The Doctors Discussion Thread

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

Thanks for the info. Did Stuart work with Gerald Gordon on GH? I'm guessing they went to GH because of the Pollocks, right?

 

I would imagine viewers in September '76 were caught off guard by Toni's abrupt departure from TD. There was no foreshadowing at all. Her mother hadn't been mentioned in a long time. It all seemed to come up out of the blue...but I guess Marland didn't have advance notice and did the best he could.

 

Carolee Campbell's exit was strange. The way they wrote Carolee off was deplorable. And then keeping her in the credits from March to August was just bizarre, like they expected her to come back.

[victoria foxton]

Anna and Gerald played siblings Mark and Gina Dante on GH. 

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

Thanks. Gordon was 14 years older than Stuart in real life. But I guess he was playing younger on GH?

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

I'm adding plot descriptions to all Marland's episodes on the IMDb. If I make any errors let me know. You guys can be my proofreaders. Here's the first week:

 

***

Monday 20th of September, 1976

Althea tells Maggie there are rumors about Matt at the hospital; Matt meets with Mona and the other board members and is asked to take a temporary leave of absence; Nola and Paul discuss Matt's situation. Douglas Marland & Kathy Callaway.

 

Tuesday 21st of September 1976

Althea tells Penny about Matt; M.J. and Steve spend time together; Carolee has a lucid moment with her nurse; Stacy is panicky about Jason's possible return; Jerry learns about Luke's plans to charm rich women. Douglas Marland & Nancy Franklin.

 

Wednesday 22nd of September 1976

Matt's decided to quit and drafts a resignation letter; Steve tries to reach Jason in Italy; Mona discusses the board's actions with Steve, Stacy and Virginia; Penny types Matt's letter; Mike tries to comprehend why his father is quitting. Douglas Marland & Anne Howard Bailey.

 

Thursday 23rd of September 1976

Matt relaxes at home after resigning; Billy and Greta don't know what happened; Sara watches Nola get ready for work; Virginia tells the girls Matt resigned; Steve visits Ann then sees Matt and Billy; Ann learns of a treatment for Carolee. Douglas Marland & Robert Cessna.

 

Friday 24th of September 1976

Not broadcast on Retro.

Edited October 1, 2018 by JarrodMFiresofLove

[victoria foxton]

Glenn Corbett made his debut as the new Jason. On the Oct 4 1976(10-1-18)episode.      

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Edited October 1, 2018 by victoria foxton

[Chris B]

I’m in March 71 and find the show much more difficult to watch. The pacing has slowed down and the flashbacks are ridiculous. The positive aspect is that like Dynasty, The Pollocks can introduce good new characters. I still need to wait for Cathy to be recast, but I love Hank and John and Toni. They’re injecting new life into the show, but existing characters are struggling. 

 

I was concerned about Althea and Nick, but the writing for them is actually fine but Maggie is unbearable. This horrible story with this man stalking her reminds me of Liz and her stalker. It drags on and doesn’t really interest me at all. I’d rather focus on Greta, the most interesting member of the Powers family. 

[robbwolff]

I actually liked the Maggie storyline but it drags on forever...goes on the back burner, then comes back. I don't think it climaxes until over a year later!!

 

The Cathy replacements (Nancy Barrett and Holly Peters) are fine but I much preferred Carol Pfander in the role. I'll be curious to see your reaction to what the Pollocks do with Cathy.

[Soaplovers]

 

Well when you get to late 1976, you'll going to think what you're watching now is lightening fast LOL  

[Rich]

I think either I missed or Retro didn’t air it,but how did Scott Conrad die?

[robbwolff]

He killed himself by crashing his car.

[TimWil]

I think she was only meant to be a temporary replacement because Jennifer Houlton was back a few weeks later, wasn’t she? It’s fun watching what I think are the final weeks of my fellow Adams Chronicles castmate David Elliott as Billy. These days he’s a master carpenter, he builds sets out in LA. I’ll definitely be fast-forwarding scenes of his replacement Shawn Campbell. When I’d see Campbell at auditions he gave me the creeps big-time. For one thing he always gave off a drug dealer/porn actor vibe. Blecch.

 

Ah, Paul Carr as Dr. Summers. I remember Geraldine (Court) loved working with him along with David O’Brien and Glenn Corbett. They shared a lot of laughs together. I’m looking forward to the scene where they were all behind the observation glass at the hospital watching little Stephanie Aldrich. Geri had me in stitches describing them failing miserably at avoiding laughter jags at the child actress whimpering “Steffie feeling bad!” while the sheet meant to cover part of her face kept sliding down.

 

Now that Anna Stuart’s gone I’ll cherish on YT what seemed to be the only scenes they shared on TD which was the aftermath of Toni giving birth. Anna Banana was Geri’s best friend right up to her death a few years ago.

[Paul Raven]

Anna Suart/Toni seemed to be in limbo her last few months on the show.

I wonder what the plans were for her character and the circumstances of her departure?

She was unhappy so did she leave when her contract was up or was it a mutual decision?

Mike hooks up with Sara Dancy...was that the original plan for that character?

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

Glad to see you posting again. I like how you keep Geraldine Court's memory alive. She was one of my very favorite actresses on Guiding Light. I wish Marland had created a character for her on As the World Turns. Her television career just seemed to taper off, and she was so good.

[TimWil]

That’s very kind of you, thank you. I miss Geri every day. Watching her performance as Dr. Ann Larimer from the beginning thanks to Retro TV really has been amazing. When I did that play with her in the fall of 1977 (I played her son, she played a nightmare of a mother) I had only seen bits of Dr. Ann Larimer before then and she was clearly a villainess. I’m trying to remember why Doug Marland never created a character for her on ATWT but I think it was really down to the fact that the show was already chock a block with leading ladies. I want to say she was offered the short term role of a visiting socialite friend of Lucinda’s (someone named Adelaide?) but she ended up  turning it down. I doubt it had anything to do with Liz Hubbard. I seem to remember she liked Hubbard well enough but was never close with her like she was with Anna and Lauren (White).

Edited October 13, 2018 by TimWil

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

Interesting. Yes, it's fun watching her as Ann Larimer in the episodes from 1976, where the character is now a lot more devious. She's done an incredible job with it and I can see why Marland liked writing for her. I think the Jennifer Richards trial on Guiding Light was one of the best storylines she had. Jennifer was a different sort of character, and that time around she had a chance to play a mother to two daughters. I love the sound of her voice.