The Doctors Discussion Thread

[NothinButAttitude]

Are Virginia and Mona starting to irk anyone else's nerves? Because they are irking mine after this last set of episodes. Ugh!

[Soaplovers]

 

No, Jason is such a creep.... and I was proud of Nola for not wanting to be his side dish while he was married in name only to Doreen.  Virginia has always been a character to irk people, but I think she's supposed to.

 

@Khan I do think Marland was hired to slow the pace down and return the show to a more traditional element (someone shared an article on Twitter from summer 1976 where the viewers of the doctors were more conservative and didn't like the quickened pace.. and the more sexualized tone that Depriest brought to the show).  The problem was that Marland dragged the two stories out to where people stopped caring, and the two stories were fashioned to be faster paced.  He should have ended one of them in time for November, while getting some other stories on the fire.  

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I don't agree with Jason trying to poach Nola while married either; however, Virginia can't be all over Nola for liking Jason when she still latches onto Barney the bum. 

 

When it comes to Mona, I didn't like when she tried paying Carolee off into leaving Madison. Oh how I wish Marland would've allowed Carolee to rip Mona a new one. Does anyone ever rip her a new one?

[robbwolff]

 

Carolee soon will go head to head with Mona. Their conflict in the show's later years, and Carolee standing up to Mona, is a real highlight.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Glad to hear. It unnerved me how Carolee allowed Mona to get away with that stunt she pulled yesterday. 

[Soaplovers]

In watching today's episodes, I think that any young couple wanting to get married should be shown all the episodes featuring Penny/Jerry as newlyweds and than tell them that is not how you should do things when married.  Both Penny and Jerry were right and were also wrong.  Jerry was too stubborn to accept help, and Penny was not forceful enough at the start of the marriage to voice her displeasure at the apartment they were living in, etc.  On the other hand, Jerry should have listened to Penny's wish for a slightly nicer apartment and the two could have looked for a place that made both of them happy instead of Jerry drawing a line in the sand to stay in the apartment (that he is hardly at due to work and school) and Penny drawing a line by signing a 3 month lease for an apartment without telling Jerry.  

 

I guess this is being written to explain Julia Duffy's upcoming departure, but I've been watching the show the last few months and couldn't find any indication/evidence that a big story was in the cards for Penny (supposedly Marland was upset that Duffy opted to quit when he had big plans for her).. other than one or two scenes of Penny interacting with MJ's brother Darren.  And in today's episodes, MJ's brother went back home because things didn't work out for him in town.. and I have to wonder if perhaps Marland was planning to use MJ's brother with Penny/Jerry.. and when Duffy opted to quit, Marland just wrote Darren out quickly.

[NothinButAttitude]

Good God. I love Marland dearly, but his writing for the female characters on this show sucks! Shocking b/c his writing for the women on World Turns and Guiding Light was so much better. 

 

Carolee taking back Steve so easily unnerves me. Why couldn't she allow him to squirm for a bit before taking him back? How Steve, who is the true guilty party in all of this, is getting unscathed boggles my mind. It is to the point that I don't even like Steve anymore. I'm actually rooting for Ann to chew Steve out before she runs off into the sunset. 

 

Jason hiding the fact that Doreen is back is somewhat sickening too. Why string Nola along knowing she's insecure about his marriage to Doreen? 

 

I have enjoyed Eleanor/Luke lately. You can also see that Luke's wheels are starting to turn when it comes to Doreen too. I am interested to see where this goes. 

[Khan]

 

I could be wrong, or too much of a Marland apologist, but I think he just wanted to wrap up that story (after dragging it out for his entire tenure) and move on.

[Franko]

How much longer does Kathryn Harrold have left?

[slick jones]

@Paul Raven do you recall what year and/or if Philbin played himself? 

[Paul Raven]

That was 78 I believe. Not sure if Reege played himself but probably yes.

[slick jones]

Thanks. I must have missed that before.   

 

Researching for next set of Hoppers. Florence Anglin's papers are available at the New York City Library, and among the list of her papers are contracts/ scripts of hers-- one of which is a 1963 contract for The Doctors. (also VL, VIY, GL, ATWT, AMC, AW, SFT, EON, WOMS, YDM, RH, TBD, FTR, and MR) 

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I get him wanting wrap things up with Ann, but Carolee finding her independence and not giving 2 f*cks about Steve was where the real story was at. 

[robbwolff]

We're now in May 1977. Supposedly, she's around through December 1977 or January 1978.

[Franko]

Thanks @robbwolff. I wondered because I know Kathryn became pretty active on the TV-movie and guest star circuits beginning in '78, so I figured her time on The Doctors was nearing its end.