The Doctors Discussion Thread

[Soaplovers]

I'm wondering if the reruns will continue into.the early 70s so that we get to see a young Anna Stuart and Julia Duffy.. that would be interesting.

[DanMan869]

I've been reading here for quite a while as I've been watching reruns of "The Doctors" on Retro via the web for a while now. It has been SO refreshing to watch a well-written and crafted soap after watching some of my old favorites get canceled or spiral into stupidity (yes, Y&R, I'm talking about you!). I always enjoyed Liz Hubbard on ATWT, but after watching her work on these last two years of TD, I think she was freakin' genius! I could watch her read the directions for making a boxed cake mix! Anyway, the stories have had ups and downs (though mostly up), but things seem to be coming to a head in the Davis-Bellini household (I'm about 8-10 episodes behind and I think today I'll finally see Althea slap Penny in context!) and I'm a little sad because I suspect that we'll only have a few more months of La Hubbard before we watch Virginia Vestoff take over the role for a year or so.

Thanks to all for sharing all your knowledge, thoughts, pix and articles here. I was a CBS baby, but now I wish I'd changed the channel for TD once in a while! I hope we get more episodes for years to come--THIS is good soap and its sorely missed on today's TV landscape!

--Dan

[DRW50]

Welcome. Love your gorgeous Brenda avatar.

Totally agree with you. I sometimes worry I'm taking the show for granted at this point, because little things annoy me, but it really is so good, and so consistent, the way soaps used to be.

Also agree about Liz. I see no Lucinda in her performances. It's a revelation.

[DanMan869]

Thanks! Glad someone recognized Brenda Dickson (it's from early 1974) in my avatar. She was really terrific on Y&R from 1973-1980 and then again from 1983-1986 or so...and then her performance kinda went off the rails...and that's what most people think of when you mention Brenda Dickson as "Jill Foster Abbott." A shame!

I think you said it perfectly--little things occasionally make me cringe or sigh (Liz Wilson was locked in that flimsy room in Phillip Townsend's house for WAY too long and I was watching it two episodes a day--imagine once a day for months?! LOL)--but I don't want to take it for granted and discover it goes away in a few months. I wish Retro would stream it with (new) ads so that more people could see it. I live in the Los Angeles metro area and have no idea whether or not I can access it on my cable system (I don't think so). Like you, I think it's so good and so like soaps used to be. It sounds snobbish, but 98% of these folks could really ACT and had the training and experience to back it up.

I see some of Althea in Lucinda, but I think it's mostly the "darlings" and her great ability to sound so natural. Plus, Liz was always good at connecting with her on screen children--from Penny Davis to Lily Walsh, you believed Liz's portrayal of the parent-child connection in her performance and it made her younger co-stars look even better for it and obviously learn from it. That said, I definitely don't feel as though I'm watching Hubbard portray the same character on TD as on ATWT. Definitely a revelation!

[DRW50]

I keep meaning to contact them again about airing it here, as I take for granted that they will keep airing it.

By the 1982 episodes I've seen, Liz is much more Lucinda. You can see traces here, but she's much more down-to-earth.

I posted some Brenda articles in the Y&R old articles thread - I always mean to put more. She did some great work (even in her last year). It was a treat to get to see the John/Jill divorce clips on Youtube...she impressed me there.

At times the show is a little repetitive, and Penny gets on my last nerve, and sometimes I miss some of the sharpness of the earlier episodes (when the characters had somewhat more hostile interactions), but overall it's a terrific show, one that also manages to keep bringing in interesting new characters to keep the story going.

[amybrickwallace]

I agree about how well Liz was able to play the mom to her on-screen kids - especially considering that in 1969, she had yet to become a mother in real life!! (Her only child, a son, was born in 1971.) She had the same maternal vibe with Jami Fields' Penny that she later had with Martha Byrne's Lily (and Martha Byrne wasn't even born yet in early 1969!!).

Speaking of Liz, Carl, have you found the Brim commercial yet (sorry to be a nag)?

[DanMan869]

Yeah, I really ought to just CALL Retro and tell them, " I want my Retro TV!" LOL The more they hear that, the more likely they are to consider continuing to air it.

Brenda was probably at her best working with Jeanne Cooper and Julianna McCarthy--one brought out her b!tchy side and the other brought out her vulnerable side. If BD were to return to Y&R today (which would never happen, of course), she wouldn't have anyone with whom to shine. (I'll say Jess Walton now has the same problem, but I've already talked a little too long about Y&R here on the TD thread!)

The show was sometimes a little repetitive, but I chalk that up to the era; there were no second airings, no online recaps, no spoilers, no "next time on The Doctors..." and the soap press of the time wasn't as topical as today's. Penny can be grating at times, but I don't blame Jami Fields for that as much as the writing. I am probably wrong, but wasn't Fields probably 15-16 years old and playing a 12-13 year old? They couldn't write her too maturely so Penny sometimes comes off like a simpleton to me.

I think one thing that bugs me, but might change as the show goes into the 70s is that the background characters (nurses, orderlies, etc.) are often mute. I think it's Susan Walker (I forget her nurse character's name?) gets all the exposure in the credit crawl, but she rarely says more than 5 words an episode. Nurse Grant (_____ Butts) actually had a few lines in the episode when they were buzzing at the nurse's station about Phillip Townsend escaping the mental hospital, but she rarely speaks. Carolee often talks to them and they clearly had to just stare back at her or raise their eyebrows or whatever. If they're worthy of getting in the credits, they should've at least be able to have brief conversations with the cast beyond nodding, eye-rolling, eyebrow-raising, and occasionally saying yes or no. Oh well, an opportunity lost.

Oh--and I occasionally wonder why purpose CC Courtney's Jody Lee served beyond saving Liz Liz from Phillip T. He kind of seems like comic relief in the Hee Haw, Green Acres vein. He should've been in med school when he arrived (still with the occasional homespun shtick) and a contemporary and new school friend of Mike Powers. Mopping floors and then (now seemingly) doing nothing but socializing with Carolee and Liz has left the character as kinda pointless. I think having "down home" character on the canvas was a good idea, but I think they shouldn't have made him so pointless. Do any of YOU really think Jody Lee would've finally gone to med school and become a doctor? I don't. Maybe things improved with additional doctors after Rita Lakin finally left the co-HW spot and The Pollacks(?) replaced her and Rick Edelstein? We know Dan Allison and the black doctor whose name I'm forgetting both come in around 1970, so... someone realized the doctors on The Doctors had gotten kind of slim!

Edited June 12, 2015 by DanMan869

[amybrickwallace]

I actually did some research, and Jami Fields was indeed 13 (nearly 14) at this time (born 7/19/1955).

[DanMan869]

Thanks for doing the research on that, ABW! I stand corrected. Good for her for being a decent young actress at 12-13-14. Funny to think that "Penny" is now older than any of the main cast was then!

[amybrickwallace]

No problem!! Jami wrote me a very sweet letter a couple of months ago and autographed the screen caps I made of her as "Penny". She hadn't known that Retro TV was airing the reruns, but she now has a few friends who are watching - one of them records the episodes for Jami. I wonder what she thinks of herself now playing such a bratty teen!! LOL Yes, she was indeed a very talented young actress. 90% of her scenes were with LH and/or GG, and I don't think every juvenile actor could hold their own opposite those two. After she retired from acting, she worked as an assistant to the producer in the early 80s at GL and ATWT. Ironically, she left ATWT just before LH joined the cast!!

Today, Jami is the acting president of The Twelfth Night Club in NYC. Click on these links, and you'll see what she looks like now. Even without the blond wig they made her wear on TD to look more like La Liz, I think they look even more like mother and daughter now!!!!

http://twelfthnightclub.org/meet-the-presidents/

http://twelfthnightclub.org/club-activities/recent-productions/

[amybrickwallace]

The past week's worth of episodes have been nothing short of amazing, from the acting to the depiction of surgery. The operations we've seen thus far have looked frighteningly real. I also loved how Matt kept calm through the whole process (from helping Nick search for Althea, to snapping into action to get help for her once she is found, and trying to be strong for Nick, Penny, Maggie...). If the Daytime Emmys had existed back then, there's no doubt in my mind that Gerald Gordon would have won if just for these episodes alone.

[Paul Raven]

Re the background people. I'm sure this is a budget thing as when an actor speaks they have to be paid more. I'd imagine TD, like other soaps of the time were produced on a tiny budget to maximize profit.

So any way they could save money they would. I also read that once an actor had over 5 lines they became a dayplayer and from then had to paid at that higher rate,so the producers avoided giving them extra lines.

I wonder when Carolee went on contract? Did she start as an extra,then u/5, then dayplayer before graduating to contract status?

Also,I would think that the show had a certain budget for each week and to pay for something more grand eg Nick and Althea's wedding( which required a special set,costumes,extra actors etc) they would have to cut back in other weeks to balance the books.

Or did NBC or C/P throw a little extra there way for this?

[Dave_01]

As much as I'm enjoying Hubbard's work, as a Dark Shadows fan I'm really looking forward to watching Virginia Vestoff's take on Althea.

[robbwolff]

The black doctor is Simon Harris, I believe, and his arrival is imminent…his name appeared in the credit crawl on one of Friday's episodes.

I don't mind the background actors not having lines and I'm sure it was because of budgetary reasons -- lines meant they got paid more money. Each of them does a great job with their facial expressions. I love Nurse Wheeler's looks of disgust at times when Nick opens his mouth. I think this continues for a few more years. I remember seeing an article posted online called "The Silent Ones" and it profiled some of the background actors, including Dorothy Butts.

[amybrickwallace]

Nurse Wheeler is the queen of the side eye. Her reactions to Steve have also been priceless.