TV Reviews : ‘Doctor Dean’ Off to a Lukewarm Start

Dr. Dean Edell, who shares his medical expertise daily on radio stations across the country, begins dispensing health tips to TV viewers today in “Doctor Dean,” a half-hour talk show airing weekdays on NBC (10 a.m. on Channels 4 and 36, 11 a.m. on Channel 39).

What keeps listeners tuned in seems to have gotten lost in the transition.

NBC’s promotional material promises that the show will tackle “the hottest health matters impacting daily life,” but the good doctor makes a lukewarm start with a look at “the tragedy of the dieting epidemic.”

After unrelated trivia, the president of the National Assn. to Advance Fat Acceptance and a yo-yo dieter offer a few observations about the role of societal and family pressures in weight gain.

Perky correspondent Jodi Applegate says moderation is the key; Edell talks about genetics, advises exercise, less fat and more fiber . . . time’s up.

Tuesday’s show, “Women and AIDS: How Scared Should You Be,” warms up by emphasizing that women are the fastest-growing group at risk for HIV infection.

A long-term relationship--even marriage--is no protection because “it’s next to impossible to evaluate him as a risk factor,” Edell says of mates or prospective mates. Men may not know they’re infected, may be “into denial” or may be bisexual. And “men stray.”

The in-depth discussion called for here is not forthcoming. A half-hour isn’t much time, true, but there seems to be so much anxiety to avoid a “talking heads” format that Edell hops from one set change to another, talks too fast, wades Phil-like into the audience and takes more questions than he has time to answer.

Edell’s strengths--his personal warmth and empathy--are all but lost in the breakneck pace.