The Doctors Discussion Thread

[amybrickwallace]

Apparently, Andy doesn't last much longer on the show. Good riddance. No offense to Lloyd Bremseth, who I'm sure was/is a very nice guy, but Andy is such a dorky character. The whole story about him is so unbelievably hokey. Like college kids of 1975 (or any other year) would go wild for his lounge lizard sound. UGGGGH!!

[Paul Raven]

Penny does get to walk down the aisle with a character yet to be seen....

 

Interesting that the next writers Cenedella? DePriest? return a character that was on briefly years earlier and now has no real connection to the canvas.

[amybrickwallace]

Yup. He didn't last long in either incarnation.

[Soaplovers]

So how long does dippy Stacy last for?

[jam6242]

Stacy is around for a couple of years.

[SFK]

Ooohhhh I need to go back and watch that earlier Penny mischief.

 

Lol they played that damn song so much I began to wonder if it actually charted back in the day. 

 

Thanks so much for sharing!

[amybrickwallace]

 

Stacy is on until 1977. Actually, 1977 was a mass exodus year for TD. Those who exited besides Leslie Ray (Stacy) were Liz Hubbard (who returned in 1981), Julia Duffy, Sally Gracie, Anna Stuart, David Elliott (Billy), Keith Blanchard (Erich), Geraldine Court (Ann)...and those are just the ones I can name off the top of my head!!

[robbwolff]

Cenedella is next. His work started in August 1975 days after Jeff Young became producer.

[amybrickwallace]

Cenedella is already listed in the credits under the Pollocks. We've just entered July 1975 on Retro TV, so I'm guessing they were going on the last of the Pollocks' story projections (other writers that have gotten credited along with the Pollocks are Deborah Sherwood and Lanie Bertram).

[Soaplovers]

Is it possible that Cendella is listed because he wrote the episode for the day?  I also wonder if the show was auditioning replacements hence why you have him, Deborah Sherwood, and Lanie Bertram credited?

 

I knew Depriest didn't follow the Pollacks right away because I think she was on LOL during this time.. so it will be interesting to see what stories Cendella uses and what Depriest/Marland add.

[amybrickwallace]

That's a good question. There are a couple of spring 1976 episodes available for screening in the Paley Center. The writers credited were DePriest/Bertram.

[amybrickwallace]

Speaking of Robert Cenedella, here's a tribute written by one of his children. He was still writing until the day he died...at age 90!! God bless him.

 

https://ambulancebrother.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/a-writers-life-for-my-father/

[Khan]

Well, I, for one, will be glad when the Pollocks' material will have concluded.  Every time I've tried to get into their stuff, someone was always losing their grip on sanity and/or plotting to destroy someone else's career/marriage/family/whatever.  Plus, I can't believe their sheer laziness in having not one but TWO back-from-the-dead stories occurring simultaneously, with baby drama at the center of both.  And I STILL don't know what the hell Steve and Carolee are fighting about.  All I know is that their arguments over Karen and Erich feel so plot-motivated that it's maddening; and I'm seriously at the point where I'm advocating for Erich to get hit by a car and die, so that we can wrap up this [!@#$%^&*], Karen can lose her mind and try to kill Steve and/or Carolee out of anger (before dying in some ridiculous nonsense like Greta's rabbit bite), and then move onto the next big "psycho on the loose" plot.

 

At the very least, the Pollocks could have had Mike and Karen bonding over their similar circumstances, and maybe have various characters commenting on the absurdity of it all.  (I mean, really, TWO back-from-the-dead stories??).  Alas...sigh...I miss Rita Lakin's writing for this show.  I really do.

Edited February 22, 2018 by Khan

[robbwolff]

I, too, long for the Pollocks to be gone. I liked some of their initial work but bailed around early 1974. They’ve destroyed so many characters. They took a funny and sexually independent woman like Cathy Ryker and made her a clinging neurotic who lost her mind. They’ve stripped Carolee of her sense of humor and turned her into a run of the mill cliched soap heroine. As for Steve, he bares little resemblance to the charming cad he once was. I keep seeing people say that it’s all down hill once the Pollocks leave. BS. It’s nothing like it was when Rita Lakin was writing but there are good times to come. 

[victoria foxton]

The Pollocks dragged the hell out of their stories. For months and months characters would have the same conversions ad nauseam. They were capable creating interesting characters. Toni, Lauri, John, Hank and Mona were great additions. The Pollock could deliver great pay off's. But you had to wait for an eternity. I'm curious to see what Cenedella, DePriest and Marland contributions were. 3 HW's in 2yrs isn't a great sign. It looks like after the Pollocks left The Doctors went through major changes. Which sadly lead to their cancellation. Julia Duffy was awesome as Penny. Penny was a proto Stephanie Vanderkellen.

Edited February 22, 2018 by victoria foxton