The Doctors Discussion Thread

[Jdee43]

I was wondering, are there any lists online as to which episodes of The Doctors from 1968 - 1979 are missing or were skipped by Retro TV?

[Jdee43]

I've been really enjoying The Doctors from Dec 1967 - Feb 1968! James Pritchett does such a great job of anchoring the show, really impressive! 

There are things that take me out of it though. I guess the main thing is the look of the Karen Werner character. It's obviously an actress in a bad wig trying too hard to sound foreign. I wish they would have let the actress use her own hair (or get better wigs) and talk closer to her normal voice, or recast with someone that looks more natural in the role. Compare Karen to the naturalness of Carolee, or any of the other characters; it's so night and day!

Also weird are the silent extras; no one but the main cast can talk; it's like the Twilight Zone; very weird if you pay attention to it. 

Also strange is Matt's office. It looks a converted medium sized closet; no windows for the Chief of Staff?  

These are all minor things. The show is really good, and beautiful to watch, in such clear, vibrant colors, from 1968; such a treat!

Edited May 30, 2022 by Jdee43

[Jdee43]

I've watched from December 1967 - March 1968 on the website. The quality is excellent, and the run so far complete, with the exception of 1 episode, 2/14/68, which did air on Retro TV. Hopefully they get around to uploading that episode..

The charisma of the actors more than anything is what keeps me watching! Most of them give really good performances, rising above the clichéd material.

I feel like the more long term your character is, the better writing you get. Short term characters Ruth Winters and John Rice have the worst stories. The best stories seem to be for Matt and Maggie. James Pritchett is great in these episodes, so anchored and grounded. And I really appreciate Bethel Leslie! I also just saw her on a 1964 episode of GUNSMOKE called "Innocence" (1964); she plays a no nonsense saloon girl, giving out a whole bunch of those looks that she would later give to Liz and Karen on The Doctors

Please register in order to view this content

Edited July 19, 2022 by Jdee43

[Jdee43]

The April 2, 1968 episode contains a classic blooper. At 7:00, talking about drop-out Edward Stark, Gerald Gordon can't get his line out and ends up saying, "I know it's rough, but what are we going to do, speen.. uh.. spoon the guy, you know what I mean?" James Pritchett smiles and responds, "Spoon feed him?", to which Gordon says "Right!" They then continue the scene as if nothing happened 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[Joseph]

Could anyone tell me where i could watch Episodes besides RealGoodTv??????? for a very short while When it still had it's own site, i watched a dozen 1967 episodes and few other random episodes from other years and they were all very good, i got a one month promo and tried to save as many as i could, but resuming all it failed miserably, would it be possible for someone to to help me find another place to watch it??? (and no, i can't contract the streaming, i tried i don't have a card they would accept)

[victoria foxton]

All the you tube channels with years or months of full episodes of The Doctors. Have been taken down ages ago. Aside from a random episode or clip.

[Joseph]

i guess so, all i've ever found on youtube were a few Episodes (unlisted and renamed Hope Memorial) on edwyn sanchez channel, but they're too far from what i watched to understand much.

[victoria foxton]

 

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by victoria foxton

[Jdee43]

Watching April 1968 on the website, there's at least one episode missing and a few mislabeled.

As it is now, 4/17/68 and 4/22/68 are missing. What's labeled as 4/19/68 is probably 4/22/68. Retro TV aired the real 4/19/68, but that is not uploaded to the site. 

An episode that could be considered 4/17/68 was never aired by Retro, so that's either a true missing episode or a preemption.

If there was a preemption, I think it would have made more sense for it to happen on 4/9/68, the day of Martin Luther King's funeral. If that day was the true preemption, then what's labeled on the site as 4/9/68 through 4/16/68 are all off by a day.

Hopefully some day they go through the site and clear everything up.

May 1968 looks complete. For six months of a 54 year old soap, having only 2 missing episodes (3 if there wasn't a preemption), isn't too bad. 2/14/68 and the real 4/19/68 could eventually be added to the site, as they aired on TV.  

[Jdee43]

Bethel Leslie's last appearance is Friday, May 10, 1968. She plays a big part in the middle and end of the episode. Her portrait is still seen in Matt's office on the Monday May 13, 1968 episode. She is actually credited for the final time on Thursday, May 16, 1968, the episode after her replacement first appears!

Lydia Bruce first appears on Wednesday, May 15, 1968, in the middle of the episode with Althea and then later in a scene with Matt. Neither call her Maggie, nor is there a voice over saying she's now playing the character. Only the end credits reveal she's Maggie, and she doesn't get the special credit Bethel Leslie did. I wonder if all this was a little confusing to audiences back then, or if Retro cut something out?

I'm sad to see Bethel go; she was really good. I'm surprised with the career Bethel had, appearing on so many primetime shows in the late 50s and early 60s, that she chose to do a daytime drama for over 2 years in the mid to late 60s. She did return to guesting on primetime shows in the early 70s. 

 

[te.]

Doing daytime might not have been seen as glamourous, but it was steady day-to-day work that usually meant that you were home by the time kids came home from school and gave a steady income. It wasn't seen as a complete career killer.

[victoria foxton]

Please register in order to view this content

[Paul Raven]

Neat find and lovely picture.

[victoria foxton]

Thanks! I saw it in a Doctors FB group. 

[Jdee43]

I'm in late May 1968, watching on their website, and the show has been great! 

One thing I don't understand though is the writing for Steve. He's pretty unlikable. It's like the writers are planning on making him a murder victim over his deplorable, heartless playboy ways. Karen, Matt, and Liz could all be suspects; even Carolee could be one! Nick too and Penny! Perhaps for shock value, it would turn out to be Penny who kills him, accidentally of course! Maybe she'd push him down the stairs, a story they'd later do with different characters! It's hard to believe at this point that they don't go this way. It's even harder to believe that, instead, Steve becomes one of the leading characters on the show who stays all the way to the end! 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Jdee43