The Doctors

[DRW50]

I guess we'll never know, but I wonder if TD was the first show to mention Vietnam. I know Tom returned to ATWT as a mentally scarred vet around 1970 or 1971, but 1968 seems early. It was such a dicey topic in the US in 1968.

[amybrickwallace]

Many of you know that Lynn Benish (also spelled Benesch) (Bonnie Evans) went on to play Meredith Lord on OLTL for several years, from 1969-73, and then reprised the role briefly in 1987 when Viki has a vision of her deceased loved ones in heaven. In an interview published just a few months ago in July, original OLTL cast member Niki Flacks (Nurse Karen Martin) recalls the casting change - when fellow original cast member Trish Van Devere, the first one to play Meredith, left the show:

"Trish Van Devere was the first Meredith Lord. She was sooooooo difficult to work with. She decided she was a big movie star ordering people around. She was so awful and was fired. We all breathed a sigh of relief. Lynn Benesch took over and she was just lovely–an incredibly generous, beautiful person."

If you want to read the interview in its entirety, here it is:

http://sixtiescinema.com/2014/07/01/niki-flacks-ex-karen-martin-wolek-remembers-one-life-to-live/

[amybrickwallace]

Speaking of Lynn Benish/Benesch, she is briefly mentioned in this 1983 article about her then-husband, actor Colby Chester. He has a couple of very famous cousins, one of whom appeared on TD briefly towards the end of its run.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=19830109&id=i5skAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1jQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4732,1341563

[DRW50]

I think I put one or two Benish articles in the OLTL tribute thread. She was very outspoken about politics, in a way you'd never get away with today.

[amybrickwallace]

I do know from reading articles in the Google archives that Lynn was a preschool teacher before breaking into acting, and she and a friend would put on shows to entertain soldiers (Lynn was also a pretty accomplished singer.). So I'm not surprised that she would have passionate views on the subject.

Getting back to the new character of Dr. Ed Stark, not only was 1968 a very dicey year to deal with the war in even a minor way on a soap - but to do it with a character who was black? Not even Agnes Nixon did that. Kudos to Rita Lakin and CP for the idea, and NBC for letting them do it.

Along the same lines, we are now coming towards the end of March 1968 in these shows, and MLK was assassinated at the beginning of April so I'm guessing even daytime saw preemptions (even though it was in the evening when the devastating news was first announced because a new episode of Bewitched was interrupted with the important news bulletin). June 1968 saw the assassination of RFK. So I'm sure all three networks at the time suspended regular programming to air their funerals, etc. I don't know for sure, I wasn't around in 1968 and wouldn't be for over another decade, but I do know it was one of the darkest years in American history.

[DRW50]

Many would say 1968 was the year America truly lost itself and never recovered.

I imagine the (hellish) conventions also caused preemptions.

You do have to give NBC some credit for what they did here and on AW with black characters. The network seemed to try to be a little different to get audiences who weren't interested in ABC or CBS fare.

[amybrickwallace]

You're so right - I had forgotten that 1968 was also a presidential election year. Not to get too far off topic, but I wonder how much havoc the Watergate hearings would cause on daytime TV a few years after that - plus Nixon's resignation, Ford's swearing-in, etc., etc.

No wonder people were watching the soaps so much then - romance, fantasy, mystery - when so much horror was going on in real life.

Is John Rice really gone for good - at least at this point? We know that Steve will be taking on more responsibility and the new character, Dr. Stark, will also be helping to pick up the slack. But John was only going to be taking a leave of absence. I wonder if he'll be gone for a few weeks, come back and then leave again for good - not unlike Bethel Leslie. I've been checking the Google News Archives with no success.

[DRW50]

I think saynotoursoap said they were preempted much of summer 1974 (?).

It seems like some soaps of this era did try to respond to the times, in their own way, like Lee's LSD story on AW (which sounds so depressing and punishing).

[amybrickwallace]

Ironic, isn't it? Watergate ended up becoming a bigger soap opera than any of the soaps on the air then - combined!!!

[DRW50]

Yep.

I think Wall Street Journal wrote a story about how the AW story around this time (wiretapping, ending in Steve Frame's imprisonment) was more interesting than Watergate itself.

[amybrickwallace]

I heard about that. I should try to find that article sometime - I'd love to read it!!

[DRW50]

More misc. TV Picture Life stuff. February 1968.

Terry Kiser (Dr. John Rice), 28, insists he's been an actor since he was eight.

James Pritchett (Dr. Matt Powers) feels lost now that the baseball season is over. Baseball is his great "escape."

Edited November 21, 2014 by DRW50

[DRW50]

This is the March 1966 TV Picture Life that had the Adam Kennedy interview.

BETHEL LESLIE PLAYS DR. MAGGIE FIELDING IN "THE DOCTORS"

It's no easy task replacing beloved Ann Williams, but if anyone will do it successfully, the money is on lovely Bethel. Fresh from TV (a former member of the repertory company of The Richard Boone Show), movies (the current A Rage To Live) and Broadway ("Catch Me If You Can"), Bethel has talent as well as looks to her credit.

A native of New York City, Bethel never took an acting lesson in her life. After acting in ten plays on Broadway, she went to Hollywood and was in immediate and constant demand.

She's a divorcee (her husband was movie director Andrew McCullough) with a nine-year old daughter Leslie.

[amybrickwallace]

Thanks for posting those tidbits. The more I read and hear about the late James Pritchett, the more I like him. He just seemed like a regular, stand-up family man. As a major fan of my hometown Cleveland Indians, I too relate to the sense of loss whenever baseball season is over.

It seems Terry Kiser has come full circle. He was a child actor, and now he runs an acting school in Austin, TX. They have posted on their website a recent photo of him posing with several children/teens enrolled in the classes he teaches. Talk about giving back, huh? Polly Meriweather would be so proud of her "Little Boy Doctor".

Yes, Bethel was great. I would love to see if any footage still exists of Ann Williams as Maggie (I'm guessing if there is, probably nobody knows where - or is telling). We can't compare the first two Maggies, but I'm guessing once the Lydia Bruce episodes begin to air, there will be plenty of comparing the last two Maggies.

Edited November 21, 2014 by amybrickwallace

[DRW50]

I'm sure there must be something of Ann around - I think there is a promo that has her, maybe. I hope there's actual material.

March 1967 TV Picture Life

Who's on "Doctors"

The actors and the roles they portray on NBC's The Doctors are: Bethel Leslie (Dr. Maggie Fielding); James Pritchett (Dr. Matt Powers), Elizabeth Hubbard (Dr. Althea Davis), Joan Anderson (Nora Hansen); Meg Myles (Harriet Wilson); Harry Packwood (Mike Powers); Pamela Toll (Liz Wilson)