The Doctors Discussion Thread

[jam6242]

Danfling, I'm assuming you meant Robert Cobert and yes, he did do the music for The Doctors.

[dc11786]

There is a script on page 32 from February 1968 that seems to take place shortly after Althea loses the baby.

Any thoughts on when these episodes might have aired in 1967?

[jam6242]

Retro TV tweeted that the episode aired on Dec. 4, 1967.

[DRW50]

I hope that means we may get to see some Christmas material.

So this show never used organ music?

It was still live (or live-on-tape) at this point, right? I could swear in the Althea/Maggie scene I saw shadows from the camera.

[dc11786]

Thanks jam!

DR, I also saw shadows. By the sounds of it, Karen Werner hadn't been on the scene very long.

Regarding Bethel Leslie's billing, I think Ann Williams had a rather significant following by NBC standards and the show might have valued Maggie as the lead role despite Jim Pritchett's longevity. In looking at the newspapers from the time, there was quite a fuss made in TV columns by viewers about when Maggie would return to the story. If I'm remember correctly, Williams left the show around June 1965 and the show brought on Ellen Burstyn as Kate Bartok to replace Williams as the female lead. In the episode previews for the summer of 1965, there is a lot of talk about Maggie even though she wasn't present in the story. At the same time, Roy Thinnes had departed GH for "The Long, Hot Summer," and Phil was absent, but often mentioned in the episode previews. Anyway, when Leslie arrived in November 1965 as Maggie, there was a fair deal of press considering it was a soap opera.

[SoapDope]

This episode shows what an elegant era the 60's was. Notice Althea removing her gloves and head scarf when entering the house. The house was decorated with expensive traditional furnishings etc.....Soaps wouldn't return to the glamour till the 80's.

Liz Hubbard is so young and pretty. She looks like a fashion model for 60's Vogue.

[Faulkner]

It feels so weird to hear that same patrician, grande dame voice coming from a much younger Liz Hubbard. It freaks me out a bit.

[Matt]

I loved how clipped, distinguished, & patrician Elizabeth Hubbard's Althea sounds during those Maggie/Althea scenes in contrast to the casual brashness of Gerald Gordon's Nick with Matt. I'm eager to see them together. Nick/Althea were a HUGELY popular couple on the show. Also, major credit has to be given to HW Rita Lakin. Her tenure on The Doctors is regarded as one of the best, most intelligent periods on a daytime soap opera and I thought her script here was absolutely on point. There were character moments & story movement & recap, but not a single thing felt forced, imo. Today's episode didn't play like soap opera for me as much as it played like a legitimate (not that soap isn't, but you get my meaning) dramatic series.

[amybrickwallace]

Bless the person who uploaded this for us all to enjoy.

I'm surprised they re-cast Maggie with an actress who looked absolutely nothing like Ann Williams. The timeline for Ms. Williams leaving sounds right. The reason she quit TD was because she was pregnant with her first child, and Amanda was born in August 1965. Of course, by the time this episode of TD aired, Ms. Williams had been playing Eunice on SFT for over a year.

SoapDope, I've thought that about young Liz Hubbard for quite some time. She was a stunner!! Wow!! I wonder if she had ever done any modeling.

I also agree with the gloves, hats, etc. I'm a big Bewitched fan, and it is always a treat seeing how people dressed up even to go to mundane places like the supermarket on both the daytime and primetime shows of that era. Both Elizabeths (Hubbard and Montgomery) had that air of elegance.

[amybrickwallace]

P.S. When Matt and Maggie finally wed, who was playing Maggie at the time? Was it Bethel Leslie or Lydia Bruce?

[DRW50]

They were already married at this point so it had to be Ann or Bethel.

[amybrickwallace]

Thank you. Even the music didn't sound "soap opera-ish" - it sounded a lot like the non-serialized dramas of the day. Also, what a shame that the show had sunk so far low in the ratings that it was last aired about 3 months from what would have been its 20th anniversary. Had the show gone into 1983, I wonder how they would have commemorated their 20th anniversary. Alas, we'll never know...

[soapfave06]

Loved it! Hope they continue to post despite the freezing.

Love the 60s fashions and Althea and Maggie are already favorites of mine. I really like this Maggie and just read snw gets recast?

The Nick and John characters also interest me but Matt has to grow on me. I was back and forth with him.

Such a pleasure to see a mature soap episode, from the 60s, in color and such amazing quality.

[Paul Raven]

The lack of organ music,naturalistic dialogue and staging give the show a more modern feel than other shows of the era.No sign of character standing up with one facing the camera and the other talking to their back.

You would expect to see Althea in turmoil over her pregnancy, either hysterical or stoically bearing up,not chatting naturally about it.

Were John and Nick fighting about Liz? Is John interested in her and mad at Nick for the way he is treating her?

I wonder if Rita Lakin is aware or even interested that her work is once again available to view.She made a ton of money writing the show, negotiating with NBC and CP to have Rick Edelstein as co writer before leaving for Hollywood and getting a job on Mod Squad.A pity that she seemed to see soap writing as a just a stepping stone.

Bethel Leslie also became a writer,working on Secret Storm.

Dr Karen seems interesting and I think was being set up for playboy doctor Steve.Seems the opposites attract story that worked so well for Nick and Althea would be put into play again.Wonder when they decided to bring Carolee into the mix?

[Paul Raven]

Variety reported in August 68 that Lydia Bruce, who had been filling in for Bethel Leslie now has the role permanently.So it seems Bethel left for some reason and never returned.

They also reported that Lakin became headwriter in June 67,so what we are seeing now is about 6 months into her run.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Paul Raven