"The Great American Medicine Show" is the ninth episode of season 1 of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
Doc Eli Jackson, a Civil War surgeon turned medicine-show huckster, arrives in town with his Kickapoo Indian act and cure-all bottled elixir. Dr. Mike calls his bluff and says he is exploiting and hurting people not helping them. Myra thinks she's pregnant but Dr. Mike says she has a tumor on her ovary and needs surgery. Horace asks Myra to marry him and she says yes. Hank says she can't because she is still under contract with him to provide "services" at the brothel. Hank and Horace trade blows. Dr. Mike tries to help Doc Eli deal with his past demons as she needs him to perform the operation on Myra, which he's done many times but she hasn't. With Doc Eli's assistance, Dr. Mike operates on Myra. Meanwhile, Sully is on a similar mission trying to convince Doc Eli's Kickapoo showman Franklin, actually a disillusioned Cheyenne who survived a massacre, to rejoin his own people in their continuing fight for survival.
This episode provides examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Doc Eli, thanks to his terrible experiences in the war.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The drunken kook Doc Eli turns out to be an actual doctor and was clearly an excellent one at that, being able to talk Mike through operating on Myra when he can't do it itself because he's too hungover.
- Fauxreigner: Franklin is a Cheyenne, pretending to be Kickapoo as part of Doc Eli's medicine show.
- Medicine Show: It's right in the title: Doc Eli's medicine show is complete with a Kickapoo Indian act.
- Perilous Marriage Proposal: Horace proposes after Myra's tumor is diagnosed.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Despite having been an excellent surgeon, it appears Dr. Jackson's experiences in the war led him to abandon his medical practice.
- Snake Oil Salesman: Doc Eli Jackson has become this.
