The Doctors

[robbwolff]

My husband and I have stayed right around the corner from there -- in a condo above Fanizzi's (what amazing views). We love the Cape in the fall. We were there last year for Halloween and are likely heading up on October 7. We usually do a two-week trip in June, but this year are headed to Colorado instead. My husband Eric loves the Marine Specialities store and that's where I found these old soap magazines. I was reading a Daytime TV from 1980 and it reported that Michael Zaslow might be joining the cast of Texas. I had never heard that before.

[amybrickwallace]

Peter Burnell DID look younger than his years. We're heading into the April 1969 episodes, which would have made him 27 IRL then (Mike was said to be 22). Yet he had such an old soul way about him. I'm so sorry his life ended so tragically. I hope that he would be happy to know that a new generation is now watching and admiring his work.

[DRW50]

Is this Valerie Mahaffey at the start?

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[jam6242]

I believe that is Valerie Mahaffey. Great find!

[DRW50]

I hope I might get to see some of her Doctors work someday.

[amybrickwallace]

Yesterday, I had a wonderful email from Carolee, who shared a lovely story about her good friend, Sally Gracie (Martha):

"Darling Sally. I loved her. When my mother was visiting us in NY, Sally had us over to her apartment on Madison Ave. and served petit fours from the very best bakery and tea. My mother was thrilled.

Be well,

Carolee"

I learned that Tim Kebbe, the son of Sally Gracie, is a lawyer who has his own law firm in White Plains, NY. Here's the link to his website, as well as a photo. I can definitely see resemblance to his mother.

http://www.kebbelaw.com/

Anyway, I emailed him at the address on the top right-hand corner of the site last night, and was delighted to receive a response from him this morning. I had also forwarded him the same message from Carolee that I just posted here. Here goes:

"Thanks for you kind note and the forwarded message from Carolee Campbell.

Like Carolee, your messages bring me to and through memory’s gateway.

Carolee was a great friend of my mother and father, as was her husband Hector Elizondo. She also stands out as a respected and fun part of my childhood. I have seen some older - that is, from the 1950’s - clips of my mother on YouTube. I am not familiar with the Retro Television channel, but will take a look.

In a way, I grew up with The Doctors and its cast. I finished my adolescence with One Life to Live, another day-time drama, and its cast. I had a happy childhood and adolescence. My mother, I discovered, was more or less the same at home as she was on television, on stage or in movies. So the delightful person you have encountered on Retro TV is the same one who raised me.

I appreciate your note. I think that Sally would be pleased that television aficionados still enjoy her work.

Take care.

Tim"

I hope you all enjoy this note as much as I have.

[TimWil]

It certainly is, Carl. She was very talented. Isn't she still working?

[DRW50]

I think so, Tim.

Monika thank you again for making these connections and sharing them with us. It does my heart good.

[amybrickwallace]

I wish someone would get the surviving cast and crew together for a reunion while we still have them. Maybe We Love Soaps could get on this?

[applcin]

I'm still behind as I didn't watch for a week or so and I've slowed the binge a bit. Trying to play catch up on other shows, too, both old and new.

I just watched Christmas 1968. I love how they let JP break that fourth wall again and address the viewers, and this time the "fearsome foursome" all got in on it. Matt and Nick imitating each other was funny. We've seen Matt do it before, make fun of Nick, but Gerald's impersonation of JP's voice was pretty spot on, lol. These are my two favorite guys on the show, even though Nick can still be, as Gerald called him, "abrasive" at times.

Also kind of amusing...I noticed the credits used to have GG as simply "Nick Bellini" while Matt and Althea were "Dr." but now that Nick's married, he's "Dr. Nick Bellini."
Although...am I alone in thinking that sometimes Nick seems like he should be running a nightclub or something, lol? It's like he's this brilliant doctor, then he's this guy from the Chicago streets who sounds like he could be operating a gin joint.

These guys are very natural actors. I'm kind of comparing them to some of the performances from early Ryan's Hope...where you can see some obvious prompter reading but these guys make it look like they're just spontaneously saying everything without a script. Makes me wonder how much latitude some of them had, like if they could say the lines slightly different than the actual words written. Gerald, especially, seems to somewhat ad lib at times...not out of unpreparedness but out of knowing how his character talks.

I wonder how the show is performing for Retro TV. I'm still wishing other classic soaps can have similar opportunities on these over-the-air diginets.

Edited May 18, 2015 by applcin

[amybrickwallace]

Nick will get even more abrasive as 1968 gives way to 1969...but then, so will Althea and Penny, and several other characters.

Again, I don't know how our two favorite guys on the show got along off-camera (I would presume they were friendly), but the show's three main couples were all close friends IRL. I've read several articles about that Jim Pritchett and Lydia Bruce were very good friends, and they would often get together with their real-life spouses for shows and dinners. In 1976, JP and LB were in a play in Philly about the Lincoln-Douglas debate and her husband, Leon Stevens, was the director.

Carolee Campbell mentioned in a couple of emails to me and also in the vintage soap articles that she and David O'Brien were close friends off-camera and even did a play together in 1977 after she had left the show. Carolee was also very close to Sally Gracie (Martha) and Jim Pritchett and his family.

Elizabeth Hubbard told Serial Scoop in an interview from October 2014 (just as Retro started airing the reruns) that she and Gerald Gordon remained friends for many years. He would accompany her to the Emmys, and whenever he would come home to NYC from trips to Vegas at 7 AM, he would call her. He knew she was an early riser and he wouldn't be waking her up with his calls. She also confirmed they were very good friends when she answered my letter about a month ago. The Serial Scoop interview is on YouTube.

The core group of actors and several key members of the crew stayed together on the show for a number of years, so I guess they were a tight-knit work family in many ways. Jim Pritchett, Lydia Bruce, Elizabeth Hubbard, Gerald Gordon, Carolee Campbell, David O'Brien, Laryssa Lauret, Peter Burnell, Sally Gracie, Jennifer Houlton, etc....all had significant tenure. Allen Potter was also at the helm for about 6 1/2 years.

[amybrickwallace]

The young man playing Penny's date Eric (Joey Baio, cousin of Scott and brother of Jimmy) went on to a highly successful non-show biz career. He is now a lawyer practicing in NYC. Here is his webpage, complete with a current photo:

http://www.willkie.com/professionals/b/baio-joseph-t

[danfling]

Amybrickwallace, could you tell me on which episode it was that Joey Baio appeared? I would like to watch it on DailyMotion.

[applcin]

Into mid-January 69 now.

Not really feeling the impact of Ed's crisis as I don't find the actor particularly compelling. Anna is good and believable but I'm just not feeling Ed at all, which is probably what's contributing to my feeling that Nick acted like a jerk and overreacted when he went off on his wife and stepdaughter over a friend/colleague. Or that it impacted Steve the way it did when they barely shared any scenes together. The other part of that is the sometimes fast pace of the episodes, where they encapsulate a single day into 23 minutes. The downside, I think, might be that, in the missing time, it's implied, of course, that these characters are all interacting, building relationships (and drinking even more coffee) but we're not seeing it. I'm watching the story moreso because of the other characters involved.

I did rather like Matt FINALLY calling Karen out on her attitude when she told him she was quitting and going back to Germany and, again, when telling Maggie about it. That being said, while Karen has been tiresome, Steve has been a little too physically aggressive with her in his frustration. And even though Nick does tend to overreact to certain situations and some people, I do agree that Steve is smart-alecky at times, too.

Edited May 19, 2015 by applcin

[amybrickwallace]

Applcin, right now it seems that all the stories are in a holding pattern. Getting way too much airtime right now are Mike Powers and Nancy Bennett, complete with the sexy saxophone music that is so not suited for them.

On the upside, Laryssa Lauret (Karen) has a Facebook fan page and has been communicating with the viewers. She is a total departure from the dour Dr. Werner - and seems to be thrilled that a whole new generation of fans are enjoying the show and her work.