The Doctors Discussion Thread

[amybrickwallace]

That is for sure. They make every second count so there is no filler - and everything moves so fast!! Hey, does anybody have a favorite ending credits sequence? Mine would have to be Matt and Nick, sloshed out of their minds, putting on each other's suit jackets to go out to dinner (this is when Matt was living in the hotel when he and Maggie were separated).

[DRW50]

Of the ones I can remember, it would have to be the Steve/Liz one. I think there was a John/Bonnie one I liked, and one of the first, with John in the dark glasses, bumping into Nick. And I like the ones where the characters are happily chattering away to extras (who can talk the day away as long as we can't hear them!) I also remember one of an episode I watched from later on with Lydia Bruce Maggie in bed.

[jam6242]

I liked the beauty shot after the board hearing. You could see Bunker was thinking about what Matt had said and that it had affected him.

[amybrickwallace]

Another favorite of mine is the recent proposal in Ronnie's Restaurant. The credits rolled over the waiter and patrons shaking hands with the happy couple before they left. I also liked how another end credits sequence was divided between a glum Steve, Maggie and Karen in the clinic and the nurses and orderlies gossiping after one of them had spotted a couple kissing in the lounge.

[DRW50]

Another of my favorites was John and one of Polly's nieces (I think it was the married one) puffing away dramatically in the restaurant.

[robbwolff]

The Nick/Matt scene was one of my favorites. That said, I loved a scene during one episode where Maggie and Althea were in the clinic and singing and dancing. I think it was Bethel's last episode. It was so unexpected and fun.

[amybrickwallace]

I think that was Bethel's second-to-last episode, where Althea "tried on" the glow-in-the-dark, psychedelic bikini. It was even funnier because you knew Nick would show up during the "demonstration" and sure enough, he did. Bethel was in the episode after that, where she and Matt were chilling out at home. Then Penny ran away again (to Nick's, of all places), and Althea was seen pouring out her worries at the Powers' house, and the Maggie comforting her was Lydia Bruce in her first episode.

I've said before that I realize the era we are watching now was a completely different one when it came to smoking and drinking - but they really knew how to put away the booze on this show, didn't they? On duty, all they drink is coffee. Off duty, they consume scotch, brandy, bourbon, wine, etc., like water. Still, the sight of Matt and Nick, blitzed out of their minds, staggering around in each other's suit jackets was a moment of comedic genius. James Pritchett and Gerald Gordon played the scene to perfection - even though we couldn't hear what they were saying!! LOL

[DRW50]

I keep wondering if they should have done that anti-smoking campaign 15 years earlier (of course that would have been hard for Brooke Shields...).

I often feel like smoking and drinking, especially smoking, are now shown on TV at a much smaller proportion to how many people smoke and drink in real life. What I ask myself is if what we see on here, and other shows of this era, was representative, or was more, or less, compared to general society.

Even when that guy Anderson was being kept away from his wife, the orderly offered him a smoke and he took it.

I had a question - can anyone tell me who was playing his lawyer? I couldn't find his name in the credits.

My mother said the show doesn't even seem like a soap. And in some ways it doesn't, but that's mostly because what we have seen soaps become (an endless repetition of bad acting, lazy writing, and tired "soapy" cliches) is not what this show is about.

[jam6242]

DRW50, that was Larry Linville from MASH playing Mr. Anderson's lawyer.

[slick jones]

Larry Linville of MASH fame played his lawyer, Paul.

[DRW50]

Thanks. No wonder he looked familiar. Hello, Larry.

Edited February 17, 2015 by DRW50

[amybrickwallace]

Carl, tell your mom I agree with her that these episodes don't even seem "soap-like". As a long-time lover of old shows, I think TD from the era we are seeing now is more like Ben Casey meets Bewitched.

Edited February 17, 2015 by amybrickwallace

[amybrickwallace]

Speaking of favorite credit sequences, I have a new favorite from one of the episodes aired just yesterday. Martha and Ed leave the lab with one of the geraniums she keeps by the window. Then, the scene cuts to Anna's room and Martha presents the geranium to Anna. So cute and sweet!

[Susan Hunter]

This show has really spoiled me. And it makes me sad that so much soap material was lost because this was considered disposable entertainment. I could watch full channel of nothing but soaps from the 60s.

I was thinking the other day about the NBC lineup during this time. Three different type of shows in a span of 90 minutes. You have California based Days with pretty actors and drama, then the Doctors (as Amy said), followed by a conservative PG show still using an organ as background music. And I don't NBC was ever able to create another daytime lineup as good and popular as this.

[amybrickwallace]

Just the writing for Althea/Nick has spoiled me. Who writes this good for a couple in their mid-30s (and upwards) now?