’s next project was to write a humor book, “The Loser’s Guide to Life,” published in 1995. The book was based on his own dating frustrations.

“I had always been a bit of a nerd and been so focused on my career I hadn’t had much success dating,” he said.

After trying without success to get an agent and a publisher for the book, Doug Gordon met Paul Maluccio of Blue Note Publishing in Cape Canaveral. The Gordon brothers convinced Barnes and Noble to pick up the self-published title, and also collaborated on the follow-up “The Celebrity Who’s Who of Losers” book in 1996.

Two years later Doug Gordon and his brothers created a radio comedy show, “The Gordon Brothers Weekend Revue,” which aired weekly on WDBO Orlando from 1998 to 2002.

“The show was on a Saturday night, so as you can imagine, I didn’t date much then either,” he said.

A 20-minute sketch Gordon wrote on Bill Clinton, based on “It’s A Wonderful Life,” convinced him he could handle longer works, including a screenplay. He wrote his first screenplay, “God Inc.,” an epic comedy in 1999 after an epiphany during Thanksgiving dinner at his sister’s house.

Although he wasn’t able to sell the script at that time, it did help lead him to eventually writing “RoboDoc,” which he had started keeping notes on in 1998.

“I’ve always written about the larger issues we all face, and issues facing the health care profession were a natural concern for me,” he said.

“The Gordon Brothers Weekend Revue” also spurred Gordon’s interest in television and led him to produce and create a TV pilot in 2001 called “Going Beserk” with the assistance of Doug Tynes, then a film and video professor at Florida Metropolitan University in Orlando, and his students.

Although Gordon was turned away by all the Los Angeles TV executives he pitched the pilot to Orlando’s WKMG General Manager Henry Maldonado who encouraged him to get experience in the local Orlando market and come back.

“It was like telling someone to go get the wicked witch’s broom … an impossible task,” Gordon said. “But I was too naïve to know that, so I went and did it.”

Gordon-Tynes Productions, Inc is Born

In February 2003 Gordon partnered with Tynes to form Gordon-Tynes Productions Inc. on the back lot of Universal Studios in Orlando with the goal to create comedy for both television and film.   They kicked off Comedy Night School in 2003, which was picked up by WKMG, thanks to Maldonado, who insisted Gordon host the show, and then later other markets and the National Lampoon Network. The highly rated series showcased the video work of undiscovered comedy talents across the country.

“Connecting with National Lampoon was an amazing stroke of good fortune,” Gordon said. “I saw Kato Kaelin at a conference I was attending and asked if I could have my picture taken with him. When I asked him what he was doing at the conference, he said ‘I’m with National Lampoon and we’re looking for new comedy shows.’”

The alliance that started with Comedy Night School eventually led to National Lampoon agreeing to distribute RoboDoc.

“Having the backing of National Lampoon helped bring in so much support,” Gordon said.

Another chance meeting, this time with actress Andrea Elmer Faustino, former wife of David Faustino, in Orlando helped Gordon lure Faustino and then other stars, including veteran comedic actor Alan Thicke, to the film.

“Even though this was an independent film they all really liked the script and wanted to be a part of the project,” Gordon said. “I took that as a great compliment.”

Thicke, who plays Dr. Roskin in the movie, praised Gordon’s work both as a writer and producer.

“What caught my attention about the script was that he was able to find the humor in health care, which should qualify him to be president,” Thicke said.

Thicke said working with Gordon was “pain free” and that Gordon had a “calming effect” on the cast and crew.

“Another bonus for me is that I got to play a doctor, which pleased my father, who is a physician. I wimped out of medical school after fainting several times,” Thicke said.

The movie was filmed in Central Florida locations using local talent and crew as much as possible. Will Haze of Tampa plays the “RoboDoc” character.

Gordon went part time as a radiologist just after his 40th birthday. The move was strongly influenced by the recent death of his grandparents the year before.

“I wasn’t happy with my life and knew I had to make some changes,” Gordon said.

Gordon decided to reinvent himself, buying two new condos, one in Cape Canaveral and one in Orlando, and losing 20 pounds. The drastic changes helped bring love into his life.

He admits that his new commitment to physical fitness, which he pursued at the Health First HealthPlex, also afforded new opportunities to meet women.  It was there in February of 2003 that he met his wife Jennifer, a Merritt Island optometrist. Neither had ever been married before. The couple now have a 1-year old son, Aaron.

“I knew I wanted to marry her after the third date. It took her longer to become convinced I was the one,” Gordon said.

As for Gordon’s next project, he hasn’t locked himself into anything other than helping National Lampoon to promote the new movie.

“I promised my wife I’d take a few months off after the intense schedule we had filming it,” he said, but he's stayed very busy helping National Lampoon promote the film.

Despite the success of RoboDoc, Gordon has no plans to give up his medical practice all together.

“When I was young two different palm readers told me I would pursue two careers during my life, which I have,” Gordon said. “I’m not sure if I would be happy just practicing one of them.”

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Tagged as: Alan Colmes, Alan Thicke, Cape Canaveral Hospital, Corin Nemec, David Deluise, David Faustino, Dr. Doug Gordon, Dr. Scott Gordon, Gordon-Tynes Productions, Henry Maldonado, Jason Gordon, Michael Winslow, Open MRI of Rockledge, Paul Maluccio, Physician Spotlight, RoboDoc, Rush Limbaugh, The Gordon Brothers Weekend Revue, Will Haze