8 hours ago, Franko said:

It sounds to me like The Doctors received one of NBC's patented 11th hour cancellations. I'm not sure TPTB would have gone to the trouble of SORASing Erich and Stephanie, introducing the Langleys, writing out Nola and killing off Mona and Billy if they knew the finish line was so close. 

 

That was probably the case with both The Doctors and Texas which both left the air on December 31, 1982.  The following Monday, NBC seriously revamped its daytime lineup:

 

10:00 AM reruns of The Facts of Life debuts

10:30 AM Sale of the Century debuts with Jim Perry

11:00 AM Wheel of Fortune returns to this timeslot 

11:30 AM Hit Man debuts with Peter Tomarken

12:00 PM Just Men starring Betty White debuts

12:30 PM Search for Tomorrow 

1:00 PM Days of our Lives was heavily featuring Roman and Marlena and the DiMeras

2:00 PM Another World had the character of Felicia Gallant premiere the first week in January and would again kill off Steve Frame within a month and start to reconcile Mac and Rachel

3:00 PM Fantasy with Peter Marshall and Leslie Uggums

9 hours ago, Franko said:

It sounds to me like The Doctors received one of NBC's patented 11th hour cancellations. I'm not sure TPTB would have gone to the trouble of SORASing Erich and Stephanie, introducing the Langleys, writing out Nola and killing off Mona and Billy if they knew the finish line was so close. 

Not from what I've read. One of the last head writers, Barbara Morgenroth, indicated on social media that she knew the show's days were numbered.

 

Throughout 1982, there were rumors that NBC was cancelling The Doctors, Texas, and later Search for Tomorrow (which moved to NBC in March 1982). I even recall Entertainment Tonight announcing in early 1982 (around March/April) that NBC had cancelled Texas.. The next day, they announced that Texas would continue but move to the 11:00 a.m. time slot.

10 hours ago, Franko said:

It sounds to me like The Doctors received one of NBC's patented 11th hour cancellations. I'm not sure TPTB would have gone to the trouble of SORASing Erich and Stephanie, introducing the Langleys, writing out Nola and killing off Mona and Billy if they knew the finish line was so close. 

 

It's probably just the opposite. That cancellation was on the horizon for some time and they were pulling out all the stops to re-set the show to give NBC a reason to renew it for another season. Usually when headwriters start killing legacy characters it's because they know the writing is on the wall and they are trying to do shocking stuff at the end to reignite interest in the program. They also bring in "exciting" new characters to try and boost things. There is the hope they might get picked up by another network, since that happened with Edge and Search. But most of these last-minute "solutions" do not work and the shows barely go off the air with a shred of dignity intact. If they would just write true to the history of the stories that worked during the soap's heyday and avoid the stunt casting and shocking deaths, they would probably retain more consistent viewership or at least bow out gracefully.

Edited July 14, 20187 yr by JarrodMFiresofLove

14 hours ago, Franko said:

It sounds to me like The Doctors received one of NBC's patented 11th hour cancellations. I'm not sure TPTB would have gone to the trouble of SORASing Erich and Stephanie, introducing the Langleys, writing out Nola and killing off Mona and Billy if they knew the finish line was so close. 

 

Kim Zimmer (who played Nola) said that for most of her three year stint on the show.. the show was always in danger of being cancelled... in fact, she described the situation in the same manner as to an actors contract (13 week option) basically saying the show was extended every 13 weeks... which could explain why things never seemed plotted long term because the writers never knew for sure if that 13 week pick up would be the last one.

 

The timeslot changes, plus moving the focus from the hospital to a traditional family structure killed the show long term.

 

Right now, the reruns are in April 1976... and sorry @vetsoapfan I'm actually liking Depriest's stint thus far.  I know you mentioned not liking Anne Bailey Howard as head-writer.. but the scripts that Howard has written have been pretty good (perhaps she should have been a script writer and not a head-writer?).

 

The show taken on a generational vibe as of late with the conflicts between the establishment and the youth (i.e. Althea/Penny, Matt/Mike, Steve/Billy, Mama Dancy/Jerry, and Eleanor/Wendy).  I like the idea of a clash between the establishment and the newbies... and wished that idea had not been shown to reflect just parent/child... but established doctors and nurses vs interns and nursing students (sort of what the show did briefly in 1970 with Carolee as head of nursing clashing with Julie the manipulative nursing student).  

 

Dr. Paul Summers has made his first appearances. On the May 11,1976 episode. 

Can anyone tell me why Toni named her son Michael - Paul?

3 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Can anyone tell me why Toni named her son Michael - Paul?

Toni gave her son her late father's Paolo name as his middle name. 

Thank you VF

Could someone tell me of the guest appearance on The Doctors by Don Imus?

Online at Wikipedia (which I know is sometimes/often incorrect) that Harding and Steven Lemay replaced Aaron Scott & Anne Marie Barlow as headwriters.   I watched the show then, and I do not remember them as writers.  Furthermore, I have never heard anything about them.   Can someone add something about this (hopefully a confirmation for or against)?

 

 

 

Also, when did actress Denise Nickerson (Dark Shadows, Search for Tomorrow) appear as Katie Harris on The Doctors?

Aaron Scott and Anne Marie Barlow are listed as the writers of the Christmas 1981 episode of "The Doctors." Harding Lemay is listed as the writer of New Years Eve 1981. They may have been interim headwriters after Elizabeth Levin was fired and Lemay became available. I know someone posted an SOD interview from Levin where she outlined some of the stories she was planning for 1982 (it was very broad and I don't think there were many specific details). Levin was hired after the strike, as I recall, and I think replaced the writers who wrote before the strike who came back, Lawrence and Ronnie Wenker-Conne. Lemay, also, had been displaced by the strike having been dropped by "Search for Tomorrow" in favor of Don Chastain, an actor on the series. 1981 is an incredibly rocky year for "The Doctors." The weekly summaries for the summer of 1981 are maddening. I hope we get to that period on Retro for the sheer insanity that the show becomes. I'm still curious to see how an impotent Matt Powers impregnates his wife. 

On 7/23/2018 at 1:54 PM, danfling said:

Could someone tell me of the guest appearance on The Doctors by Don Imus?

He appeared in a few 1974 episodes as himself.  Can't remember the exact date.  He was in the hospital with a broken leg and Laurie was his nurse.  Here is a promo picture with Marie Thomas.  Toni Kalem is signing his cast.  She played one of the background nurses for a few episodes.  Don't know the actress in the middle.

Question about the recent episodes (as I skipped over a few)--what is it that Ann has on Dr. Paul Summers and why is Mona fixated on Paul's house? Is it b/c she wants to remove them from any reminder of Carolee?

9 minutes ago, Nothin'ButAttitude said:

Question about the recent episodes (as I skipped over a few)--what is it that Ann has on Dr. Paul Summers and why is Mona fixated on Paul's house? Is it b/c she wants to remove them from any reminder of Carolee?

 

I have a feeling that Dr. Paul's story about his son falling into gambling, etc.. isn't the truth.. that it perhaps is Dr. Paul that fell into gambling.  I also think Mona is wanting a larger house because she's used to a high class house, and also to remove reminders of Carolee.

 

If anything, Dr Paul's recent arrival has kind of renewed my interest.. a possible new villain that has a past with Ann, an interesting rapport with Stacy, and it seems as if he and Matt Powers had a bad run in in the past.  I'm intrigued for sure

I have to say that I am loving Althea's Gloria Swanson look.