The Doctors Discussion Thread

[Maxim]

Guys do you know any ways to download the available episodes... or someone who has downloaded them... and uploaded somewhere? 

[Contessa Donatella]

This is not what you're asking but I used to have software where you could record anything that you watched on your computer screen. Of course, you didn't actually have to be watching. It just had to be playing with this software running while it did. Now that takes time. I can't remember if there was any way to speed up the process. I could find the name of that company & its software if you were interested, but hopefully someone will have a quicker solution. 

[Maxim]

I have a program like that.. and I may use it like a last resort. I will look for a solution.

[Jdee43]

1968 was a great year for the show creatively. Still, there were negatives. Number one was recasting the character of Maggie. The transition from Bethel Leslie to Lydia Bruce was rough, and I think damaging to the show in the long run. Among other things, the show sacrificed a bit of Matt Powers's moral integrity in order to make Lydia Bruce's Maggie more sympathetic. For example, out of the blue, they had Matt kissing another woman and basically thinking nothing of it.

In hindsight, I think it would have been best to write Bethel Leslie's Maggie off and bring Lydia Bruce on as an entirely new character. Lydia's Maggie is nothing like Bethel's anway; she is playing a new character in everything but name. Lydia would have been spared Maggie's history. The audience would have been spared Matt's character assassination. Lydia and James Pritchett have great chemistry; the audience would have enjoyed seeing them build a relationship on-screen from the very beginning, instead of jumping into one that was already established. Building a new relationship could have driven story for them for years. Instead, by the end of 68, with Lydia settled in as Maggie, there seemed to be no story for them, no where to really go. And bringing Lydia on as someone new would have left the door open for Bethel to come back, if only for guest appearances. There was a lot of wasted opportunity and poor choices in bringing Lydia to the show. 

Edited February 16, 2024 by Jdee43

[Maxim]

The Doctors is a masterpiece. I have never binge-watched a show like this. 

[Maxim]

Is anyone other than me currently watching ? 

[Contessa Donatella]

I was watching & I just discovered that I can watch it off of the website instead of off my Roku. And, 6:30 is incredibly bad time for me so I've decided to start over, at the beginning & watch off of the website. So, right now I'm caught in between. 

[Maxim]

I am nearing March 1968 and it's SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.

[Matt]

Have you gotten to the part where Matt defends Althea to the board against morals charges because of the out of wedlock baby with Nick?  James Pritchett delivers a masterclass with is monologue that I'm certain would've garnered an Emmy nom if the Daytime Emmys had existed at that time.

[Paul Raven]

Writing Maggie off would have been difficult-audiences wouldn't have been happy to see Matt and Maggie split. Or if Maggie died that might not have gone down well as she was the mother of a young child.

That would have also made it difficult for Lydia to come on as a new love interest.

Maggie was originally Ann Williams so viewers had already seen a different Maggie with Matt. I think Ann was quite popular in the role so there might have been resistance to Bethel at first.

Bethel went on to write Secret Storm.

[Jdee43]

There was an old article in one of the soap mags from the late 60s supposedly written by C.C. Courtney, Jody Lee on the show, where he interviews Lydia Bruce on her first days on The Doctors. There Bruce says that she was initially only a temporary replacement for 8 weeks, that Bethel would be back after filming the movie Molly McGuires. But then the producers told her that Bethel wasn't coming back. I assume that happened early in Lydia's run, maybe her first or second week on the show. They literally changed the story a few weeks into her run to try and make her version of the character work; I assume they wouldn't have done that for an 8 week replacement. Wiyh Lydia already playing Maggie, I guess they just went with it. 

If you look at Bethel's last episode though, May 10, 1968, there is a sense of finality in her final scenes, like they were subtly giving her version of the character a send-off, giving her Maggie and Matt a happy ending, for her last day.

I just think in a perfect world, they should have left Bethel as Maggie, allowing her to pop in and out whenever she wanted, and bring in Lydia as a new character. Imagine a Bethel Leslie/ James Pritchett/ Lydia Bruce triangle playing out in 1971 or so.

Edited February 19, 2024 by Jdee43

[ClassicsSoapFan]

I am! I am enjoying the 30 minute old school drama! I wish Rita Lakin had stayed longer! I am in Feb. 1972 and it is still good. I binge watch. I may watch 1, 2 or even 3 weeks worth at a time.

Edited February 19, 2024 by ClassicsSoapFan
correct spelling

[Khan]

I wish she had stayed longer, too.  There was an intelligence to her and to Rick Edelstein's work that I think was missing from most other HW's for that show.  Her work could be entertaining and dramatic without resorting to melodrama.

[adrnyc]

I'm in '72. Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock. Am enjoying it so far. Love seeing a young Anna Stuart. It's good to have Karen back. And I like Althea's new husband - although I'll obvs still ship Althea and Nick. Oh, and Nick's new gf from Dark Shadows. It's a fun time for me with The Doctors.

[Maxim]

Is it still as good as 1968? I am sooo scared the quality will degrade. It always happens when I watch soaps and am let down. I hooooope this time isn't the case.