The Doctors

[amybrickwallace]

From what I understand, Penny does go after Rico several years down the road. However, Chandler Hill Harben was playing Rico by that point. He later replaced Christopher Reeve on Love of Life before moving on to Texas.

[jam6242]

Martha definitely used to call Nick out on his bad behavior in the early days.  I liked that better.  She does get obnoxious now sometimes with the Nick worship.  I even started disliking her for a while because she was going overboard with it.

[amybrickwallace]

I have enjoyed Martha's friendships with others throughout the years...most of all with Toni and before her, Anna Ford. I'm also glad she saw the opportunistic, chauvinistic pig Vito McCray for what he was.

[TimWil]

You're welcome, amybrickwallace! I'll try joining the FB group, too! So glad to hear Angela (as Lisa Kincaid) will be brought back. It makes sense that Lisa and Dr. John's adulterous weekend liaison would end up being Althea's escape hatch.

 

The Adams Chronicles episode I was in with David Elliott is sadly no longer on YouTube. I managed to see it a few weeks before it was pulled. The first two episodes and a bit of Episode 12 are still on it, though. I guess I stand corrected about David's history on TD-his imdb profile had him only having been on it from 1972-1973. I thought Shawn Campbell (who I was NOT a fan of when I'd see him at auditions) took over in 1974 or 1975.

 

Re: the question about Geri and GL. I remember at the time it was simply a case of her wanting to work again with Doug Marland and nothing else. I think she was fine with Allen Potter. I don't remember her being particularly critical of producers, just writers!

Edited March 21, 2017 by TimWil

[amybrickwallace]

 

It's frustrating, because whoever is contributing the info to imdb is going on a continuing basis by episode as if it was going on in 2017 and not the past. They can't, for example, simply state that Lydia Bruce played Dr. Maggie Powers from 1968-1982.

 

Thor Fields, who played Erich Aldrich in the late 70s/early 80s, is in the FB fan group and mentioned that he got along very well with Shawn Campbell. They ran into each other a few years after the show had ended, and Thor mentioned Shawn giving him a great big bear hug. They never saw each other again, as Mr. Campbell passed on a few years after that. Thor mentioned that his favorite castmates were David O'Brien, Jada Rowland, Meg Mundy, Larry Weber, and the other "Aldrich kids".

 

Per some magazine articles from the era, it looks like Shawn Campbell played Billy from 1977-79. Then the character left town for a year, and when he came back he was played by, of course, Alec Baldwin.

 

 

 

[Paul Raven]

To Tim - did Geraldine ever speak about her stint as the first Jennifer on ATWT?

 

The Adams Chronic les is a must see for those interested in NY soap actors of the 70s. Among those appearing

Kathryn Walker

Leora Dana

Nancy Marchand

Tom Tammi

David Birney

Pamela Payton Wright

Richard Cox

Maureen Anderman

John Beal

Peter Brandon

charles Siebert

Nicholas Pryor

Patricia Eliot

Albert Stratton

Curt Dawson

James Congdon

Karl Light

Ken Kercheval

David O'Brien

Wesley Addy

John Tillinger

James Noble

Patrick Horgan

etc

Edited March 21, 2017 by Paul Raven

[amybrickwallace]

Wow, what a cast. It even has Ken Kercheval, who I always call "The embittered Cliff Barnes"!

[amybrickwallace]

@TimWil, here is the article featuring David Elliott from 1976 (though this magazine issue is from Feb. 1977):

 

http://vintagesoaparchives.tumblr.com/tagged/david-elliott

 

Here are also the SOD synopses for the show from 1976-78, which would signify the change of Billys, I believe. 1977 mentions little Stephanie having rheumatic fever, so this must be the plot that had Geraldine Court and the other stars of the show in hysterics!!

 

https://classicsoddoctors.tumblr.com/search/1976

 

https://classicsoddoctors.tumblr.com/search/1977

 

https://classicsoddoctors.tumblr.com/search/1978

 

[TimWil]

Hahaha, that's so funny, amybrickwallace. I remember Geri saying that on the other side of the hospital glass window they made fun of the little girl playing Stephanie squeaking out "Stephie feels sick!" And her covers kept on slipping down on her, ruining the take and she'd look down helplessly not knowing how to react. Geri said what made it even funnier was standing side by side with Carolee Campbell, David O'Brien and Lydia Bruce, all of whom thought it was so funny they almost pissed themselves! She said David O'Brien was an absolute delight at all times, always cracking jokes and keeping the atmosphere light on set.

 

As for ATWT Geri only said to me that she was a total novice at daytime acting when she was hired and they always wanted Gillian Spencer to play Jennifer, anyway. When she was on AW she had huge admiration for Beverlee McKinsey. "Do you know what she does for lighting? She has them put little lights inside all kinds of drawers, she opens them up at various points in scenes and she gets lighting from below! That's the best kind. Overhead lighting is the worst." And she told me Bev knew all the palace intrigue and forthcoming storylines because she'd sneak into Paul Rauch's office when he was at lunch outside of the studio!

Edited March 22, 2017 by TimWil

[amybrickwallace]

 

Why didn't they originally hire Gillian Spencer? Was she just not available at the time, holding out for more money...?

[TimWil]

I don't know, amybrickwallace. I wished Geri could have taken a crack at playing Spencer's role of Daisy/Monique on AMC, she had such a delicious sense of humor and that role would have brought out the best in her. Geri wasn't vain but not too thrilled when Doug Marland sprung an adult daughter (Amanda) on her character Jennifer Richards. I guess she might have felt the same on AMC re Nina although that was most likely known to Spencer from the start.

 

But back to TD: what was the reasoning behind having Carolee's maiden name in the credits for many months after Steve and Carolee were married?

Edited March 22, 2017 by TimWil

[amybrickwallace]

 

I have no idea, but I have a friend who viewed a 1976 episode at the Paley Center (NYC). He said that even THEN, she was still credited as "Carolee Simpson"!! Apparently, the billing doesn't change to "Carolee Aldrich" until Jada Rowland took over the role.

[~bl~]

LOL TimWil about Geri being critical of writers and not producers. I can comment a bit on the GL material with Marland, but have not seen any of his TD stuff. Sometimes I wonder why people can't do more comedy, but that's the nature of the genre typically.

 

I think I have to watch The Adams Chronicles before the rest gets pulled, but knowing myself I'll spend too much time laughing instead of paying attention.

 

Getting back to Martha, more recently I've been happier with the character, but when she was all OMG Nick and Althea are going to get married, when Althea wasn't divorced I was rather annoyed. She is smarter than that. 

 

I wonder if it isn't because at work sometimes Carolee is called Simpson by Matt. Althea never changed her last name even if at times, she was married to people that weren't Dave Davis. 

[DRW50]

 

Has he ever talked about whether he was written out or wanted to leave?

 

Jody Lee is such an interesting character in that they always gave possibilities of more, but they never went beyond the surface. Not really. I wish they had. Still, I enjoyed him, and his relationship with "Liz Liz." 

 

I've been slowly catching up on the show with my mother. We're in August 1969, with two frankly not very good stories (Althea's amnesia and the Nancy/Mike saga) having gone on and on and on and on and on for months (Penny's terror tantrums being the not very good story preceding the amnesia one). They took a break for an episode that was mostly Jody Lee and Liz in the park, Jody Lee singing, Jody Lee and Liz talking about the problems of the world. There was even a scene where they joked around and wrestled a bit in an elevator, like she used to do with Steve. It jolted me, because it was so much more what the show used to be before early 1969. 

 

I've heard it gets much worse soon - not looking forward to that. 

 

I don't like Liz's hair at all. The "gamine" hair and frilly cuffs and collar is all very early '30s. I guess that was back in vogue in the late '60s but it doesn't suit her. 

 

[amybrickwallace]

 

Agreed about that scene with Martha. She wasn't that thrilled at the prospect of them reuniting at first, either. Totally out of character.

 

About Carolee, when the phone rings in her office she always answers it "Mrs. Aldrich" - so it seems she is using her married name professionally, just as she did during her nightmare of a marriage to Dan. Besides, she's a nurse and Steve's a doctor. It's not like people are going to confuse them, as sometimes folks do with the Drs. Powers (whose first names even begin with the same letter!).