The Doctors Discussion Thread

[DRW50]

These are great. Liz Hubbard has aged so well but it's weird seeing these old photos, as sometimes she looks very similar to now and then in another photo she looks like a stranger.

[Paul Raven]

I couldn't recognize Carolee Cambell in this shot-she usually has short dark hair and quite frankly is quite plain! Viewers must have responded to her character falling for the dashing Steve.

[DRW50]

There are some nice photos in that issue.

I guess the years she spent just doing comic relief routines over the phone endeared her to viewers and made them feel like she was one of them.

[Paul Raven]

Had to post this rare shot. The good thing about TD teens is that the characters were not drastically SORASED and were part of the core families.

[DRW50]

Thanks for that. He looks like Adric from Doctor Who.

[DRW50]

January 5, 1982 Digest recap.

[DRW50]

April 21, 1992 Soap Opera Weekly. Part 1 of John Kelly Genovese's history of The Doctors.

The afternoon of April 1, 1963 was a milestone for televised hospital dramas. ABC premiered General Hospital and NBC replaced Young Doctor Malone with The Doctors. The Doctors was a medical anthology series created by veteran soap writer Orin Tovrov, and was set in a fictional New England hospital called Hope Memorial. Ironically, NBC's new entry was soon to evolve into a format similar to its predecessors - a traditional soap that focused on a father and son who were both doctors, with equal emphasis given to family stories and medical drama.

When it became clear that most soap viewers were not interested in episodic drama, the show's format was changed to feature one storyline per week. Only Scollay remained from the original cast, and James Pritchett became the show's new protagonist, Dr. Matt Powers, the austere chief of staff. A widower, Matt had always neglected his family for his medical career, causing great distress for his son, Mike (played as a teenager by Rex Thompson). Matt's reserve began to crumble when he met Dr. Maggie Fielding (originally played by the late Ann Williams).

Thanks to Matt and Maggie's popularity, The Doctors was transformed into a regular, continuing soap on March 2, 1964. Soon after, another major character was introduced to be romantically linked with both Matt Powers and the Rev. Shafer - the coolly professional but somewhat neurotic Dr. Althea Davis (Elizabeth Hubbard, now the indomitable Lucinda on As the World Turns). Althea's spitfire daughter, Penny Davis, was played by several actresses, including Christopher Norris (now Rebecca on Guiding Light) and Julia Duffy (Designing Women).

In its first few years as a bona fide soap, The Doctors' main romantic thrust was provided by Matt and Maggie. She was pursued by a persistent ex-flame, Wyoming rancher Brock Hayden (Adam Kennedy), then she hastily married wealthy philanderer Kurt Van Alen (Byron Sanders, later Talbot Huddleston on One Life to Live), who ended up murdered. Meanwhile, Matt briefly became engaged to Althea, who eventually became a platonic friend, and was vainly pursued by Maggie's flighty younger sister, Nora Hansen (Joan Anderson). Nora married good-natured Dr. Steve Lloyd (Craig Huebing, later Dr. Peter Taylor on GH) after the death of his terminally ill wife, Judy (Joanna Petet).

Other featured players in the early years included film star Ellen Burstyn (then known as Ellen McCrae) as Dr. Kate Bartok, Robert Gentry (most recently Jordan Hale on General Hospital) as teenage surf bum Brad Murphy, and Gerald S. O'Loughlin as hospital custodian Pete Banas.

By 1966, Matt and Maggie were a happily married couple, predictable and tame. And so were The Doctors' ratings. Around that time there was serious talk that NBC might cancel all of its soaps - The Doctors, Days of Our Lives and AW. Fortunately, all three shows were saved by new writers. Days got William Bell, AW landed Agnes Nixon and The Doctors acquired Rita Lakin.

Under Lakin's regime, the halls of Hope Memorial came alive with witty, offbeat banter. Most important, Lakin gave The Doctors a potent shot in the arm with a new kind of character: a stubborn, hot-headed Italian who had risen above the mean streets of Chicago to become a brilliant neurosurgeon. This crude but irresistible anti-hero, Dr. Nick Bellini, was played with Sinatra-esque gusto by Gerald Gordon (who afterwards was Dr. Nick Dante on GH). Lakin paired Bellini with Althea, creating one of daytime's most dramatic studies in romantic contrast.

Another upbeat character - though shorter-lived - was happy go lucky Dr. John Rice, played by the appealng Terry Kiser. And for bitchcraft intrigue, Laryssa Lauret was introduced as the Germanic, seductive Dr. Karen Werner, who tried unsuccessfully to win Matt away from Maggie. By this time, Ann Williams had left the show and Maggie was played by Bethel Leslie (Claudia Connor, All My Children) and then Lydia Bruce.

Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock (later of Dynasty) took over as head writers from 1980 to '75. In their characteristic manner, the Pollocks embroiled their major couples in fast-moving, melodramatic storylines. Bit plyer Carolee Campbell was elevated to co-star status as quiet, earthy nurse Carolee Simpson, who was matched up twith David O'Brien's reformed heel, Dr. Steve Aldrich. When Steve had a flinger with Karen Werner, Carolee hastily married the insanely jealous Dr. Dan Allison (Richard Higgs), who did himself in and framed Steve for the deed. Meanwhile, Althea married another obsessive psycho, Dr. John Morrison (played deliciously by Patrick Horgan), who was none other than the chief of psychiatry.

The show became so farfetched that both Karen and Michael Powers (then a full-fledged doctor, played by Armand Assante) returned from the supposed dead at the same time in separate storylines. Karen fought the happily married Carolee and Steve for custody of Erich (Keith Blanchard), her son by Steve, while Michael was furious to discover his wife, Toni (Anna Stuart, now Donna on AW) in the arms of his cousin, Dr. Alan Stewart (Gil Gerard).

Fortunately, amid the show's endless supply of fanciful melodrama, The Doctors could claim two of soapdom's finest actresses in prominent supporting roles. Sally Gracie was absolutely precious as Martha Allen, the salt-of-the-earth lab technician who was Nick's confidant, and Meg Mundy was a commanding presence as Mona Aldrich Croft, Steve's dominating, nouveau riche mother.

Then the Pollocks left - and Hope Memorial entered an exciting new era.

Edited July 15, 2011 by CarlD2

[Paul Raven]

This is great,thank you. It deals- albeit briefly with the shows earlier years and answers some questions for me eg The characters and stories of Nora,Steve and Judy.

I think Nora should have returned at some point.

Rita lLakin wrote for Dallas,but never did daytime again. Surely she would be in demand,so she obviously didn't want to return-a pity. She is still going strong,recently releasing a mystery novel.

Regarding the synopsis you posted earlier Carl,was this at a time of a writer change? I ask this as characters like Lacey,Robin are leaving and Theo and Katy arrive. There seem to be a lot of abused,neglected kids eg Tara,Mark.

Do we know who played Lacey and Robin?

[DRW50]

Yeah, a lot of the stuff in the article I didn't know - that Matt and Althea had been together, or about some of the smaller characters of those years.

It would have probably been more palatable for viewers if Matt had gotten together with Nora during his last split from Maggie, instead of with younger MJ.

I'm not sure who was in charge during this recap. This would be from, what, early December 1981? Would they still be cleaning up from the strike?

What was Lacey's exit?

Was Calvin a black character? I don't know that much about him. (Edit - he clearly was, as he was played by Larry Riley, later of Knots)

The Katy story just never makes sense to me. It's one of the most bizarre ways of bringing in a new character I can think of, and it's especially strange to me to do this with a character as ill-defined as Mike.

Edited July 15, 2011 by CarlD2

[MichaelGL]

Thanks so much for these Carl.

The SOW article really sheds light on TD's early years. I never knew Maggie's sister Nora stayed on the show long enough to have a romance. I am surprised they never brought her back later on in the show's run.

I never knew Rita Lakin was so successful on TD, she's one of those barely known writers to me.

While the Katy story seems quite bizarre, I like the idea of the writers throwing something different at Mike, rather than the usual heroine or damsel in distress. Mike had been widowed twice by two loving and sympathetic characters(Toni and Sarah). I would have ended the Katy/Mike story on a different note, turning their obvious hostile relationship, one which Katy was the only one with feelings of affection, into one where Mike would eventually fall for her, but only to lose her in the end to her obvious mental problems. It wouldn't have been your typical tragic love story for Mike. Maybe down the road Mike actually meets someone else, this time someone similar to Toni and Sarah, sympathetic and a heroine, and he finds himself torn between this new love and Katy who would be institutionalized at the time.

Well that would have been my story idea, I find plenty of potential in the show in 1981 and 1982, however it's apparent that the execution and follow through with the storylines was horrible.

[DRW50]

How did his relationship with Katy end?

I think they should have brought her in as a mystery figure and let us think she really was married to Mike. Even have her in some flashbacks of a romance with Mike. Then Mike arrives back in town and is horrified and says he doesn't know her. Viewers could wonder whether he's being honest. Then perhaps they could have said Katy had some sort of mental illness or something and Mike could have fallen for her while helping her.

[Paul Raven]

Katy ended up going crazy(er) and kidnapping LeeAnn (Greta's daughter) I think Theo left town to take care of her and later when Greta left,it was to re-unite with Theo.

[DRW50]

Thanks. I wonder if this was due to the last writing change, when they brought in the writers who came up with the grave-robbing/eternal youth stories.

Did they write Greta out because they knew the show was ending?

[DRW50]

This same Jan 1982 issue says that Elizabeth Levin had returned as headwriter. So this may have been her material. I guess she was replaced by the grave-robbing writers?

[dc11786]

Levin returned in the fall of 1981, which was why it was in the Jan. 1982 SOD. They were still behind. I believe the pre-strike writers returned in September 1981, but Levin briefly replaced them. Then Lemay came in December, but the Christmas 1981 episode (which was posted on WoST and youtube) was credited to Scott and Ann Barlow (I think that was there names). Lemay wrote the NYE's episode which was posted on WoST. Lemay was replaced by Leonard Kantor and Robert Cendella and later Kantor and Barbara Korgenroth