The Doctors Discussion Thread

[adrnyc]

@Althea Davis I agree with @Chris B that there is a storyline coming up for Karen that causes the viewer to see her differently. I don't know about anyone else but I lost interest in the show in '69. By the summer, I was super bored. I recently decided to randomly pick up a few years later ('72) and so far am enjoying it. 

[Maxim]

I am so scared now... after everything I read.

 

[adrnyc]

I wouldn't worry too much. If I've learned anything about soaps it's that everyone enjoys different periods and writing regimes. You may be fascinated by things others find boring and vice versa. 

[Maxim]

True. Thank you for giving me back my enthusiasm.

[Chris B]

It’s shocking to me that the show was so popular when they wrote because like you said, the repetition and flashbacks drove me crazy. At one point I took a year off just to catch my breathe. I’ll never forget Carolee’s year long pregnancy. 

Personally I’d say it was good through 1970 then when the Pollocks took over until 1975 they had their highs but it is very slow and one dimensional as Khan said. After that they started the revamp and I loved what Margaret DePriest did with the show. She only wrote 1976 and set the show up perfectly only for Douglas Marland to take over which was another mixed bag. It took him a long time to get a handle on the show and once he did he was fine. 

[Khan]

"Slow" is one thing.  You can move slowly and still captivate an audience; just ask Bill Bell!  But I thought the Pollocks' writing was tedious, lol.

[Liberty City]

If I recall, the last year or two was lost. RetroTV does not have them.

[Maxim]

It's getting better and better. That witch Karen is getting out of control. I want to slap her across the screen. Such a conniving tramp. 

[Jdee43]

An annoying part of this show is the chronic character assassination of Matt Powers. Especially annoying are those things that happen out of the blue, with no build up, that you know the real Matt wouldn't do. 

Another one happens on the episode labeled Dec. 18, 1968, where Matt snaps at Mike after Mike tells him he's doing poorly in medical school. I guess I could take Matt's reaction. What I couldn't take was him allowing newbie Nancy Bennett to dress him down for it. The real Matt would have walked out on Nancy at the start of any such conversation or fired her after having it. Such poor writing, at the expense of Matt, to prop up a new character and try to set up a Nancy / Mike love story. Maybe it was a Rick Edelstein writing day and not Rita Larkin.

[adrnyc]

Ugh. Nancy Bennett was one the reasons I quit watching in 1969. Partly it was her. Partly it was her relationship with Mike. And then partly (the old boyfriend/husband?) who became a patient at the hospital. I was sooooooooo bored. And Karen was gone. And Liz Hubbard was gone. They were still trying to make Steve a leading man pretending, in a very 60s way, that he hadn't done what he'd done and received no consequences. So I just jumped forward 2 1/2 years to 1972. I just pretend Steve is a different character who just happens to be called Steve and is played by the same actor. 

Please register in order to view this content

[Sapounopera]

Geraldine Court was so beautiful (I will never forgive GL for not keeping her around for years and years as Jennifer Richards). Kate Middleton reminds me a lot of her.

[Maxim]

Rita Lakin is a master! That woman was sooo talented. God Bless her soul.

[Paul Raven]

 

Her book 'The Only Woman in the Room' is an interesting read. She doesn't talk much about The Doctors' but her career was so much more than that and she offers some fascinating insights into primetime in the 70's and 80's.

[ClassicsSoapFan]

Karen is a great villianess. She will quiverand whimper at first when she is told off by Althea ,Maggie or Steve but all of a sudden lash back like a devil when attacked.

I love Carolee Campbell's  ticks and quirks and wil miss her when Jada Rowland steps in. I loved Jada on the Secret Storm and am curious about her take on the role.

[Khan]

It might be due more to the writing, but I found Jada Rowland's take on Carolee to be more conventional, for lack of a better word.  Not that I thought JR was terrible in the role; she just wasn't as quirky.