The doctor shows just keep coming, but the two-part "Kyokuhoku Rhapsody" (NHK-G, Tues.-Wed., 10 p.m.) borrows a current issue from the headlines to make its dramatic point.
Eita Nagayama plays Dr. Imanaka, the only full-time physician working at the Kyokuhoku Municipal Hospital in Hokkaido after a purge of staff due to budget cutbacks. His new boss, Dr. Sera (Kaoru Kobayashi), is determined to reduce the institute's debt even more by closing down certain departments. He announces to the community that the hospital will no longer provide emergency services. These measures affect Dr. Imanaka personally, since he will have to discharge his girlfriend's grandfather, who is a long-term patient. But when the media start reporting that a patient has died because Sera denied him treatment, Imanaka puts his foot down.
Sometimes it seems as if foreigners who have made their home in Japan love the country more than natives do. Or maybe not. That's the premise of the two-hour variety special "Nippon Daisuki Gaikokujin Sekai no Mura ni Satogaeri" ("Foreigners Who Love Japan Visit Hometowns Around the World"; TBS, Thurs., 7 p.m.). Comedians accompany TV personalities who are long-term foreign residents of Japan when they return to their home countries for visits.