The Doctors

[All My Shadows]

I believe the show kept the title card over the first scene opening sequence until the late 70s (1977ish). The music was changed in '71. This is all based off of articles written for long-dead soap websites, so it could be inaccurate.

IDK if this has been discussed here or not, but apparently the show gained a primetime hour on RetroTV back in December. I'm reading that they actually started that airing at the same point in 1967 that the daytime run began with. It would have been interesting if they'd taken this opportunity to start at a later time period (maybe ten years later) just to provide a means for comparing and contrasting.

[saynotoursoap]

Amy, Score Productions provided the music after Bob Cobert left. Score was used for many other NBC soaps, including Another World, Somerset, and How to Survive a Marriage. I like Cobert's theme, but the one I identify most with the series is the the 1971-77 theme, which I consider one of the most beautiful in serial history. However, Cobert's cues and underscores are gold. Many are recycled from the work he did on The Young Marrieds. One of the most prominently played is Ann's theme from TYM.

[saynotoursoap]

You are correct, All My Shadows. The title card opening over the first scene was dropped with the March 29, 1977, episode. The "pop" version of the Score Productions theme debuted the same day in a sixty minute special episode celebrating the series' 14th anniversary.

[DRW50]

Who is your avatar? It looks so familiar to me.

I wish they'd run some of the earlier stuff there, if it's available. I really would like to see Althea and Nick having sex as Buddy dies, or Althea's relationship with the chaplain. Or Maggie's sister, who seemed to be a big character yet is mostly an afterthought by this point, outside of a few letters to Maggie.

[SoapDope]

I just caught up to September 11 & 12 1968 where Steve and Karen are married and living in the apartment. Karen is all jumpy that Steve is going to seduce her. How long does Karen stay on the show ?

Matt & Maggie in bed and being frank about their sex life is surprising for 1968 daytime TV. I wonder when daytime first showed two people actually committing the act on a soap ? Was it Y&R in 1973 ?

[Bright Eyes]

Google Image is your friend, Carl. The avatar is from the film, The Lickerish Quartet. The left is Paolo Turco, the right is Frank Wolff.

[SantabarbaraNBC]

Any Santa Barbara fans here?

We are trying to get the show released on DVD. Please "like" the facebook page and join our campaign.

https://www.facebook...106976976119859

Thanks!

[saynotoursoap]

Laryssa Lauret remains with The Doctors until

[allmc2008]

I'm curious to see what her future stories will be like.

[amybrickwallace]

Thank you, saynotoursoap. On the subject of Laryssa Lauret/Karen, I found a cast list in one of the old magazines from a year later than that and her name was included. The year after that, she joined GL sans the brunette wig, wearing her own lovely long blond hair.

[saynotoursoap]

I believe you. It was no doubt a situation where an old cast list was used or just a mistake on the part of the editor. I was watching at the time.

She was lovely playing Simone on Guiding Light. I preferred her natural hair to that brown wig. It is a shame that she had such a short tenure on GL and was not brought back for Bill's death and Hillary's.

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks for the clarification. I've seen a few pictures of her from her time on TD sans the wig. With Liz Hubbard and Bethel Leslie (and then Lydia Bruce), I guess the producer felt they didn't need another blond, thus the brunette wig.

I love how they've taken us through every step of Althea and Nick's courtship and now engagement since they reunited earlier in 1968 - casual dinners just as friends, then dinner dates, then their first kiss in months, a camping trip with Penny (that turned out to be a disaster, but hey), the exchange of "I love yous", discussion of marriage, Nick confiding in Matt that he was going to propose to Althea, the actual proposal, her acceptance, breaking the news to Penny and their friends, meeting with the minister, the presentation of the engagement ring, and next up is Althea's surprise bridal shower. We should be seeing the actual wedding sometime next week. They've taken us on the whole ride with them.

I know it's been said here before and I'll say it again - if soaps today gave each character and story the same kind of TLC Lakin/Edelstein/Potter gave, maybe the genre wouldn't be in the freefall it's in today.

Edited March 3, 2015 by amybrickwallace

[SoapDope]

Thanks for the info on Karen (Laryssa Laurett). I can't wait to see how it all unfolds. Karen and Steve's storyline has drawn me in.

[Susan Hunter]

Amen. Soaps gave up some of the things that only soaps can do well in order to complete with movies and primetime. If you have 250 episodes a year, use them to tell every beat of the story. Fast paced doesn't have to mean skipping the character building moments of the story. I think The Doctors runs at a very nice pace. We've seen about 200 episodes since Retro began airing the show. So everything that we've seen is about a year's worth of story and a lot has happened in that year.

I liked today's episodes, especially Carolee. I also like Ms. Bennett the PT lady. And Mike is very cute.

[amybrickwallace]

It's also sad when you think that a soap today wouldn't cast someone like Gerald Gordon, who was certainly handsome but in no way a pretty boy. He was an actor and not a model. Plus, I like the fact that Nick is a character who has a lot of flaws (namely, his temper) but is really a big marshmallow underneath it all. He's allowed to be grumpy and to some degree, a loner.