The Doctors Discussion Thread

[Chris B]

This news about The Doctors is exciting! I have always wanted the soaps on streaming and have said I'd pay if I could get it. Considering PGP already had soaps on AOL and Hulu, it amazes me they haven't done anything with their stuff. If they had a Soap Classics channel on Amazon, I'm sure people would pay $5 or whatever a month for access. I'll definitely be getting this and look forward to seeing the older episodes. I'm also hoping they eventually add all the episodes that have aired on RetroTV so I can finish where I left off. 

[amybrickwallace]

Right now, the rerun cycle is in May 1979. In the coming weeks, we will see a bit of a cast exodus. Kathleen Turner, Dorothy Fielding, and Shawn Campbell all left around the same time (July/August 1979). Kim Zimmer became the third and final Nola. Dorothy Fielding's role of Sara Dancy Powers was not recast (or I should say there was not a third Sara). Billy skipped town and would not be seen again until fall 1980, when a newcomer named Alec Baldwin was cast in the part. 

[Soaplovers]

 

From the little I've seen of Zimmer as Nola... she seemed to be a good Nola... not as cold as Turner, yet not as eager to please as Harold.  My mom used to say when watching live that she loved Zimmer as Nola and disliked her as Reva.

[amybrickwallace]

I'm looking forward to seeing KZ in the role - though I think my favorite portrayal of Nola was under Kathryn Harrold. 

[KMan101]

 

It's interesting to hear that. I was watching a few 1984 episodes of GL and I think one of her earlier episodes as Reva and she was soooooo different. I don't know what the hell happened. Justin Deas must have rubbed off on her around 1995/1996 because ... lord. Difference is kinda staggering. Random thought but do you notice how all the soaps just started having people yell and scream at each other all of the time?

 

I'm looking forward to seeing more of her work as Nola on The Doctors. 

Edited December 24, 2019 by KMan101

[Khan]

 

I noticed it on AMC the first time Megan McTavish was HW.  All of a sudden, people were just antagonistic toward each other.  I tend to blame it, though, on confrontational talk shows like "Ricki Lake" and "Jenny Jones" coming into vogue at that time.

[KMan101]

 

Yeah, true. Same thing for Melrose Place, remember circa Season 4/5 (which is 1995-1997, when the daytime soaps started their decline), everyone just started hated each other and slept together? Lots of yelling and slapping and bed hopping, not saying it was Shakespeare before but it really just threw everything at the wall. It seemed to be 'the trend', which we have finally seemed to get past I suppose. But it took a long time. The daytime soaps all started to try and become Melrose Place and Reilly's DAYS and it never suited them. 

[amybrickwallace]

There hasn't been nearly as much yelling on TD since Gerald Gordon left for good in 1976, for crying out loud!!

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[Khan]

 

It never suited DAYS either. 

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[vetsoapfan]

 

Allowing Reilly to turn Days into a low-brow, campy  cartoon ultimately crippled it, and sadly, RC is now carrying on in the JR tradition.

[MonaCroft]

If I recall, the final scenes between Sara and Mike are some of the best ever in the series.

[amybrickwallace]

I look forward to watching those scenes.

[KMan101]

 

LOL, that's fair.

 

You also have to remember for a lot of folks they don't know the DAYS of the 70s. I wish they would and I wish I could see it.

 

I do agree 100% DAYS lost it's direction but that started in the 80s, let's not pretend the plots were amazing, it was just the backdrop for showcasing a supercouple. They got *very* lucky. And they were smart to use Alice Horton like they did. I mean, did we *really* need Kayla or Kim as much as I enjoy them? We sure as hell didn't need Adrienne.  

[Khan]

 

True.  However, the show retained its' incredible heart.  As silly as the plots often were, you, as the viewer, still were caught up in the emotion and suspense of it all.  Moreover, there was still some respect for history and for the characters' (and viewers') basic intelligence, which is more than I would ever say for how JER treated them, lol.

[KMan101]

 

Yeah, I meant to say that. Despite the wacky stupid adventures and Bradys and Johnsons taking over, it still felt familiar, the sets, and the heart, etc. Not explaining it well but I know what you mean, it still felt like "DAYS" just ... 80sfied LOL. They also greatly lucked out at the time that the actors were mostly good, and that was when soaps actually knew how to introduce a character and test them around the canvas.

 

I've always agreed JER dumbs down the canvas to insanely stupid levels. I hate it. But at least, even if it was trash, he could write an actual storyline and meander it out and at least he made you understand the character's motivations, as dumb as they were. He had bibles. He learned from some of the best. He just went ... way too wacky and then seemingly lost his mind. I think had Sheri stuck around in the Reilly era and balanced him a bit ... I guess I saw the potential Reilly could have had but ... hard pass on a lot of what he did. But I can appreciate some things, I guess. And honestly, any of it's worst is better than what we're getting now. But I couldn't sit through stupidity running amuck again. No thanks. Ron's already getting there.