The Doctors Discussion Thread

[Avatar610]

But will it available to cable? I subscribe to Time Warner Cable here in NYC- can I get Retro TV through it starting next month?

[allmc2008]

probably not since they are Low Power stations. Try to get a DTV antenna and move the antenna to the direction the the station is in NYC. Like, if there is a window that faces the direction the station is place the Antenna there.

[saynotoursoap]

Do not stress over it, Matt. I believe The Doctors followed a procedure practiced by several soaps at that time. In order to keep the episode numbers ending in a 5 or a 0 on Fridays, an episode shortly after pre-emption would receive multiple production numbers in order to set the numbers back to running 1-5, Monday through Friday. Sometimes soaps would also not assign a number to an episode the day of, or following, a pre-emption. From what I have seen of scripts from The Doctors, they always seem to run in that manner regardless of the number of pre-emptions, so I imagine this is the explanation for the discrepancy.

Edited November 6, 2014 by saynotoursoap

[DRW50]

Who is your avatar? He's quite the looker.

[saynotoursoap]

Mona arrives in the autumn of 1972. I know she is there in December beacuse the first Christmas with the family she deviously gives a gift knowing that Carolee's reaction will undermine her in Steve's eyes. Mona was a delicious piece of work.

[MichaelGL]

Matt's speech in the Feb. 22nd episode was glorious! He is truly my favorite character on this show!

[~bl~]

The new RTV stations may not be RTV, but the auto related stations though the press release doesn't break down who is getting what.

[Matt]

So don't think I didn't follow along with my script for the second episode and BOY were there some changes. The entire first act (which consisted of Nick & Maggie discussing/recapping the hear) was cut. You can see where the show was supposed to lead into it via the opening which had Maggie exiting the elevator & walking towards Nick at the desk where he's on the phone. Nick never again appears in this episode. Also, nearly NO ONE on this show is word-perfect according to the script. Both Elizabeth Hubbard & James Pritchett paraphrase the hell out of their lines. House Jameson, however, is probably the closest. He only changes a word here and there, but it's almost totally word for word.

DAMN, but James Pritchett gave an Emmy worthy performance during Matt's monologue. Matt took that hospital board to CHURCH. I sat totally enthralled the entire time he spoke. Utterly mesmerizing.

The explanation that all Friday shows end in either 5 or 0 makes perfect sense to me considering my own OCD. lol However, the date is still off. Taking into account the January 1st preemption, the Friday, February 23rd, episode should've aired on RetroTV tomorrow at noon. This tells me that there had to have been one other preemption sometime during the months of January or February.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Matt

[awtribute]

Actually, as far as the Dallas-Fort Worth market goes, the station on the list for them (K31GL) is the one that Retro TV has already been on in DFW, so that one must be a continuation/renewal. It would be nice if the agreement there included a signal strength increase and a must-carry requirement aimed at Time Warner Cable, but something tells me that would be a massive miracle at this rate. Hope the ~78 million households / 68% of the US figure mentioned is something of a boost for viewing potential for The Doctors.

List of stations/markets involved:

• New York - WKOB
• Chicago - W25DW
• Dallas-Ft. Worth - K31GL
• Atlanta - WYGA
• Houston - KUVM
• Phoenix - KTVP
• Tampa-St. Petersburg - W15CM
• Seattle-Tacoma - KUSE
• Denver - K05MD
• Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto - KBTV
• Austin - KVAT
• Oklahoma City - KTOU
• Amarillo - K16HB / K51JN

At least Luken admits an 'overwhelming response' (whatever that entails) to the addition of The Doctors; too bad so far that that hasn't been enough for the pre-empting affiliates to change their minds and start showing both airings of the show.

Now that I've had to move farther from the K31GL tower, and have no way to put up an antenna where I live now, I am reduced to seeing the (hopefully continuing) archived vids for now.

[Matt]

based on an ebay listing for a collection Rita Lakin scripts for The Doctors (which has since sold. the original Buy it Now price was $950 lol) the following episode numbers & air dates can be confirmed...

PRODUCTION #1302 (11/29/67)

PRODUCTION #1304 (12/1/67)

PRODUCTION #1477 (7/17/68)

PRODUCTION #1571 (12/16/68)

PRODUCTION #1572 (12/17/68)

PRODUCTION #1573 (12/18/68)

PRODUCTION #1574 (12/19/68)

PRODUCTION #1575 (12/20/68)

PRODUCTION #1576 (12/23/68)

PRODUCTION #1577 (12/24/68)

PRODUCTION #1578 (12/25/68)

PRODUCTION #1579 (12/26/68)

PRODUCTION #1580 (12/27/68)

[DRW50]

I hope whoever bought it might transcribe that 1302 someday, for the fans...

[amybrickwallace]

Who else watching felt like applauding after Matt's speech to the board? That was AWESOME!! Major props to James Pritchett. As I've said before, NBC was majorly blessed to have three supremely gifted patriarch figures heading up their main soaps - and all three went on to win Emmys - James Pritchett, Macdonald Carey of DAYS and Douglass Watson of AW.

The other "doctors" were awesome during the hearing - Nick lost his temper as we all knew he would (but his anger was justified as he was standing up for both Matt and Althea), and when Nathan Bunker asked Althea if she was sure that Nick was her baby's father...the look on Liz Hubbard's face was absolutely priceless. I'm surprised Althea didn't take her stethoscope and wring his neck with it!!

House Jameson did manage to bring a surprising amount of humanity to Nathan Bunker - and I wonder how many other actors would have managed to balance all of the character's facets as well as he did. How much longer does he last on the show?

Now that the hearing is over, let's hope Matt opens up his eyes to the German barracuda aka Dr. Karen Werner. We already know that both Maggie and Nick are onto her, and now Althea is starting to see the light. When Karen referred to Maggie as a good mother and left it at that, Althea can no longer tell Maggie that she is imagining things!!

Finally, Steve Aldrich is back! Let's also hope that John Rice has also met the girl of his dreams...despite an awkward beginning!

Edited November 11, 2014 by amybrickwallace

[amybrickwallace]

Here is an awesome tribute article to James Pritchett from 2011, featuring an interview with his real-life wife:

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/04/james_pritchett_actor_on_nbc_d.html

James Pritchett, actor on NBC daytime soap opera 'The Doctors,' met wife at Barn Theatre

By Dave Person | Kalamazoo Gazette
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on April 01, 2011 at 4:00 PM

NEW YORK — Not only was Augusta’s Barn Theatre an ear­ly venue for James Pritchett to display his acting talent, but it also was where he met his fu­ture wife, Kalamazoo resident Cynthia Arnold.

Pritchett, known to many as Dr. Matt Powers, a central char­acter on the NBC daytime soap opera “The Doctors” from 1963 to 1982, died March 15 at his New York home. He was 88.

The winner of a best-actor Emmy in 1978 for his work on “The Doctors,” he also acted on Broadway and in national touring companies.

But it was his work at the Barn, no doubt, that had the most significant impact on his life. While assuming the role of Sky Masterson in the Barn’s 1955 production of “Guys and Dolls,” Pritchett became ac­quainted with Arnold, an Up­john Co. employee who acted on the side.

Playing a mission girl in that production, Arnold fell head over heels for Pritchett. “I followed him to New York, there’s no other way to say it,” she said.

What attracted her to him?

“Everything,” she said. “He was a fine actor, and he had such a wonderful sense of hu­mor, aside from the fact he was a very good-looking man.”

The Pritchetts wed three years later and shared married life together for 53 years.

“We had three beautiful chil­dren, and he was a very, very good father,” Cynthia Pritchett said.

“He was on ‘The Doctors’ for almost 20 years, so he was ... stationed here in New York City, but he did do a lot of area work, and he did some national tours,” she said.

“His spare time was spent with his family,” she added. “We had a great place out in the country and we spent all our extra time there, except when we were traveling, which we did a lot of, and we took our kids a good share of the time.”

Pritchett first performed at the Barn Theatre in 1954 and returned, in addition to 1955, in 1960 and for at least three years in the 1980s, including his Barn-participation 30th anniversary year, 1984.

A native of Lenoir, N.C., Pritchett earned a degree in meteorology from the University of Chicago while serving in the Army Air Forces during World War II and also worked for a time as an attorney after earning his law degree from the University of North Carolina.

He appeared on Broadway in “Two for the Seesaw” in 1959 and “ Sail Away” in 1961- 62, and in national tours of “Auntie Mame” with Sylvia Sydney in 1958 and “Other People’s Money” with Tony Lo Bianco in 1991, according to an obituary in The New York Times.

He also shared top billing with Geraldine Page and E.G. Mar­shall in Eugene O’Neill’s “ De­sire Under the Elms,” which played in 1956 at the Stude­baker Theater in Chicago.

He was on television, in both programs and commercials, for many years, including in two other daytime serials, “The Se­cret Storm” and “As The World Turns,” the Times reported.

In addition to “Guys and Dolls,” some of the Barn pro­ductions Pritchett appeared in over the years were “Mister Roberts,” “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” “The Rainmak­er,” “The Tender Trap,” “Two for the Seesaw” — a reprisal of his role in the Broadway play — “The Golden Fleecing,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “Present Laughter” and “The Music Man.”

Surviving Pritchett in addi­tion to his wife are his chil­dren, Laura and her husband, Priest Dimitri, of San Francis­co, Shelley, of New York City, and Kyle and his wife, Clau­dia, of Connecticut; and three grandchildren.

A private memorial service for Pritchett will be held later in upstate New York.

[allmc2008]

I am finally getting caught up. I am only 11 dailymotion uploads behind now...

[amybrickwallace]

You're in for some real treats!!