Quote of the day: TV's Dr. John Becker advances his theory of what makes people turn to religion

"You know whose fault it is, is the damn drug companies—charge so much for the pills that people take the cheap way out and turn to God."


The weekend is our time for catching up on the late-night Becker reruns that have piled up on the DVR. (It's been fascinating to see that this is one of the rare TV series that in many ways actually got better over the course of its run.) In this striking episode, misanthropic Dr. John Becker (Ted Danson) has just learned that a patient he's been treating for kidney stones, who needs constant medication to keep his kidneys functioning, has "found" Christian Science and is declining further medical treatment. Becker, who has taken the news with his usual, er, grace, shares it with his nurse/office manager, Margaret (Hattie Winston).

BECKER: Guess who just discovered the Lord as his savior.

MARGARET: Well, I'm gonna rule out you.

BECKER: Yeah. Mr. Stoller—you know, suddenly he's a Christian Scientist, and he doesn't need medical treatment. You know whose fault it is, is the damn drug companies—charge so much for the pills that people take the cheap way out and turn to God.

MARGARET: Oh please, John. Are you so closed off that you can't understand someone searching for spiritual answers?

BECKER: I'm not closed off. I just don't want to hear about it.

[Note: For some inscrutable reason, our DVR recorded only the first 20 minutes of this episode. If anyone can fill us in on what happened in the rest, we'd be really grateful.]