I recently saw Bethel Leslie on a late season 1 episode of The Fugitive from 1964 called "Storm Center." Her acting was excellent, but her character and the story unfortunately were not the best. 

Bethel did so many shows, but could it be that my favorite character I've seen her play is Maggie Powers??

I wish Retro would unearth the rest of her run, from 1966 and 1967. Maybe they could pair it with Bright Promise from the Bing Crosby vaults?? Didn't Retro make a big deal of getting a tape transfer machine and doing all the transfers themselves? There's still a lot of materiel out there that they can use that machine on!!

Steve and his women....

Variety Review April 3 1963

 

 

Edited October 29, 20241 yr by Paul Raven

I need to re-start my viewing of this show... I watched more than 7-8 months of it... and then had to take a pause to watch Edge of night. But amazingly enough... I haven't forgotten a single thing I watched and I can jump straight back into it. It's so simple. In the good way. I've had shows where I would watch them and in couple of weeks I don't even remember what was going on. 

I'm still in 1968. 

We're back at watching The Doctors... Oh, Karen Werner... so toxic... but yet so addicting to watch.

P.S

But of course... I'm team Maggie all the way.

Rick Edelstein, who wrote for The Doctors in 1968-1969, died in September.  He also wrote for Bright Promise and How to Survive a Marriage, as well as prime-time shows.

https://www.emmys.com/bios/rick-edelstein?fbclid=IwY2xjawGbeJhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHd0BaM70Hq4EAJCYqMdUOj_HkukYjLdu0-sYOaB4WMxmzlqz3Jo45u0-fQ_aem_eVuwk62jO-sB3eAmPCpaCQ

 

10 hours ago, jam6242 said:

Rick Edelstein, who wrote for The Doctors in 1968-1969, died in September.  He also wrote for Bright Promise and How to Survive a Marriage, as well as prime-time shows.

https://www.emmys.com/bios/rick-edelstein?fbclid=IwY2xjawGbeJhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHd0BaM70Hq4EAJCYqMdUOj_HkukYjLdu0-sYOaB4WMxmzlqz3Jo45u0-fQ_aem_eVuwk62jO-sB3eAmPCpaCQ

Thanks. I wouldn't have known this otherwise. 

I think I stopped somewhere in late 1968 or early 1969 but IIRC the wheels started to fall off then.

While looking for an obituary on Edelstein I saw that an online magazine of some kind published a short story of his around 2017.

(this story is NSFW)

https://www.scarletleafreview.com/short-stories29/rick-edelstein-what-matters

I visited the Paley Center, and they have a 5 minute segment of an episode from 1966. Matt and Maggie were in some of the scenes talking with a patient. Also some of the same music cues from 1968 are heard.

I really wish Retro would release whatever episodes exist from the early years, especially from 1966 and 1967!!

34 minutes ago, Jdee43 said:

I visited the Paley Center, and they have a 5 minute segment of an episode from 1966. Matt and Maggie were in some of the scenes talking with a patient. Also some of the same music cues from 1968 are heard.

I really wish Retro would release whatever episodes exist from the early years, especially from 1966 and 1967!!

Thanks for sharing. This is a nice treat.

I think they have pretty much given up. I hope the material shows up someday.

In the scene, Matt and Maggie are talking about Theodora. The patient seems to be Theodora's housekeeper or something, and Theodora has treated her really badly. 

It's interesting that they have Bethel Leslie sporting Ann Williams's hairdo. When Lydia Bruce takes over for Bethel Leslie in 1968, they have Lydia sport Bethel's hairdo for a few months too. I guess they thought that would make the transition easier, if the recast had the previous actor's hair style?!

The Doctors’ Fast Channel Launches: Gives Fans Binge-Watching Opportunities for the Beloved Soap Opera - bit.ly/3ZD1S5C #TheDoctors

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— Michael Fairman (@michaelfairman.bsky.social) December 16, 2024 at 12:17 PM

Wow! Maybe this will pave the way for other soaps to get their own FAST Channels

7 hours ago, dragonflies said:

Wow! Maybe this will pave the way for other soaps to get their own FAST Channels

I hope so!  Granted, what I've seen of THE DOCTORS, I haven't liked.  But I do think it's important for this venture to be successful, if only for the small hope that it'll lead to more defunct soaps becoming available for streaming.

I'm glad they haven't given up and are doing something with the show. I feel like the expense of doing their own streaming platform may have been too much for them, but putting it on an existing platform is a smart way to utilize all the work they did getting the show ready for streaming. Hopefully an Amazon/Tubi deal is next so they can do more traditional streaming. Dark Shadows has become a streaming staple and to also have The Doctors easily available would be nice.

I just hope these moves continue to inspire others to utilize their soap catalog. You can't convince me that AMC wouldn't do well in streaming, among others. Just takes someone willing to do the work.