The Doctors

[Soaplovers]

I had heard a rumor that she was intended to be paired with Mike (the interracial relationship rumor).. but that it was abandoned and the show opted to pursue Mike/Sara instead.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Oh boo. 

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Sara is the one Dancy child that annoys me at times with her syrupy sweetness. 

[robbwolff]

 

This is what Petronia had to say in a 2011 We Love Soaps interview:

 

I played Jessie Rollins, she was a black doctor and I (originally) was brought on to be the love interest of a white character. But they had another black/white romance on another soap that had not gone well. The woman playing the part, the black actor, had been fired, because people didn't like the story line, so that didn't work out.  

So, originally, I was brought on for this kind of setup, but somewhere along the way, they realized it wasn't going to go anywhere, maybe because of the other situation, and that was dropped. And I was terribly new, and inexperienced, and not very good at it, and I was let go.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

I am assuming that she is referring to David/Valerie on DAYS? Weren't they occurring about this time? Also, I thought they got mixed reviews. 

 

I hate how Black actors stay getting marginalized in this genre. 

[Soaplovers]

I'm just surprised at how out of date Marland's 1977 Doctor's is vs Lakin's 1967 version.  It seems too conservative and by the numbers, but I guess that could be on account of the fact that he was working on a Proctor and Gamble soap that was more conservative than The Doctors was (I can't believe that a matter of months earlier that there was an episode where Paul was giving a speech to Stacy about how women are the true pillars of strength, but never are given the credit for it.. and you contrasted this speech that he gave to manipulate Stacy to do his bidding with Mike/Toni/Maggie where Mike was falling apart while Maggie/Toni were the pillar of strengths telling him to grow up).... and now we are stuck with Steve basically given no blame while Ann/Carolee will be made to suffer (still loved that final episode where Carolee gave Steve hell and that she had nothing to be sorry for because she sadly turned out to be correct about him and Ann).

[Paul Raven]

Has there ever been a 'civilian' extra at the Nurses Station over the years?

It's always nurses and orderlies looking at clipboards, shuffling papers, taking/replacing bottles in medicine cabinet, answering phones and conferring.

Any hospital I've been to there are always members of the public wandering around.

[robbwolff]

I love the extras who’ve appeared over the years, especially Dorothy Butts. But I’m always amused about how busy they are answering the phone during the closing credits when the phone seldom rings during the actual show.

[jam6242]

There used to be civilians wandering around the hospital in the earlier episodes we’ve seen.  Plus, patients going in and out of the clinic.

 

I love the background players, especially Big Joe and Nurse Wheeler (who used to side-eye everybody).  Lately, I’ve been enjoying Nurse Ursula (Mercedes Ruehl), who seems to disapprove of the gatherings in front of her desk.

[victoria foxton]

Matt finally telling Paul he knows was lackluster. I've enjoyed Marland work on his other soaps. But his Doctors is painful too watch. Are the next HW any better? 

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[MichaelGL]

I think the next HW's aren't any better, Mel and Ethel Brez I believe? Although things do get a little better after those two leave. 

[Khan]

 

Yep.

 

Poor Jada Rowland.  It's probably shitty material like this that drove her out of the business.

 

Meanwhile, the actors' faces in TD's first-ever opening sequence give me all kinds of life...

 

James Pritchett: Constipated.  (Much like many of his performances as Dr. Matt Powers, TBH.)

Lydia Bruce: Petrified.

Elizabeth Hubbard: Removed.  ("Another few months, darling, and I'm off this sinking ship.")

David O'Brien: Concerned.

Jada Rowland: Resigned.  ("Ugh, I'm on another soap that's going down the crapper.")

 

 

She isn't alone.

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Edited January 8, 2019 by Khan

[MonaCroft]

After devoting almost a year of plot screen time to the Matt/Paul/Joan Dancy storyline, the conclusion was so incredibly lackluster. As a writer myself, I could think of at least a half dozen other ways to end the story in a more powerful fashion. It's clear that, at this juncture, Douglas Marland had no feel for the genre he was working in. Hopefully, the Ann Larimer story ends with a bit more excitement.

[victoria foxton]

Marland inherited an interesting story. Which he dragged out. Sadly it all ended in a whimper. 

[Soaplovers]

I read how the Ann/Carolee/Steve story ended.. and I'm on the fence.. it will depend on how it is executed.  Marland also learned with the Wendy character to not change a character to fit a plot.. but to fit the plot to the character (I.e. Eleanor/Luke/Wendy story).

Edited January 11, 2019 by Soaplovers

[Khan]

 

Agree.  Marland dragged out the Joan Dancy and Carolee/Steve/Ann storylines for so long that they lost all momentum, thereby ensuring that neither ended excitingly.  (Plus, I think he was so bored with that story in particular that he just stopped writing it.)  Add in some very lackluster performances and you have a very unpleasant experience for this avowed Marland fan.

 

I hate making excuses for any writer, but I wonder whether Marland was trying to adhere to TD's established style of slow-moving storylines and learned (the hard way) that that style was not the kind of writing he did best.

Edited January 11, 2019 by Khan