'The Good Doctor' Season 7: Release Date Speculation, News, Cast, and More

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The Good Doctor Season 7 was initially slated for a Fall 2023 release. However, due to the recent WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, fans of the medical drama will have to wait a bit longer for new episodes to return in February 2024.

Here’s what we know so far about the upcoming season. Spoilers ahead from Season 6.

The Good Doctor is Back for Season 7!

ABC renewed The Good Doctor for a seventh season earlier in 2023, ahead of the summer and its Season 6 finale. The announcement was made in April 2023. Season 7 will consist of only 10 episodes, making it the shortest season of the series so far. For comparison, there were 22 episodes for Season 6.

The show’s official synopsis reads:

“Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join a prestigious hospital’s surgical unit. Unable to personally connect with those around him, Shaun uses his extraordinary medical gifts to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues.”

The Good Doctor is a remake of the South Korean series of the same name. The show premiered in 2017 and is still one of the most successful medical dramas today. Over the course of the show’s run, ABC also aired a backdoor pilot for a spinoff, The Good Lawyer, which stars Kennedy McMann and Felicity Huffman. The spinoff’s fate is unclear, though.

David Shore and Liz Friedman serve as showrunners and executive producers of The Good Doctor. Daniel Dae Kim, Erin Gunn, Thomas L. Moran, David Hoselton, Peter Blake, Jessica Grasl, Garrett Lerner, Mike Listo, Freddie Highmore, Shawn Williamson, David Kim, and Sebastian Lee are also executive producers.

Dae Kim acquired the rights to the South Korean series as he loved the show. He later made an agreement with Sony Pictures Television to develop the US version of The Good Doctor alongside David Shore. Shore is also known for being the producer of another medical drama, House, which stars Hugh Laurie.

What Happened So Far in Season 6?

In Season 6 of The Good Doctor, Dr. Glassman realized that he suffered a series of strokes that affected his memory. He was called out for it in the OR and isn’t happy that Shaun did that to him. Meanwhile, Reznick also stopped her IVF treatments as she found another way to be a mother by adopting Eden, whose mother died. At the same time, Dr. Park visited Reznick the first night and stepped up to help her with the baby.

During the Season 6 finale, Love’s Labor, Shaun and Lea welcomed their son whom they named Steven. Dr. Glassman failed to show up for the birth while Dr. Perez left for Texas to seek treatment. Perez, who is a recovering opioid addict, relapsed into the substance.

Dr. Andrews also stepped down as the president of St. Bonaventure Hospital. This followed the pressure from the board to choose between his job and his partner, nurse Dalisay Villanueva.

Who Is in The Good Doctor Cast?

For The Good Doctor Season 7, we expect most of the main cast to return especially Freddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy. Also poised to return are Paige Spara as Lea, Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman, and Fiona Gubelmann as Dr. Morgan Reznick. The same can be said for Christina Chang as Dr. Audrey Lim, Will Yun Lee as Dr. Alex Park, Noah Galvin as Dr. Asher Wolke, and Bria Henderson as Dr. Jordan Allen.

There are also a few confirmed exits in the coming season. Brandon Larracuente will not be returning to the show as Dr. Danny Perez. The decision was a creative one and made ahead of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Larracuente is set to work on a Prime Video drama, On Call.

However, this also doesn’t mean that Dr. Perez is permanently gone. The Good Doctor has its share of characters leaving and coming back, for example, Chuku Mody as Dr. Jared Kalu. Mody returned for Season 6 but it’s unclear if he will come back for Season 7. So, it’s still possible for Dr. Perez to return, even in a recurring capacity.

The fate of Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews is also up in the air. This is because Harper is actually running for US Senate in Michigan. The actor will likely struggle to manage his campaign and work on the show which is filmed in Vancouver. Harper announced his campaign run in July 2023 in a post on Twitter.

Harper will be running against Rep. Elissa Slotkin for the seat of retiring Senator Debbie Stabenow. It’s not clear if the campaign took place before or after Harper exited the show.

What to Expect for Season 7?

While there’s no official synopsis for The Good Doctor Season 7, we can only guess what’s next from the events of Season 6. With Shaun becoming a father, it’s likely most of the season will focus on his adjustment to being a new parent. Shaun may also question Dr. Glassman’s reasons for not being present when Lea gave birth.

The hospital will also have to deal with two major losses in its staff. It remains to be seen if Dr. Perez will be replaced in Season 7, and who the board will elect as the new president of the hospital. How the new president will run St. Bonaventure Hospital will also likely be explored in the coming season.

Either way, both events will shake up Shaun’s life especially since he finds it difficult to deal with change and transition. All this while Shaun also deals with the challenges faced by his autism.