"This program examines dermatological conditions and the procedures involved with treating them. Due to their graphic nature, viewer discretion is advised."
Dr. Pimple Popper is a medical Reality TV series created by TLC based off the multi-platform Web Video series of the same name. The show premiered on January 3, 2018 and has been airing for nine seasons and counting.
Each episode shows you a glimpse into the lives of people burdened with some kind of skin disease before they are examined and diagnosed by board certified dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee at the Skin Physicians & Surgeons clinic in Upland, California.
Most of the conditions featured on the show are some kind of bulging overgrowth that is surgically removed onscreen, and its contents are either a mass of fatty overgrowth or oozing substance filled with dead skin cells and various body fluids.
A 10 episode spin-off titled Dr. Pimple Popper: Before the Pop aired on September 3, 2020 where Dr. Lee interacts with patients through virtual appointments. Another spin-off titled Dr. Pimple Popper: This Is Zit features 5-10 minute long episodes, each focusing on one specific type of procedure.
Dr. Pimple Popper contains examples of:
- Appearance Angst: While Dr. Pimple Popper's original Web Video series generally doesn't disclose the identities or backstories of her patients (largely because of privacy concerns), her TLC series goes into the emotional distress her patients' skin conditions cause them and how much they affect their lives.
- Artifact Title: The original web series, also titled Dr. Pimple Popper, has a few clips of Dr. Lee removing those pesky little pimples that make up traditional acne. While the TLC show expands the scope to a larger array of dermatological conditions and their treatments, pimples are never featured nor popped.
- Christmas Episode: With the office decked out in holiday decor, the Christmas specials offer the usual pimple popping action but with a large helping of holiday spirit and a holiday party to finish off the day.
- In "The 12 Pops of Christmas" (S1 E101), Dr. Lee and her crew tackle 12 pops in a single day. The episode ends with everyone decoerating a tree full of ornaments that resemble various dermatological conditions.
- In "Season's Squeezings" (S5 E101), Dr. Lee and the team build a snowman with sparkly, decorative cysts and sing Christmas carols between appointments. The episode ends with a surprise visit from Santa, who was her final patient for the day.
- In "A Pimple Carol" (S6 E101), a stressed out Dr. Lee is visited by the "spirits" of Christmas past (her dad Dr. Soon Lee), present (medical assistants Kristi and Val), and future (Dr. Song, her [i.e. Dr. Song's] husband, and her newborn twins) who remind her what Christmas is all about.
- Commercial Break Cliffhanger: The show will often cut to commercial break moments before Dr. Lee reveals her official diagnosis to the patient.
- Content Warnings: Each episode begins with the following message: "This program examines dermatological conditions and the procedures involved with treating them. Due to their graphic nature, viewer discretion is advised".
- A Day in the Limelight: When one patient presents with an extensive case of acne keloidalis nuchae on the back of his neck, Dr. Lee refers him to her colleague Dr. Sanusi Umar, a specialist regarding such extreme cases. Half of the episode then follows Dr. Umar as he explains and performs the keloid removal procedure step by step.
- Don't Look At Me: If possible, most patients try to hide their unflattering skin condition under a hat, their hair, or a long piece of clothing. The ones that can't sometimes become reclusive inside their homes in fear of being seen or mocked.
- Fan Community Nicknames: In-universe, Dr. Lee and even some of her patients refer to all pimple popping enthusiasts as "popaholics".
- Gross-Out Show: The majority of the show involves Dr. Lee either draining and removing the oozing, smelly contents of some kind of cyst or wrestling with the removal of a solid fatty mass called a lipoma.
- Gross-Up Close-Up: The camera zooms in on a cyst or lipoma whenever Dr. Lee makes an incision and begins the process of extracting its contents.
- Spin-Off:
- The TLC series is an inversion of the Online Spin-Off, and is possibly the Ur-Example of a web video property that moved to linear TV. It's an expansion of the YouTube channel of Southern California dermatologist Sandra Lee, who became a major Internet celebrity as "Dr. Pimple Popper".
- Two spin-offs spawned from the show are Dr. Pimple Popper: Before the Pop, which focuses only on virtual appointments without any procedures or treatments, and Dr. Pimple Popper: This Is Zit, a series of short minisodes that can be found online.
- Pop-Up Trivia: Some recuts of old episodes include these. Initially most pop-ups featured medically-relevant supplemental information about patients' conditions, although later on they became heavier on the "trivia" aspect of this trope.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Each episode ends with a quick montage that follows up on each patient two to six months after their encounter with Dr. Lee, featuring the aftermath of their surgeries or the progress of their ongoing treatments and how their lives have changed thanks to Dr. Lee's intervention.
