Balancing her personal and professional lives was another matter, as Laurie tried her best to make time for her husband Jeff (Robert Clohessy), a freelance writer who worked from home, and to be a pro-active mother to her rambunctious, adorable five-year-old son Leo (Eric Lloyd).

She often engaged in silly, but more often witty banter with fellow doctors Spencer Kramer (Kurt Fuller), a neurotic and somewhat vain practitioner who had an aversion to treating children, and Walter Wiseman (Joseph Maher), the senior partner who was considering whether or not to retire.

Adding to the office camaraderie were motherly receptionist Beverly Fielder (Doris Belack) and flaky nurse Nancy MacIntyre (Ellen DeGeneres), who became something of soul sisters to Laurie.

Some of the latter were lighthearted and simplistic; to further add to the comedy/drama aspect of the series, some stories dealt with more serious issues, such as a patient's run-in with domestic violence, and Laurie and Nancy's suspicion that a young boy's low white blood cell count may be the sign of a more serious illness--AIDS—than what was first suspected.

In the September 30, 1992 edition of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, columnist Tom Jicha explained in his review of the series, "The only comic relief comes from Ellen DeGeneres as Laurie's assistant.

"[15] Months after the cancellation of Laurie Hill, Marlens and Black, together with partner David Rosenthal, received a new development deal with ABC, which resulted in the sitcom pilot entitled These Friends of Mine.