The Doctors Discussion Thread

[MichaelGL]

Thanks saynotoursoap for all the info in this thread.

I was wondering if someone could help me with the introduction of Ann Larimer? I know she was involved with Nick and Althea early on in her run, and then became an interloper for Steve and Carolee's marriage. Did Ann and Nick know each other before Ann arrived in town and that was how she was able to come between Nick and Althea?

Also what was the name of Dr. Terri Foster's mother on the show? I know she worked for Viveca Strand as a maid.

[saynotoursoap]

You are welcome, MichaelGL. I feel I write too much at times. I do not want to be known as a thread hijacker.

Terri Foster's mother was Lillian, played by the legendary Beatrice Winde. New York soaps in the 1960's and 1970's were special because you often found the most amazing stage actors in supporting roles. I absolutely loved Beatrice Winde. My father took our family on an annual trip to NYC every year to catch as many stage productions as we could. I remember seeing Bea Winde for the first time as a teenager at the Ambassador theater around 1971 or 1972. She was in a Broadway production called Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death, and my God she was just phenomenal. I think she may have won (or at least been nominated) a Tony in that show. She is no longer with us sadly. Anyone remember when she played Ruth Price on Guiding Light around 1989-90? This was her best soap role. Amazing actress.

Ann did not come between Nick and Althea. Nick and Althea were already divorced when Ann arrived in early 1973. After Nick and Althea divorced the first time, Althea married the slimy psychiatrist Dr. John Morrison. Morrison manipulated an unstable nurse, Cathy Ryker, into seducing Nick and getting pregnant to trap him into marriage. Cathy lost the baby, went bananas, and stole Stephanie Aldrich, Steve and Carolee's infant daughter. Cathy grabbed the baby and climbed out on a window ledge of a hotel when the jig was up. Nick and Morrison tried to talk her back in. She handed Stephanie over, but when she realized how Morrison had manipulated her in to the situation, she pulled away from him and fell to her death. (Some of the soap books say Cathy jumped off a cliff, but they are wrong).

Ann arrived at the tail end of the Cathy Ryker story. Ann and Steve Aldrich had been married when they were teenagers. They had run off and eloped and then quickly divorced. Ann's husband Philip Larimer had just died, and Ann came to Madison to visit Mona. Ann was devastated by her husband's death and was clinging to the past for comfort. Ann was no threat at all to Steve and Carolee, but Mona attempted to use Ann to drive a wedge between Steve and Carolee. Ann, however, turned to Nick for solace. They had a connection because both had just lost their spouse. Of course Nick had not loved Cathy as Ann loved Philip. Nick was still in love with Althea, but he could not have her because she was still married to evil John Morrison. Ann reminded Nick of Althea,though, because both women had similar backgrounds of wealth and privilege, and Ann was also a doctor. Nick thought all of their problems could be solved in bed. Ann resisted him at first, but it was not long before she gave in to him.

[saynotoursoap]

Yes. Petronia played Dr. Jessie Rawlings. She was introduced during Doug Marland's era. She is another gifted actress like Beatrice Winde who was sadly underutilized. I do not remember much about her. I am not sure whether or not Petronia was on contract, but Jessie appeared sporadically. I would define her as a recurring character. She counseled other characters and was there to provide recap for the audience. Doug Marland enjoyed having many minor characters on the canvas. I imagine he did it to see which ones might be developed into more important roles later on.

No, Carolee's kidnapping/rape was not too much. The scenes played tastefully, and the theme was always about life and death situations. Maggie sleeping with Kyle behind Matt's back. Now that was too much for viewers. God forbid Carolee had ever done the dirty on Steve. That would have had people tuning out in droves!

I agree with you about the nature of non-traditional soaps. The attitude in those days seemed to be that having a unique identity was a good thing, that you could get something out of one soap that you could not get with another, and it was a reason to watch. The prevailing attitude now is that all the soaps have to be exactly the same, so if you watch one, you will watch them all. It is that corporate branding attitude. The problem is that if one soap on a network does not catch your interest, probably none of them will because they are all basically identical.

[DRW50]

What did you think of Nancy Barrett?

[DRW50]

Did any of his recurring characters become popular?

There's also such a sneering attitude towards soap fans, they often assume soap fans are stupid and that soaps themselves are stupid.

[DRW50]

From the September 2, 1980 SOD -- The Doctors celebrates its 17th anniversary. SOD Publishing Inc.

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

From the April 22, 1980 SOD. The cast go to Roseland. SOD Publishing Inc.

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[teplin]

I think SOD misspelled Luz' name here -- it's supposed to be Franc with a "c" not a "k." I remember him and Valerie Mahaffey very well in their Emmy-nominated roles. Mahaffey, especially, was amazing and I'm not at all surprised that she went on to enjoy some prime-time success (as did Franc to a lesser degree). I'm completely drawing a blank on the third Emmy nominee of that year, however. Does Elaine Lee as Mildred Trumball ring a bell with anyone else?

[DRW50]

I keep forgetting Valerie Mahaffey was on a soap. It's a shame she wasn't around longer.

I didn't know Larry Riley was on the show either, or had forgotten. I wonder how long he was around.

Edited October 13, 2010 by CarlD2

[dc11786]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Mildred was the Aldrich nanny. I believe she was a comical character.

[DRW50]

From an October 82 Digest -- Nancy Stafford. Hard to believe only about a year after this she got St. Elsewhere. Network Publishing Co

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

From the July 1976 Afternoon TV Stars. Lorelei Publishing Inc.

Edited November 22, 2010 by CarlD2

[DRW50]

Also from this issue:

[Paul Raven]

Again thanks for this and the many other articles you are posting. anything from the 70's is always fascinating to read. I had read before about the 90 min ep. i wonder how it rated?

If it had done well I'm sure all the shows would have gotten on board. It actually might not have been a bad thing to run 60 min or 90 min special eps every so often to coincide with special storylines.

Similar to when primetime would do 2hr eps for sweeps.

There was talk od Days doing a 90 min special when they did the concert with Gloria Loring and Marlena shooting Stefano.

Poor Gerald Gordon-he had high hopes and never landed a good primetime or movie gig. He went back to daytime on low rated GH and made little impression. It was surprising when he was brought back in the early 80's.

[DRW50]

I think saynotoursoap said the specials weren't that well-rated. It's too bad. I'd love to see them.

I agree that soaps doing longer episodes sometimes might have made sense.

Did The Doctors try to bring in a Nick type of character when Gerald left?