Doctor Death - The somber nickname given to Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a physician who took the limelight in 1990-91 when he advocated helping people to die. He called himself an "obitiatrist," preferring to be known as someone who engaged in "medicide." Dr. Death provided the "means, expertise, counseling and assuredness" to leave this world in peace. Critics however called him a "serial mercy killer." The controversy over his tactics in helping patients with Alzheimer's Disease, or other terminal/painful disorders kill themselves made this physician the man of the hour in the media. He made the rounds on the talk show and news magazine circuit defending his position, even appearing as a guest on ABC NEWS NIGHTLINE hosted by Ted Koppel. Dr. Death's suicide list included an Alzheimer patient whom he helped die in June of 1990; and two Michigan women, a former elementary school teacher who had suffered from a painful genital disorder and a former housewife with Multiple Sclerosis both whom died in a double doctor-assisted suicide on October 23, 1991. Dr. Death wasn't in this for the money, however. He provided his suicide machine at no cost. The machine consisted of three bags of solutions that dripped into an intravenous line attached to the body of the person to die. In the case of a person whose veins were too weak to take an intravenous needle, Dr. Death had a back-up system-a face mask attached to a canister of carbon monoxide. On November 22, 1998 CBS 60 MINUTES news magazine broadcast Dr, Kevorkian actually administering death to a patient. The following week he was accused of 1st degree premeditated murder by the State of Michigan and later found guilty of second degree murder in March of 1999. Dr. Kervorkian's videotape of the injection death of Lou Gehrig's disease patient, Thomas Youk, prompted his arrest. Michigan Judge Jessica Cooper sentenced Kevorkian to 10 to 25 years in prison but not She rebuked his behavior saying "You had the audacity to go on national television, show the world what you did and dare the legal system to stop you. Well, sir, consider yourself stopped." TRIVIA NOTE: In 1991, The Hemlock Society published their controversial suicide manual entitled Final Exit. The 5/9/95 broadcast of THE LATE SHOW with David Letterman featured the top ten Dr. Kevorkian Pick Up lines: No.10 "Some Call me Dr. Death, but you can call me Dr. Love"; No.5 "If you ever want out of the relationship...that can be arranged"; and No.1 "Can I buy you a last drink?" On the 12/9/98 installment of THE TONIGHT SHOW, host Jay Leno mentioned Dr. Kevorkian's Christmas TV special entitled "Not a Creature Was Stirring." On the sitcom LEARNING THE ROPES/SYN/1988-89, professional wrestler Steve "Dr. Death" Williams doubled as a wrestler known as "The Masked Maniac."

Doctor Fad - Nickname of Ken Okuda, an Asian -American entrepreneur who merchandised unique inventions and weird toys like the "Wacky Wall Walker" and helped promote them to "Fad" status.

Dr. Fix-Um - The nickname of Arthur Youngquist who hosted the home repair show DR. FIX-UM/ABC/1949-50. This program was the precursor of such home improvement gurus as THAT'S O'TOOLE/ABC/1949 with Arthur Peterson as handyman Tinker O'Toole; Norman Brokenshire, an ex-radio announcer from THE BETTER HOME SHOW/ABC/1951-52; HANDYMAN/SYN/1955, a program for home-workshop addicts; Bob Vila from THIS OLD HOUSE/PBS/1979+; HOMETIME/PBS/1987+ with Dean Johnson (and assorted female assistants); HOME AGAIN WITH BOB VILA/SYN/1990+; and comedian Tim Allen's klutzy TV Fix-It Show host Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor on sitcom HOME IMPROVEMENT/ABC/1991-99. See also - "The House Doctor"          

Doctor Johnny Fever - Disc jockey Johnny Caravella's (Howard Hesseman) on-air persona while he worked the morning shift for the "Top 40" rock and roll radio station WKRP IN CINCINNATI/CBS/1978-82. Johnny was a burned-out 60s rocker who avoided responsibility, mismanaged money and always had a glazed over look in his eyes. Before coming to WKRP he was fired from a Los Angles radio station for saying the word "Booger" on the air. His first day on the radio in Cincinnati went something like this: "You've got the Doctor, I'm burning up in here. We're all in critical condition, babies. But you can tell me where it hurts, because I got the healing prescription here from the big WKRP musical medicine cabinet. Now I'm talking about a 50,000 watt intensive care unit, babies. So just sit right down, relax, open you ears real wide and say give it to me straight Doctor, I can take it!" A few seconds into a rock and roll song, he interrupted the record to say the "Oh yeah, BOOGERS!" The Johnny Fever character returned for a few episodes as the overnight DJ on the syndicated revival of the series THE NEW WKRP IN CINCINNATI/SYN/1991-93. TRIVIA NOTE: The first song played on WKRP when it switched to a rock and roll format was "Queen of the Forest" from Stranglehold performed by Ted Nugent. See also - "Venus Flytrap"

Doctor Pee Pee - Insulting childhood sobriquet given to Eric Forman (Topher Grace), a Wisconsin teenager on the situation comedy THAT '70s SHOW/FOX/1998-2006.  Eric earned the name because he peed his pants while he slept in Summer Camp. Consequently, he was not allowed to sleep in the upper bunks. When Eric's friend Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) teased him about the nickname, Eric retaliated by revealing Kelso's nickname from camp: Big Chief Brown Bottom. Eric's sister, Laurie (Lisa Robin Kelly) had initially revealed Eric's nickname to his other friends. He got even with his Laurie by revealing that she, in fact, was born with a tail. Later, Eric also found out the his mother, Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) had been telling her friends about "Dr. Pee Pee" for years because she thought it was such a sweet childhood story.

Dr. Shock  See - HORROR SHOW HOSTS

Doctor Sphincter - The alter-ego of cable celebrity Rich Kornfeld a former computer programmer who starred in a short series called TIGHTLINE on community public access in Minneapolis in the 1990s. Doctor Sphincter was a TV host of TIGHTLINE (a parody of ABC NEWS NIGHTLINE) who was so tense and repressed that he made Richard Nixon look like Richard Simmons. Dressed in a gray suit with his shirt tightly buttoned about his neck, Dr. Sphincter questioned his guests as his forehead sweated and his face strained like a constipated person on a toilet. Dr. Sphincter's worry-wart mentality forced him to ponder "Why people were so sloppy?...so lax?", "Why they don't clean up?," and "Why they don't produce?" His conclusion? "I think the answer is tightness!" He warned his viewers that we "must keep aware at all times of how loose we can become." Kornfeld created the Dr. Sphincter character in college. He continued producing the program with the assistance of his close friends who met weekly at a restaurant to brainstorm for ideas the day before the show was to be recorded. The Dr. Sphincter character has appeared on public service announcements and industrial films.

Dog  See - "Cat"

Doll - The affectionate nickname of Roger "Doll" Addison (Larry Keating) given to him by his wife Kay Addison (Edna Skinner) on the sitcom MISTER ED/CBS/1961-65. Even during an episode "Ed the Pilgrim" set in Plymouth Rock, Kay referred to her husband as "Dolleth. Kay also called her husband Sour Puss, Lemon Puss, Diamond Jim and Mother's Little Financial Genius.

Doodles  See -"Gidget"

Doublemint Twins, The  See - ADVERTISING MASCOTS

Dowager Queen of the Game Shows, The - Self-proclaimed nickname of actress, comedienne Pat Carroll whose early years in television consisted of being a panelist or guest on numerous game shows including WHO SAID THAT?/ABC/1955; MASQUERADE PARTY/CBS/ABC/NBC/1952-60; KEEP TALKING/CBS/1958-60; PASSWORD/CBS/1962-64; and THE PRICE IS RIGHT/CBS/ABC/1962-64. TRIVIA NOTE: The dictionary defines a "Dowager" as an "elderly woman of wealth and dignity." See also - "Bunny"  

Downtown Brown - The street name of Detective Marcel "Downtown" Brown (Tim Reid), a San Diego police detective on the detective drama SIMON & SIMON/CBS/1981-88. See also - "Venus Flytrap"

Downtown Julie Brown - The on-air persona and veejay Julie Brown who hosted the weekly dance show CLUB MTV/MTV/1987-92 broadcast from the Palladium in New York City. The primary function of this hot and sassy, black female with a British accent was to provided friendly, zany chit-chat in-between MTV music videos. She often wore funky see-through clothing (pants with no butts) and was famous for her trademark purple bra. After five years Julie Brown left MTV saying in an interview segment of THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW "my boobs couldn't take it anymore jigglin' up and down." In 1992 she was featured on the call in radio show AMERICAN DANCE TRAXX. Downtown got her nickname from her sports broadcasting days when she reported from "Downtown" while interviewing the Pistons and other sports figures. She was also a former World Disco Dancing Champion. TRIVIA NOTE: Don't confuse the black Downtown Julie Brown with the white Julie Brown who starred on the MTV Network program JUST SAY JULIE. Her credits included "Medusa: Dare To Be Truthful? (a scathing parody of Madonna's "Truth Or Dare" documentary) originally broadcast on the SHOWTIME cable network; the sketch comedy series THE EDGE/FOX/1992-93; and the musical comedy gems "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun" and "I Like 'Em Big and Stupid."

Drywall Master of the Universe, The - The self-proclaimed title of blue-collar worker Dan Conner (John Goodman) on the sitcom ROSEANNE/ABC/1988-97. When Dan's wife Roseanne (Roseanne Barr) teasingly doubted her husband's ability to get a dry-walling job, Dan kicked back his kitchen chair, flexed his arm muscles and roared "I am the dry-wall Master of the Universe!" in an attempt to convince his wife and himself of his worthiness.

Duck Boys, The - On episode "The Promise" on the police drama DUE SOUTH/CBS/SYN/1994-98, detective Ray Vecchio (David Marciano) referred to two fellow detectives Jack Huey (Tony Craig) and Louis Gardino (Daniel Kash) as "The Duck Boys." His sarcastic remark was in reference to the two detective slick interrogation style ("nothing sticks to their feathers" nor "ruffles their feathers") and thinly veiled reference to Donald Duck's three nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Later in the series, Det. Gardino dies in a car bomb meant for Ray Vecchio.

Duke, The - Celebrity pseudonym of Marion Michael Morrison known to the public as western film star John Wayne. His nickname was taken from a pet Airedale named Big Duke that he owned as a child. Wayne was called "Little Duke." Besides the many films featuring the Duke kicking the butts of Indians, outlaws and WWII bad guys, he is also remembered for introducing the first episode of the western GUNSMOKE/CBS/1955-75. John Wayne was offered the part of Matt Dillon but turned it down in favor of a young actor named James Arness.

Duke of Funk  See - "Venus Flytrap" 

Dumbest Girl in America, The - Self-proclaimed title of Kelly Bundy (Christina Applegate), a beautiful blond rock bimbo on the dysfunctional sitcom MARRIED WITH...CHILDREN/FOX/1987-97. At one point, Kelly's greatest aspiration was to get groupie bragging rights and say "I'm with the band!" Kelly did earn the distinction of playing the "Rock Slut" in the Gutter Cats music video. Her popularity with the boys once made her say she was "The Beatles of the 1980s." When asked her birth sign she replied "I'm an Aquarium." Later, she was hired by Channel 83 as the "Action News" TV Weather Bunny Girl. See also - "Spud" 

Duncan the Wonder Horse - The showbiz moniker of TV news anchor Tom Brokaw. The nickname came about during the 1980 political campaign when executive producer Steve Friedman dubbed him "Duncan the Wonder Horse" as Brokaw galloped tirelessly back and forth between his daily responsibilities on the morning TODAY show and weekend assignments covering elections around the country.

Durwood - On the sitcom BEWITCHED/ABC/1964-72, Endora the witch (Agnes Moorehead) hated the fact that her daughter Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) had lowered herself to marry a mortal man, Darrin Stephens (Dick York/Dick Sargent). In an effort to forget this fact or just to bother Darrin, she never pronounced his name properly. Endora has called him: Durwood, Darwin, Dagwood, Donald, Dennis, Dum-Dum, Dumbo, Derek, Darwood, Durweed, Darius, David, and Dobbin (a term also used by his warlock father-in-law, Maurice). See also - CLOTHING:"Kerwood Derby"

Dynamic Duo  See - BATS: "Batman"

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