Royal Pains Information

Royal Pains (stylized as ""?oyal Pains") is a USA Network television series that premiered on June 4, 2009, starring Mark Feuerstein, Paulo Costanzo, Jill Flint, Reshma Shetty, Brooke D'Orsay, and Campbell Scott.

The series is based in part on actual concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies. The series was renewed for a fourth season by USA Network on September 15, 2011. On September 25, 2012, Royal Pains was renewed for its fifth and sixth seasons.

Series synopsis

The series follows Hank Lawson, a young emergency room doctor who, after being wrongly blamed for an important patient's death, moves to the Hamptons and becomes a reluctant "doctor for hire" to the rich and famous. When the administrator of the local hospital asks him to treat the town's less fortunate, he finds himself walking the line between doing well for himself and doing good for others.

Cast and characters

• Mark Feuerstein as Henry "Hank" Lawson: Formerly a successful New York E.R. doctor, he was dismissed from his job after a wealthy hospital benefactor died in his care. When he saves someone's life during a trip to The Hamptons, he accepts an offer from Boris, a German nobleman, to remain as a "concierge doctor" in the resort community. He usually attends to wealthy clientele, but also others in need of care and often without the means to pay. According to the episode "Keeping the Faith", he and his brother are Jewish.
• Paulo Costanzo as Evan R[oth] Lawson: Hank's younger brother. He is an accountant and self-appointed CFO of HankMed. Evan's job is to promote the HankMed business, at times using strategies that Hank finds inappropriate or too commercial. At the end of Season 4, he gets married to Paige, the adopted daughter of a wealthy, conservative military man who is running for Congress.
• Jill Flint as Jill Casey (Seasons 1"4): Hank's on again/off again girlfriend and an administrator at Hamptons Heritage, the local hospital. Jill works with Hank to open a small clinic while running the local community hospital. In the fourth season she leaves the Hamptons to do relief work in Africa.
• Reshma Shetty as Divya Katdare: Hank's physician assistant. She joins the team early and is invaluable to Hank. She initially has to keep her medical career a secret from her parents. Forced by her parents into an arranged betrothal to a childhood friend, she has finally broken free of their control and is living on her own.
• Brooke D'Orsay as Paige Collins (Season 4"present, recurring previously): Evan's wife. Paige is the daughter of a wealthy, conservative former military officer with political aspirations who does not think Evan is good enough for his daughter. Paige and Evan meet when she hires him to play her pretend boyfriend, but their pretend relationship soon blossoms into a real one. In the Season 4 episode "Who's Your Daddy?", it is revealed that she is adopted, and in the season 4 finale/special "Off-Season Greetings", she and Evan marry.
• Campbell Scott as Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz (Season 4"present, recurring previously): A wealthy and titled German businessman who offers Hank and Evan his guest house, and is Hank's first client. Boris has a genetic disease he is determined will die with him, and which he fights with equal determination, often by seeking rare or risky treatments. Used to getting what he wants, Boris has a rigid code of conduct, which can at times put him at odds with Hank.
• Ben Shenkman as Dr. Jeremiah Sacani (Season 5, season 4 recurring): Hired by Evan to be Hank's replacement during Evan and Hank's temporary halt to their business partnership, Sacani stayed on when Hank and Evan made peace. He is an accomplished researcher and excellent at his work although has a bad bedside manner due to him being incredibly socially awkward. Sacani is later revealed as an heir to a vast fortune.

Recurring characters

• Henry Winkler as Eddie R. Lawson: Hank and Evan's loving, ne'er-do-well father who left the boys when they were young. Accused of embezzlement, Eddie served a short term in prison and is now on parole, and has begun to rebuild his relationship with his sons.
• Anastasia Griffith as Dr. Emily Peck: A self-assured rival doctor who works with (and becomes briefly involved with) Hank. Emily is hired to substitute for Hank while Hank makes an extended visit to Cuba with Boris, and soon comes into conflict with Divya because of her confidence and her detached approach to her patients.
• Tom Cavanagh as Jack O'Malley: A pro golfer who was featured in the Season 2 episode "Mulligan" and later became a recurring character in Season 3. Jack died in the Season 3 episode "Hank and the Deep Blue Sea" which caused Hank to have emotional trauma (not stated, but implied). Before Jack died, Hank offered to stay the night with him, in the hospital where he was being treated, not as his doctor, but as his friend.
• Kyle Howard as Dr. Paul Van Dyke: A staff doctor at Hampton's Heritage, Divya first meets him while moonlighting at the hospital. After a brief flirtation between him and Divya, Evan hires him as one of Hank's replacements during the temporary halt to the business partnership between Hank and Evan. Van Dyke's personality is very energetic and impulsive which has gotten him into awkward situations professionally and socially. Van Dyke would later join the new Hankmed. He had a pet rabbit of which he was very fond.
• Anna George as Rubina Katdare: Divya's reserved and loyal mother. She follows the traditions of a traditional Indian housewife, a sympathetic ear to Divya's frustrations and a bridge to Divya's father. When Divya's father disowns her, Rubina secretly keeps a relationship with Divya. She is eventually inspired by Divya to follow her heart, which causes her to leave her husband and travel the world.
• Ajay Mehta as Devesh Katdare: Divya's strict and straight laced father. He disowns Divya when she cancels her wedding with Raj (Rupak Ginn).

Episodes

Location

Principal production of the show's pilot occurred in the Hamptons. However, other locations throughout Long Island were used, with Oheka Castle being the most prominent. Although actually located 60 miles to the west, in Huntington, Oheka served as the Hamptons home of Boris, the German nobleman who offers his guest house to Hank and Evan. In later episodes, exterior and aerial shots of Oheka are used to introduce scenes in the guest house.

In one episode, a Long Beach drive-thru convenience store, Dairy Barn was used as a fictional hot dog stand; a sign can be seen in the opening of that scene. Also, several scenes were shot on the bay side of Point Lookout. Other places used as fictional Hamptons locations include Northport Village in the Town of Huntington, Old Westbury Gardens, Freeport's Nautical Mile, which served as the exterior and parking lot of Hampton Heritage Hospital (in one scene, Freeport's charter coat can be seen across the bay) Caumsett State Historic Park and Oyster Bay Town Hall, which was transformed into the entrance of the Hamptons Heritage Hospital emergency room. Catalina Beach Club in Atlantic Beach, New York was transformed for the pilot episode into the fictional Hampt Inn, the hotel Hank and Evan stayed in upon their arrival in the Hamptons. Downtown Locust Valley, another haunt of the wealthy on Long Island's Gold Coast, plays downtown East Hampton in at least one episode (where Evan and Paige go shopping), with interior shots in a store as well as street scenes.

Two episodes of the second season take place in Cuba, but were filmed in Puerto Rico.

Production

The pilot was filmed on location on Long Island, New York in the spring and fall of 2008. The pilot was directed by Jace Alexander, who also filmed the pilot of Burn Notice, another USA Network show, which airs in the hour before Royal Pains. Andrew Lenchewski wrote the pilot and Rich and Paul Frank executive produced the project, with Lenchewski co-executive producing and John P. Rogers producing. The series was then picked up for a 12-episode season. On February 24, 2011, the show completed its second season.

Reception

Royal Pains has become one of the highest rated shows on cable. The series premiere was watched by 5.57 million viewers, the highest series premiere for the USA Network since Psych in 2006. With episodes two and three watched by 5.59 million viewers and 6.5 million, respectively, it was the first show in five years to have viewership increase from week two to week three.

Ratings

Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended		TV Season	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)
1	Thursday 10:00 pm (June 4, 2009 " August 27, 2009)	12	June 4, 2009	5.57	August 27, 2009	5.90	2009	7.47
2	Thursday 10:00 pm (June 3, 2010 " August 26, 2010) Thursday 9:00 pm (January 20, 2011 " February 24, 2011)	18	June 3, 2010	5.84	February 24, 2011	4.05	2010"2011	7.33
3	Wednesday 9:00 pm (June 29, 2011 " August 31, 2011) Wednesday 10:00 pm (January 18, 2012 " February 22, 2012)	16	June 29, 2011	5.00	February 22, 2012	3.16	2011"2012	TBA
4	Wednesday 9:00 pm (June 6, 2012 " September 19, 2012) Sunday 9:00 pm (December 16, 2012)	16	June 6, 2012	3.95	December 16, 2012	3.25	2012	TBA

DVD releases

Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the first season of Royal Pains in Region 1 on May 25, 2010, and released it in Region 4 on August 25, 2010. Season Two was released in Region 1 on May 17, 2011. A DVD was released on January 3, 2012 containing the first 10 episodes of the third season. Episodes are also available on iTunes.

Title	Region 1	Region 4	Bonus Features
Season One	May 25, 2010	August 25, 2010	Deleted Scenes; Gag Reel; Commentary; Paulo's Video Blogs; Dr. Irv Danesh: The Real Doctor of Royal Pains; "High Top Fade Out" (Psych, episode 4.07)
Season Two	May 17, 2011	March 28, 2012	Deleted Scenes; Gag Reel; Commentary; Guest Starring; Location, Location, Location
Season Three (Volume One)	January 3, 2012
Season Three (Volume Two)

Novel series

Beginning in 2011, D.P. Lyle began publishing a book series based on the television series, under Signet Books' Obsidian imprint.

Title	Author	ISBN	Publication date
First, Do No Harm	D.P. Lyle, M.D.		June 7, 2011
Sick Rich			January 3, 2012

International distribution

Region	Provider	Launch
	Seven Network	2010-02-01 (season 2)
	TV3	2010
	Sony Entertainment Television	2010-02-21
	Sony Entertainment Television	2010-02-21
	Joi	2009-09-10
	Paramount Comedy	2009-10-14
	TVP 1	2010-01-06 aka Bananowy doktor (Banana doctor)
	Sony Entertainment Television (Portugal)	2010-02-15 aka Mágoas de Grandeza
	Star Channel	2010-03-13
	Universal Channel	2010-05-03}} aka Pacienti de Lux (Luxury Patients)
	TV Doma	2012-05-03 aka Bolesti Slávnych (Royal Pains)
	Universal Channel (UK)	2010-05-09 (season 2)
	Nova Television	2010-07-17 aka Houscall Doctor ("???"??? ?? ?????????)
	[[Canal+]]	2010-07-18
	Viasat 4	2010-07-19
	TV 3	N/A
	POP BRIO	2010-09-03 aka Dr. De Luxe
	TV 6	N/A
	Fox Life	2011-06-06 aka Lekar po porudzbini
	MTV3	2011-01-07<braka Kallista kipua (Expensive Pain)
	RTL 5	2012-06-03
	RTL	2011-05-17
	SF zwei	2011-06-06
	Puls 4	2011-12-09
	2BE	2011-06-05
	Domashny	2011-12-19 aka "??????? ???"??? (Expensive doctor)
	TV3	2012 (season 2) aka Bagtnieku dakteris (Rich Doctor)
	TV6	2012-05-01 aka Rikaste Valud (Rich Pains)
	MBC4	2012-10-01
	Yes Stars Drama	2010-06-08 aka ?"??? ?"??"???
	WOWOW	2010-07-03 aka kyumeii hanku: serebu shinryo fairu (Emergency M.D. Hank: Celebrity Medical Files)
	Universal Channel	2010 (season 2)
Southeast Asia	STAR World	2011-09-30 (season 3) ()
	Canal Habana	2012
	2nd Avenue / Jack City	2010-05-11 / 2013-01
	Universal Channel

Legal issues

On July 6, 2010, Hayden Christensen, the actor best known for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the Star Wars saga, and his older brother, Tove, filed a lawsuit against the USA Network in a Manhattan Federal Court. In the suit, the brothers claimed to have pitched to the USA Network an idea for a new television series, called "Housecall", which involved a concierge doctor who made house calls to the rich and famous. The two brothers also claimed that a USA Network executive told them that, "prior to learning about 'Housecall,' he was unaware of concierge doctors and that he thought it was a fascinating idea." A USA Network spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit. On May 10, 2011, a Manhattan judge ruled that there was not enough evidence to justify a breach-of-contract claim because the claim concerns "materials that are not copyrightable, such as ideas." The decision was reversed on appeal in June 2012, the court holding that Christensens' claims were not pre-empted by copyright law. The opinion stated, "There are several qualitative differences between such a contract claim and a copyright violation claim," and added that sister appellate circuits recently had come to this same conclusion.