11 hours ago, Paul Raven said:

Just watched the 'Althea  falls through the window' stunt and must say it was very clumsily staged.

 

I know we are talking about something from years ago that was constrained by time and budget, but it was a fail for me.

 

Firstly Althea was at most a couple of feet of the ground.

 

Then Eleanor clumsily spills coffee on her hand (Lois Smith just randomly jerks her arm) and falls back into Althea,causing her to lose her balance and smash through a large window.

 

It was not a clear sheet of glass but rather wooden framed panes,making up the window.

 

No way would a knock into that cause the whole thing to shatter.

 

It would have been more believable for Althea to lose her balance,fall forward and knock her head into a table corner.

 

Rant over...am I being too harsh? What did others think?

 

The bigger problem I have with these plots is that once again another doctor becomes a patient. We seldom see these medical professionals having scenes with recurring characters who are admitted to Hope Memorial for routine procedures. Instead we get these near-death experiences for the main characters who have to be treated by each other. You'd think this was a private facility devoted to the medical care of the staff instead of a facility open to the public administering healthcare to the surrounding community. Plus at this point Althea's had so many emergencies that have required her to receive medical attention for herself that it's become a joke.

28 minutes ago, JarrodMFiresofLove said:

Plus at this point Althea's had so many emergencies that have required her to receive medical attention for herself that it's become a joke.

 

Usually, that's a sign that TPTB have run out of ideas for a character.  Sort of like Raymond Chandler's edict about bringing in a man with a gun whenever you have no idea what to write next.

6 minutes ago, Khan said:

 

Usually, that's a sign that TPTB have run out of ideas for a character.  Sort of like Raymond Chandler's edict about bringing in a man with a gun whenever you have no idea what to write next.

 

It would have been better if they made Eleanor fall through the window. This would have still put Althea into the story as Eleanor's doctor and keep her involved with Scott through Eleanor. And if Scott had planned to ask Eleanor for a divorce, but now Eleanor had this other setback. This whole thing was rushed, presumably to set the stage for Gerald Gordon's return.

36 minutes ago, JarrodMFiresofLove said:

 

It would have been better if they made Eleanor fall through the window. This would have still put Althea into the story as Eleanor's doctor and keep her involved with Scott through Eleanor. And if Scott had planned to ask Eleanor for a divorce, but now Eleanor had this other setback. This whole thing was rushed, presumably to set the stage for Gerald Gordon's return.

 

You could have still had this happen and still have Gerald Gordon come back to operate on Eleanor.. and he hears all about Althea's latest dramas.. and the two start to bicker and fight.

 

However, this time.. it had to be Althea because Eleanor has just been released from the hospital.. and she did insist on Althea coming over. and than Althea had the accident.. so it will garner sympathy for Eleanor.  I do like the change in focus with Depriest coming on since now she is showing Eleanor in a sympathetic light.. and Scott/Wendy are being shown in a not so sympathetic light.  Cenedella was trying to show Scott/Wendy as in the right..yet the acting choices of the actors playing them didn't reflect that.

 

With that said, I do give a little bit of slack to Depriest since she came in, and had to write off two long time characters (Alan/Carolee) right away with little to no notice.. and usher in Gerald Gordon for a visit.

 

I actually like Depriest's stint thus far because it's actually interesting and it makes me want to tune in the next day while Cenedella's show had nice character scenes (as well as scenes with recurring hospital patients).. but I never felt anxious to see the next episode.  And since she joined at the end of Feb.. that meant that the majority of the ratings drop of the 1975 to 1976 season was due to him, and not her.

 

But if I were Althea, I would have stayed home since she seems very accident prone.

2 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

 

You could have still had this happen and still have Gerald Gordon come back to operate on Eleanor.. and he hears all about Althea's latest dramas.. and the two start to bicker and fight.

 

However, this time.. it had to be Althea because Eleanor has just been released from the hospital.. and she did insist on Althea coming over. and than Althea had the accident.. so it will garner sympathy for Eleanor.  I do like the change in focus with Depriest coming on since now she is showing Eleanor in a sympathetic light.. and Scott/Wendy are being shown in a not so sympathetic light.  Cenedella was trying to show Scott/Wendy as in the right..yet the acting choices of the actors playing them didn't reflect that.

 

With that said, I do give a little bit of slack to Depriest since she came in, and had to write off two long time characters (Alan/Carolee) right away with little to no notice.. and usher in Gerald Gordon for a visit.

 

I actually like Depriest's stint thus far because it's actually interesting and it makes me want to tune in the next day while Cenedella's show had nice character scenes (as well as scenes with recurring hospital patients).. but I never felt anxious to see the next episode.  And since she joined at the end of Feb.. that meant that the majority of the ratings drop of the 1975 to 1976 season was due to him, and not her.

 

But if I were Althea, I would have stayed home since she seems very accident prone.

 

Excellent post. Thanks for sharing your views.

Re the Carolee situation.

How much advance warning would they have had that CC planned to leave?

 

Her taking off seemed out of character.

 

Should Carolee have been killed off? Carolee Campbell was adamant about not returning so why not move on?

 

That would have opened up story for Steve as a grieving, vulnerable widower . Ann could have manipulated him into marriage.

 

Then later he meets another woman and has to disentangle himself from Ann.

Poor Ann Larimer.  That character really devolved from how she seemed in the beginning.

 

For Steve, though, I would have introduced Matt's heretofore unknown sister, a widow with two or three kids, who comes to Madison as she adjusts to life after her husband's untimely passing.

Or Maggie's sister Nora returns...

I think it's actually in character for Carolee to run off... she's always been impulsive and reacts emotionally.   And she was smart to leave a recording to send to Steve because if she had tried telling him all this in person.. he would have coddled her, talked down to her, tried to justify sleeping with Ann, etc... and Carolee would have swallowed her feelings as best as she could.  I think it was a nicely acted scene and I'll miss her take on Carolee.

 

And the Ann Larimer situation didn't come out of left field.. it had been building for months since spring 1975 when she was bitter over the break up with Nick.. and was having nightmares about being emotionally cold and unavailable to all her previous boyfriends.  What is interesting to me is the slight change in how the Steve/Ann affair started... with Cenedella, Steve was pursuing her with Ann trying to be sensible... and with Depriest, the roles switched with Ann pursuing him.  And I actually understand Ann changing because it sounded as if Ann was repressed and afraid of opening herself up to anyone.. and when Steve wore down her defenses and she got a little taste of passion.. she became instantly hooked and vowed to continue getting her fix.  So to me, it isn't that she loves Steve.. but that she's addicted to him (and signs were pointing to this if you recall with Ann speaking lovingly of Steve last summer with Matt,Maggie and Althea noting it and even expressing to Steve their worries).

Althea and Robin (jenny Wright)

Harding "Pete" Lemay, who head-wrote THE DOCTORS for a brief while, has passed away:

 

https://www.welovesoaps.net/2018/07/Harding-Lemay-obituary.html

How much longer do the Conrads hang around TD?   It seems like the new writers don't know how to end the story.   Or are they simply waiting for a contract cycle to come up?

20 minutes ago, MonaCroft said:

How much longer do the Conrads hang around TD?   It seems like the new writers don't know how to end the story.   Or are they simply waiting for a contract cycle to come up?

 

From what I've read... Eleanor stays till the end of 1977... I think Scott only lasts a few more months.

5 hours ago, Soaplovers said:

 

From what I've read... Eleanor stays till the end of 1977... I think Scott only lasts a few more months.

 

I can't possibly think of what kind of plot points would keep her around for another year.

 

18 minutes ago, MonaCroft said:

 

I can't possibly think of what kind of plot points would keep her around for another year.

 

Out of the Conard family Eleanor was the most interesting. So i can see why they kept her. Scott and Wendy were both dull as dishwater. I read on this tread that Eleanor ended up Luke Dancy's sugar mama.