Whoopi Goldberg found success as a series creator with Strong Medicine

By: Start TV Staff     Posted: December 7, 2018, 11:38AM

Image: The Everett Collection

Whoopi Goldberg has had a sensational career. A phenomenal performer, she got her start with a one-woman show that was so great, it sent her straight to Broadway where the name changed from The Spook Show to the more straight-forward Whoopi Goldberg. With that, her name was in lights, and since then, nothing has changed.

Today, Goldberg is likely best known as the most interesting host on The View, but as an actress, Goldberg racked up awards nominations for TV and movie appearances, winning an Oscar for her role in Ghost and Golden Globes for Ghost and The Color Purple. But she always had more to offer beyond acting, and this led her to grow in even more dynamic ways on both the big screen and the small screen.

On television, Whoopi Goldberg has done it all, too, including creating television series, starting with Strong Medicine, which she co-created with Tammy Ader in 2006.  Mixing feminist politics with culture clashes that occur in the waiting room of a doctor's office, the success of Strong Medicine came directly from the personality and politics that made Whoopi Goldberg such an instant success. The series ran for six seasons, and fans know the veteran actress also made several cameos on the show.

Halfway through Strong Medicine's run, Goldberg created another series in 2003, Whoopi, an underrated show loved by fans of comedy and nominated for an Emmy for Art Direction. In 2006, she went on to co-create Just for Kicks, a family series about a girls soccer team in New York. Both shows only lasted a single season, but Strong Medicine was so popular, it came close to inspiring a spin-off. 

In Hollywood, Whoopi Goldberg remains the total package, as a producer, performer and commentator, and if the Oscars are still looking for a host to replace Kevin Hart last-minute, we can't help but ask with sincere reverence to one of Hollywood's most distinct voices, "What about Whoopi?"