The Doctors Discussion Thread

[robbwolff]

I didn't get the impression that Steve was horny. I thought he was horribly cruel to Karen in those scenes and wished she had told him to stifle himself.

[Susan Hunter]

I got the impression that he is not only sexually frustrated but frustrated with the entire situation. He pointed out that Karen didn't take the electric blanket back. Then he pointed out that Karen sneaks into the bathroom to change so he won't see her. I think from Steven's point of view he's trying to make this a "real" marriage and Karen's is just not cooperating and the embarrassment of the Powers now knowing that it isn't a real marriage is just too much. I think all that he wants is for Karen to just meet him half way. He's tired of doing all of the heavy lifting.

[amybrickwallace]

I agree that Karen should pull some more of the weight in this relationship, but Steve should also learn to calm down a little. The way he roughly grabs her is appalling - especially considering that she's pregnant.

[amybrickwallace]

I was watching a Starsky & Hutch rerun yesterday and saw Rick Edelstein's name in the credits as story editor. Of course, Rita Lakin made the transition to primetime (at least outside of the serial realm, as she had written for Peyton Place) writing for another show in the Spelling/Goldberg canon - The Mod Squad.

Edited February 21, 2015 by amybrickwallace

[Susan Hunter]

I remember the message boards praising the Pollock and Marland eras as really good. I never recall anyone mentioning the Lakin/Edelstein era. If the Pollocks and Marland were better than this, I can't wait to see it.

Interesting that Lakin didn't do another soap, I bet she was in demand for daytime. Do you remember what the Starsky and Hutch rerun was about?

[Paul Raven]

Lakin's name comes up in the Proposed Soap thread a few times in the 70's and 80's, so she was obviously open to working in daytime.

[amybrickwallace]

Susan, Rick Edelstein actually wrote and directed several S&H episodes while he was still working in the capacity of story editor/consultant. I was also surprised to read that he was the writer of a favorite Charlie's Angels episode - "Angels on Ice" from 1977, and directed my all-time favorite episode of Sanford and Son from 1973 - "Pops 'N Pals" (which has an uproarious scene with Fred, Lamont and Julio in a Mexican restaurant that looks a lot like everyone's favorite hangout on TD, Ronnie's Restaurant). He was last seen on screen in 2011 in an episode of TV One's Life After, which profiled S&H's Antonio Fargas.

I would love it if someone like Roger Newcomb was able to interview him and/or Rita Lakin. It would be great to hear their memories and insights.

[All My Shadows]

So sad about John and the Winters being phased out in March 1968. It's interesting, when reading stuff about soaps from this era (and on episodes of shows that mention soaps), you always here about how a character is written out after their "storyline ends." It's weird to actually see that in play. Ruth and Bill got their happy ending, so they're written out. John is getting his, so he's being written out. They really do just have their core set of doctors with everyone else coming in and out.

It would have been cool if they'd reintroduced John and Bonnie some kind of way later on.

Also, the concept of "a new storyline starting." I'm surprised Retro didn't decide to start in late March, there's a very clean beginning with the Starks and Andersons joining the show. Of course, I'm very glad they started in December.

Karen really is an awful bitch, and I wish this was a 2000s soap so that Maggie could just call her one.

Nick: "What are we gonna do? Speen-foo....spoon the guy?"

Matt: "...spoon-feed?"

:lol:

Edited February 22, 2015 by All My Shadows

[allmc2008]

Rita wrote this one and it seems as if this is considered to be one of the 'greatest tv episodes of all time'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geUxA7QNk3c

[DRW50]

I don't know if it was their choice about John. Terry Kiser had some long runs in plays around this time (Fortune and Men's Eyes, among others). John's exit also seemed like one that could have had him easily return to the hospital, especially since they get postcards from him for a while after his exit.

I'm in the May episodes and Nick mentions that he hadn't operated on anyone since his brother. Can anyone tell me about that story? I don't remember it.

[amybrickwallace]

Patched together from old articles and from some of the episodes that have been rerun, Nick's brother was a mobster who had paid Nick's way through med school. One night, while Nick was working in the emergency room, a shooting victim was brought in - his brother. Nick tried to save him but the brother died on the table. Nick was so distraught that he couldn't perform surgery anymore and that was also one of the main reasons why he moved into research.

Over the weekend, the WE Channel aired a L&O rerun from the fall of 1995 which featured Lydia Bruce in her last credited screen role as a judge. It's a very small role, 2-3 lines, but it's still worth catching. She looked pretty much the same, just older, and she sounded just the same. LB's real-life husband, Leon Stevens, also had a role in the episode as a judge. The episode is called "Savages", and WE will be rerunning it again on Tuesday, March 3 at 10 PM EST.

Edited February 23, 2015 by amybrickwallace

[DRW50]

Thanks.

Of course today he would reveal he faked his death and Nick helped him cover it up, and he would rape Althea...

Ugh.

[Susan Hunter]

Thanks for posting that Mod Squad episode. I'm really interested in Rita Lakin now, she created some show called The Rookies, I'm going to get it from Amazon.

I really loved Maggie in today's episode. You really got to see her be, a woman, a wife, a friend, and an advisor. A fully realized person. This show should be required viewing for some of our current daytime executives on how to write a real woman who doesn't act like a reject from a Real Housewives franchise.

And, of course, I loved my Steve and Karen. Those two, what a mess.

I'm probably way off, but I do wonder if Matt and Maggie are going to somehow end up with Steve and Karen's baby. Even though I know the kid is raised by Steve and Carolee and grows up to be Ian Ziering. Hmmm....

[All My Shadows]

"some show called The Rookies" !!!!

The Rookies was one of Spelling's best crime dramas! It ran for four seasons, but it's remained very underrated and not aired much in reruns. TV Land had it about 10-15 years ago, and I watched it religiously. Georg Stanford Brown, Sam Melville, and Michael Ontkean as rookie cops, each from a different background, with Kate Jackson as Mike Danko (Sam Melville)'s wife, nurse Jill. It was a basic police series but with very strong characterization of the leads and a great cast.

[amybrickwallace]

There's actually another connection between TD and The Rookies: Gerald S. O'Loughlin, who was the superior officer, had a role on TD in 1965 as Pete Banas, the hospital custodian. In one of the old soap books, there is a photo of him with James Pritchett, Elizabeth Hubbard, Ellen Burstyn and Adam Kennedy.

Edited February 24, 2015 by amybrickwallace