The Doctors

[Paul Raven]

Fantastic article Carl.Potter's comments are interesting.I wonder which writer was leaving at that time? I agree about dissing the other shows.I'm sure if they interviewed producers at other shows they'd claim they were producing the quality show at that time.

Ellen Barrett was the secretary - she later was EP of RH and SFT.

[DRW50]

I'm so glad you got to read it.

I'm not sure who the writer was either. I know someone used to have a list of some of that stuff.

I forgot that was the same Ellen who later produced Search/RH.

[saynotoursoap]

Thank you, CarlD. This was another fine article from your archives, which are always a joy to read. I had not seen it.

I loved After Dark magazine

In my opinion many here are too sensitive and twisting Potter's comments to make them more ridculing than they really are. I did not view his comments as "dissing" or "putting down" As the World Turns. He merely compared the two stylistically, and having seen both programs at the time the article was written, I agree with him fully. The pacing, writing, and tone of the two programs could not have been more disparate. This is not always a bad thing, as there is an audience for both styles. I wish there was another soap in the classic World Turns style on the air today, but in 1970, soaps such The Doctors were the ones getting the attention. It was an amusing, literate, well-produced, and finely acted soap, more contemporary than the P&G soaps which were conservative, humorless, and at many times dull and repetitive. In my opinion, The Doctors and Days were the best soaps on the air in 1970. The only P&G soap I would rank in the top three under them was Edge of Night, itself stylistically night and day from its sister P&G soaps. Potter spoke the truth, and I admire him for it. He was an excellent producer and was afforded the pride he earned. The first Emmy win was deserved.

If any one should be chastised for nasty comments, it is Ellen Barrett and her criticism of The Forsyte Saga. It was not drivel, and she seems obsessed with cue cards. She ran poor Phil Brown off Search for Tomorrow because she was an absolute tyrant about actors being word-perfect with their scripts. He's the sweetest guy in the world, and could not stand her. She is a real piece of work, and I do not think she helped any of the programs for which she was associated. JMHO.

I believe the writer to whom Potter referred was Ira Avery. I do not have my program research here at my disposal, so I must rely on my memory, which can fail me at times. Rick Edelstein assisted Rita Lakin with the headwriting. She left to concentrate on prime-time. Edelstein continued on TD for a time. I think he was replaced by Ira Avery, who had written Love Is a Many Splendored Thing with wife Jane. Fred Silverman replaced them in mid-1969 with Ann Marcus, and some time afterward, Ira replaced Edelstein at The Doctors.

[DRW50]

Thanks. I don't know very much about Ira Avery.

That's interesting about Philip Brown. All I'd ever read was that he supposedly didn't get along with Maree Cheatham.

I think SOD panned her work at Search when Joanna Lee came in.

[dc11786]

Carl, thanks for posting this article. It was a fun read. It sounds like 'The Doctors' had a lot of fun off screen. It was interesting to hear a bit more about Carolee Campbell's development on the show. I knew she started out as a U/5, but I was unaware of the connection to Rick Edelstein.

It's been several years since I've seen "The Forsyte Saga." I really enjoyed the later installments with Susan Hampshire's character, Fleur, and her love for Jon and all the nasty history being revealed about Irene's first marriage. In the beginning, I recall it being a bit boring, but maybe I'm simply biased towards the later end of the saga.

I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed the period she was EP more consistently than I did than when Robert Costello was there. In the beginning, George Lefferts was there for the first 13 weeks or so. I really liked the music in the beginning which was very moody and jazzy. I always attribute that to Lefferts, but I may have no right to.

Schemering's book lists Avery as Edelstein's successor followed by the Pollocks, but I didn't see Doug Marland's name on his list at all.

I thought the Averys were with "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" less than a year. I know they were sub writers under Irna Phillips, and I assume CBS hired them to maintain the ship when Irna left the serial late 1967/early 1968. I swore I read in a newspaper article that Don Ettlinger was hired in spring 1968. In the article, which I cannot find, I believe Tom Donovan announced Ettlinger's arrival and the introduction of Garrison family, who I had earlier assumed were a creation of the Averys. Please feel free to correct me on any of this as I'm wondering if the article I read wasn't dated spring 1969.

I think Barrett came after Lee. I want to say Lee was there in 1983 when Gary Tomlin was head writing and they had the live episode. Barrett came after and hired Louise Shaffer and Malachy McCourt. I want to say she was EP when the AOL episodes started.There were so many writing / EP changes I cannot remember if Paul Avila Mayer worked under Barrett or one of the other producers.

I like the Averys. From what I've read from people here, their work on "The Secret Storm" was very good. I believe the 1966 episode of "Storm" on youtube saynotoursoap is theirs. The Averys lived a rather interesting life. I believe Jane was a model before she married Ira and the two travelled a lot. Besides their TV work, they wrote several travel books about their time in Europe and, I believe, a restaurant guide. Jane's mother, Helen, had remarried and as living in Florida in the 1960s. One of the local papers would mention the Averys whenever they were in town to visit Helen in the society pages. There was nothing earth shattering revealed, but it seemed like the Averys would have fit in with their characters in Woodbridge.

[DRW50]

Thanks for reading. I can never remember who produced Search in what order. I guess it was Bunim and then Lee and then Barnett?

There's such a fascinating debate over "old" and "new" soaps in the 70s. Most of the soap magazines didn't directly talk about it, just other publications. The biggest exception is Daytime TV Stars, where there was constantly some debate over "old" ATWT vs. "new" shows like Y&R and AMC, and Deborah Channel repeatedly talking about how classic ATWT was, how much payoff you got, and how shows like AMC or How to Survive a Marriage paled in comparison. By that time, the mid-70s, The Doctors didn't get as much coverage.

[EastMA2]

My recollection is Bunim, Bartholomew, Lee, Barrett, Nicholson, Whitesell, Lawrence.

[Paul Raven]

Joanna Pettet as Judy Stratton Lloyd

[Paul Raven]

1967 Pamela Toll welcomes Terry Kiser to the show

Edited March 4, 2013 by Paul Raven

[DRW50]

Thanks.

I'd forgotten Joanna was on Knots Landing.

[Paul Raven]

1974 Mary Denham played Margo Stewart

Edited March 4, 2013 by Paul Raven

[Paul Raven]

David Canary pre AMC with Lydia Bruce and Gracie Harrison (Greta)

[DRW50]

I never knew he was on that show.

[MontyB]

Great picture! I remember that story. Loved Gracie as Greta. She a huge departure from Jennifer Houlton.

Edited March 4, 2013 by MontyB

[teplin]

Canary played a wacko cult leader. That was the last storyline I saw before my local NBC affiliate took the show off the air.