The Doctors

[DRW50]

Thanks. I knew it was something with four letters

Sounds like a good story. All the changes made to The Doctors in those last years, they sound very interesting, I wish they had done enough to keep the show around. From everything I've read The Doctors sounds so much richer and deeper than most of GH has been for most its tenure.

When Julia Duffy was on the show do you think anyone had an idea she would go on to be popular on a show like Newhart?

I often wonder about that with soaps, if those who went on to be famous were expected to be and if some that fans thought might become famous never became famous.

Edited July 31, 2010 by CarlD2

[saynotoursoap]

You are too right, Carl. Personally I feel that The Doctors was better than General Hospital. GH had some good years, especially with Doug Marland writing, but overall, I feel it has been highly overrated by viewers and the press. GH became somewhat of a cult hit and a media phenomenon. It burns me that GH could tell atrocious stories such as The Ice Princess while considered to do no wrong, whereas other soaps could tell fantastic stories and receive merciless criticism.

Aside from what I posted earlier regarding the men on The Doctors having a generous dose of testosterone, it seemed to me that The Doctors made better use of the hospital milieu. Both GH and The Doctors centered on the personal lives of physicians, but The Doctors, even if peripherally, attempted to incorporate the hospital setting as more than a backdrop for doctors and nurses playing slap and tickle.

In the last year of The Doctors, Matt found himself in the unenviable position of making severe budget cuts to keep Hope Memorial running. The writers tied this into his attempts to reconcile with Maggie, who was dating another doctor (Murray). When Matt slashed Maggie's research budget, she accused him of doing it out of spite because she was engaged to another doctor. There were also threats of a personnel strike. Another poster mentioned Viveca Strand. Viveca was a hospital administrator who could approve or deny crucial funding to Hope Memorial. This figured prominently in the tornado story, as Viveca considered giving money to Eastside General. Maggie, Colin Wakefield, and Steve went to Eastside on the day the tornado struck.

The Doctors was also better about actually incorporating illnesses into the storyline. On GH, the doctors spent more time worrying over murder trials and affairs, whereas practically everyone on The Doctors became ill with something. Often times, illness wasn't even apparent. When Greta started acting out, Maggie and Matt thought it was psychological, but it turned out she had contracted a virus from her pet rabbit. Little Erich Aldrich became suddenly paralyzed after Steve and Carolee had marital problems. Was it an actual sickness or mental anguish? Everyone was stumped until Lori James realized he had been bitten by a tick and became infected. There was a really great story in early 1972. Maggie began dreaming about a sinister dark-haired man named Frank. Then Frank turned up and started stalking her. She had conversations with him and tried to convince everyone that she was being harassed by this man. One night she was in bed having a bad dream. She awoke in the dead of night and turned to get comfort from Matt and found herself staring directly into Frank's grinning face -he was in bed with her. No one else saw or heard Frank. Maggie thought she had developed schizophrenia. However, it was later revealed that she had a brain tumor. The tumor put pressure on a part of her brain that resulted in hallucinations. Brilliant surgeon Nick Bellini cured her.

The Doctors was a wonderful soap. Even when the writing wasn't the best, we still had a wonderful core of strong characters and good actors. If I had my way, it would still be on the air today instead of General Mobsters!

Edited July 31, 2010 by saynotoursoap

[FrenchFan]

I see your point but if "The Doctors" were still on the air today, you can be sure the show would not be like it used to be.

[DRW50]

I think you've mentioned this before, but I wonder how much of this was down to difference in networks. ABC, once they got going, seemed to do what they could to try to bolster their daytime lineup. It seems like NBC just didn't make as much effort. From what everyone here has said, The Doctors did not need to be canceled, there was still so much life left in it.

Those stories sound great, especially the one about the tumor. It seems like shows then were so much more willing to be more expressive and not just have, oh look, someone fell down, they have a brain tumor.

I wish I'd seen more of the Doctors cast in other things...

That's true, although sometimes I wonder if more creative soaps had stayed on the air, the soap genre might have been healthier, more of them would still be around, and there might not be such an apathy and a rot.

[Paul Raven]

saynotyoursoap,thank you for those corrections.

I was not sure of some of those dates as I typed them and was going to cross check,but ran out of time....

Here's a summary of SOD synopsis from late 1980

Greta brings Lee Ann home from hospital. Matt and Maggie notice a change in her -she puts off calling Brad. greta admits that she grew closer to Billy during this trying time, which infuriates Matt,who has little time for Billy.

Matt summons Billy and tells him to stay away. Billy says he has fallen in love with Greta and knows the same thing is happening to her.

Matt talks to Steve,who wants to believe Billy but admits that Matt's doubts are valid. Billy spins Steve the same line.

Greta tells Brad she can't marry him right now-and he knows Billy is behind this. Darcy offers Brad solace. speaking from experience, she says old loves can spoil new loves.

Greta does confide in MJ that she doesn't feel good enough for Brad. MJ says Brad can decide that for himself.

Billy is persistently wearing down Greta's defences.

Ashley confusion over Jack and John deepens when Jack says they have to face up to the fact that they love each other.John declaring that Jack stay away is an indication that he won't let Ashley make her own choices. Ashley tells John she has to realize that she is growing and changing.

John's actions may be driving Ashley towards Jack.

Leroy hassles Bobbie and Calvin tells Terry he thinks she may not be able to escape her ast.

Steve and Carolee are at odds.She sides with Matt,which angers Steve as he has decided to trust Billy.He says they should be united on such matters.Vivica witnesses an argument and is pleased to offer Steve her support.

at the custody hearing,Nola and Jason make statements, but despite her impassioned pleas, Jason wins custody.Mona is thrilled but puzzled that Nola doesn't react as expected. Nola is tempted to drink,rant and rave but will not give Mona the satisfaction.Even Jason is impressed.When Nola comes to visit Jessica,Mona demands to know what game she's playing. Nola merely replies that she has accepted the situation.

She tells Jason she has reflected on her mistakes and wants to learn and change.Later,Jason tells Steve he is impressed with Nola and tells Mona not to hassle her.

Carolee realizes the children are aware of her and Steve's arguments and tries to negotiate with Steve, but it turns into another argument.

Jack is surprised when Ashley tells him she won't be seeing him.He won't let them be friends and allow her to work on her marriage,so they must part. Will jack accept this?

Bobbie is thrilled that Calvin and Terry have prepared a nursery for herself and her daughter .Terri lays out education options to help Bobbie turn her life around,but then Bobbie remembers Leroy's threats and feels trapped. Terry decides to seek out Bobbie's family.

Billy's mysterious phone friend from California arrives in the form of one Natalie Bell.Natalie worked for Greta's aunt,whois now dying and wants to make Greta her sole heir.Billy and Natalie want that money, so Billy will marry Greta and then...?

Natalie suggests to get things moving he tries romancing Greta rather than using passion-appeal to her mind,not her body.

Billy tells Greta that he was carried away when they made love and apologizes,convincing Greta of his honesty and kindness.

Maggie tells Greta she has to be honest with Brad and trust him. Maggie fears Greta is falling in love with Billy.Brad is bewildered by Greta's new attitude and Darcy suspects Billy may be the root cause and Greta has feelings for him.Darcy has decided that if Greta doesn't want Brad,she may step in.

[DRW50]

Thanks for posting that. The stuff with Steve and Carolee sounds interesting.

Was Billy always a schemer or did he become that way?

[Paul Raven]

I think under earlier incarnations, Billy was presented as a little immature and irresponsible-unable to deal with being a teen father.when he returned as played by Alec Baldwin,he had turned into a more scheming character.

It's interesting to see how the stories played out at that time and how the vet characters were front and center reacting to their childrens' lives. Nowadays, that would be reduced to a few scenes played out once every one or two weeks.

[DRW50]

Were Billy and Nola ever together on the show? I remember Kim Zimmer talking about how Alec Baldwin used to massage her feet when she was pregnant.

[dc11786]

Billy and Nola were involved at least once in the summer of 1982. Billy believed Nola was carrying his child before she left town with the baby's real father, Tor. I believe A.C. Weary, Zimmer's husband, played the role of Tor. I know World of Soap Themes posted a couple of episodes from 1981 and there was definitely some flirtation between the two in 1981, but I'm not aware of anything coming of it. Once Jason died in June 1981, Nola inherited the newspaper where Billy was a columnist. I think there romantic tension arose from those interactions.

Going back to the synopsis Paul posted, at least one thing I see missing from the synopsis (which I think is fall 1980, I'm thinking October) is Darcy's reasoning behind cuddling up to Brad. Her intentions were not as pure as the synopsis may suggest as Darcy was having money troubles at the time and Brad was the local trust fund brat.

There really is some shades of Ben Harper/Arlene Lovett in the Billy's return story with the son of a longtime character returning to seduce a young ingenue in order to inherit a fortune while his more vivacious lover is plotting on the side. I think the fall out seems interesting, but I'd imagine today's soap audience crying foul that Matt and Maggie and Steve and Carolee weren't at the center of the storyline.

Ashley Bennett was originally a deeply troubled character. In her past, Ashley believed she had been behind the wheel of the car that killed her fahter. In the summer of 1980, Ashley went back to the scene of the crime and learned she wasn't the one who had caused the accident. I believe being free of this guilt opened Ashley to a new world of possibilities. When her husband John Bennett first came to town, he had a flirtation with the very married Carolee and I think they may have tested him with Greta, who was working for him. Jack and Ashley had once been involved before appearing on the show and Jack wanted to rekindle this, but Ashley became pregnant by John and stood by her husband. The baby had developmental issues and I believe, Terri, suggested that she should abort the baby. There was a bit of a back and forth on the issue, but Ashley lost the baby. Later, in shades of John and Marlena, John Bennett was paralyzed in a car accident and left town with Ashley to recuperate from his paralysis.

[DRW50]

Thanks so much for your insight, you help fill in so many blanks. It sounds like great stuff.

[YRBB]

I have an episode from 81 so decided to watch it. I was very pleasantly surprised as I found it phenomenal. How was that era for the show in general? Good, bad? I can hardly imagine how good it was under Marland.

[take_the_high_road]

I've read quite a lot about Nola, but how was Sara, her sister? I think, she was played by two different actresses?

Has anybody any information about Martha Allen? Sally Gracie played the part from 1968 to 1977. Was she a kind of talk-to-character? I have never heard of a storyline that involved her.

[DRW50]

Schemering's book has Sarah as Antoinette Panneck 1976-1977 and Dorothy Fielding 1977-78.

Have any other soaps ever brought a family in with the entrance of one of the siblings dying? Or was that not the plan and originally there weren't supposed to be so many Dancy siblings?

[dc11786]

What was happening in said episode? 1981 is a mixed bag year. It starts off with the return of people like Jerry Dancy and Althea, Jason and Nola's second wedding, some strong marital discord between Matt and Maggie with Althea as a third party, and the tail end of Billy's plot to get Theodora's cash. Then you have summer 1981 with Jason's death, Nola's rape/kidnapping, Steve investigates sex, the mysterious Mr. Sebastian, Althea's mystery patient, and a whole bunch of dull writer's strike plotting. The fall doesn't seem to change much. There is more emphasis on relationship drama and the complications born out of that. You have M.J./Matt, Maggie's pregnancy, Mike's return to town, and the arrival of Katey and Theo, who become involved with Mike and Greta. And the year ends with the last week or two penned by Harding Lemay.

[dc11786]

On "Guiding Light," the Santos family expanded after Michelle and Drew off Mick Santos. Danny came to town to avenge his brother followed by his mother, Carmen, his Abuela, his cousin, Ray, and his sister, Pilar.