Medical dramas have been a staple in the media since City Hospital first aired in 1951. ER was one of the highest-paid television series of its time, with stars like George Clooney and Noah Wyle earning around $400,000 per episode during the later seasons.
The most recent success in the field of medical shows is HBO’s The Pitt. The show earned around $11 million in its first season, with each cast member earning a fixed salary of $50,000 or $35,000 per episode.
But why have these shows done so well? Most of them, with the exception of The Pitt and ER, aren’t even medically accurate.
The answer is simple: people are attracted to competence.
We live in an age of weaponized incompetence, where people — typically men — cannot or simply refuse to perform basic tasks. Whether it’s refusing to do fundamental jobs like laundry, cooking, or an inability to do basic chores, this lack of initiative forces their partners to take these responsibilities upon themselves.
Medical dramas are a blatant demonstration of competency. Being a doctor is one of the most mentally challenging and demanding careers a person can choose, and watching someone take charge in a proficient way is scientifically attractive.
One of the most obvious examples is Grey’s Anatomy. The first episode aired in 2005, and people were immediately struck by Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd, played by Patrick Dempsey.
While Patrick Dempsey being conventionally attractive is a major factor in the show’s success, what makes him even more appealing is when he says words like “tension pneumothorax.”
Does anybody watching the show know what that means? Probably not, but McDreamy’s confident delivery of the complicated medical term made it sound like he was offering the audience a million dollars.
The same concept applies to George Clooney. Of course, Clooney is a household name now, but it wasn’t always that way.
Before starring in ER in 1994, Clooney had been in a few small films but never had a major success until his performance as Dr. Doug Ross. The show gained Clooney ‘heartthrob status’, and he was so well-liked that one episode of the show that was centered on his character had 45 million viewers.
Like his co-star in ER, Noah Wyle was also deemed a dreamboat by viewers, with many fans citing him as their first celebrity crush from their youth. Even now, The Pitt has guided many younger fans to watch ER, where they meet the charming young Dr. Carter.
But again, the actors’ popularity was not just carried by their physical attractiveness. Fans love seeing Clooney or Wyle taking command of a trauma, ordering CT scans, and yelling at cocky med students to get out of their way.
Seeing someone perform complicated tasks efficiently, while also taking charge in a chaotic situation is attractive to most people. The attraction comes from a sense of security and trust that derives from watching someone perform something with competence.
This was tested in a study in the National Library of Medicine, where participants were given a description of a personality and then told to rate them by attractiveness. The personalities that were rated the highest were the ones that had characteristics that showed responsibility.
The attraction is not just to physical labors, though those are typically noticed more. Intelligence is incredibly attractive to people, and not only in the sense of topics like science or math. Emotional intelligence and compassion for others is a well-desired trait.
A great example of all the points previously stated is Shawn Hatosy’s character in The Pitt. In the most recent season of the show, Hatosy’s character, Dr. Jack Abbot makes his entrance halfway through the shift in episode 7.
Now, there are several elements of his appearance that contribute to the theory.
Firstly, Dr. Abbot’s dramatic entrance comes when he arrives at the hospital as a combat medic as a part of a SWAT team. He even tells another doctor that he performed an intubation on a patient while literally being under active fire.
The dangerous situation combined with the intricate procedure being performed correctly is a perfect example of the competence that people are attracted to.
Secondly, Dr. Abbot is later discovered by another doctor, Dr. Samira Mohan, while trying to patch up a wound of his own. Dr. Mohan is looking for her patient who left the hospital before she could give him proper medical care for fear of the medical bills being too expensive.
When she mentions that she was going to give her patient a bag with all the supplies he would need at home, so he could avoid the expenses, Abbot suggests sending it in an uber to his house. Dr. Mohan jokes that the hospital would never pay for that, and without hesitating, Dr. Abbot says, “I’ll pay for it.”
The internet went absolutely crazy over that one line. The clip was (and frankly, still is) the intro clip for many fan edits on TikTok and Instagram.
Although the offer is not anything completely out of the ordinary, the fact that he offered to help Dr. Mohan and her patient, whom he has never met before, shows how much of a caring person he is. This demonstrates the second part of the theory – that kindness and empathy are extremely attractive features.
Dr. Jack Abbot is a perfect example of a symbol of competence, but it isn’t only medical dramas that purposely lean into this concept. The law is another profession that requires capability and critical thinking.
The hit legal show Suits also does this successfully, with the show earning over $356 million in streamer revenue between 2020-2024. Watching the lawyers strike people down in court and spit legal jargon that other people don’t understand is in the same category as the medical terms.
Attraction is subjective and based on several different elements, but the most important thing in a relationship is responsibility. Knowing that someone has the capability to perform complex tasks and take responsibility for their actions is extremely desirable.
As a final word of advice – if you’re looking for a partner, don’t be stupid. Take responsibility and be competent. You’ll have a ring in no time.
