The Good Doctor – Picture: ABC/Disney/Sony
The Good Doctor starring Freddie Highmore just recently wrapped its sixth season on ABC in the United States once again reprising his role as Shaun Murphy working at San Jose’s St. Bonaventure Hospital. The series is now on more Netflix regions than ever but is it streaming where you live? Let’s take a look.
Medical dramas have been rather stagnant on network television, with few new shows debuting in the genre, but generally, they’re rather so-so. It continues ABC’s reign at being the network with the best medical dramas with their headline title, Grey’s Anatomy, now heading into its 17th season.
The Good Doctor is slightly different and is a breath of fresh air in the space that began airing back in 2017. Based on the Korean series of the same name, the show stars Freddie Highmore, mostly known for his series Bates Motel (which has departed from Netflix).
Why isn’t The Good Doctor on Netflix US?
Although Netflix has picked up a handful of ABC shows over the past decade, The Good Doctor hasn’t been among them and will continue that fashion.
In the United States, ABC is owned by Disney, which has a partial stake in Hulu, where it opts to put most of its shows by default unless a separate arrangement can be made.
In the case of The Good Doctor, no arrangement has been made, meaning that Hulu remains the only subscription service currently carrying the show.
In the long term, the show could be licensed out but in recent years, Disney/ABC has only chosen to do that with free streaming services like IMDbTV. It’s believed that Disney-ABC domestic television has sole rights for the series, unlike international rights for the series.
Other Netflix Regions Availability for The Good Doctor
Until 2021, no Netflix region outside the United States managed to secure the first or subsequent seasons of The Good Doctor. In most countries cases, alternative arrangements have been made.
For example, in the United Kingdom, the series is exclusively available on NowTV.
Since we first posted about The Good Doctor in 2018, Crave in Canada has picked up the license to seasons 1 through 3 of The Good Doctor.
In 2020, Amazon Prime Video picked up the rights in Australia. However, the series also landed on Netflix AU with seasons 1-3 on May 4th, 2021.
Since then, the show has landed on at least 30 Netflix regions, with most countries streaming seasons 1-4 (with new seasons arriving months after its season finale) and many others streaming seasons 1-3.
Among the Netflix regions streaming The Good Doctor include:
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Greece
- India
- Israel
- Portugal
- South Korea
- Spain
- Australia
- Germany
- Poland
- Japan
- South Africa
- France
- Turkey
Is the original Korean series on Netflix?
The original Korean series that the new Western series is based on is available on Netflix and in quite a few regions. According to Unogs, the series is available on Netflix in Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, France, Greece, and many others.
Will you be seeking alternative methods of watching The Good Doctor or will you hang onto the hope of Netflix adding it? Let us know down below.
