Jump to content

The Doctors


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Members

I've been reading here for quite a while as I've been watching reruns of "The Doctors" on Retro via the web for a while now. It has been SO refreshing to watch a well-written and crafted soap after watching some of my old favorites get canceled or spiral into stupidity (yes, Y&R, I'm talking about you!). I always enjoyed Liz Hubbard on ATWT, but after watching her work on these last two years of TD, I think she was freakin' genius! I could watch her read the directions for making a boxed cake mix! Anyway, the stories have had ups and downs (though mostly up), but things seem to be coming to a head in the Davis-Bellini household (I'm about 8-10 episodes behind and I think today I'll finally see Althea slap Penny in context!) and I'm a little sad because I suspect that we'll only have a few more months of La Hubbard before we watch Virginia Vestoff take over the role for a year or so.

Thanks to all for sharing all your knowledge, thoughts, pix and articles here. I was a CBS baby, but now I wish I'd changed the channel for TD once in a while! I hope we get more episodes for years to come--THIS is good soap and its sorely missed on today's TV landscape!

--Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Welcome. Love your gorgeous Brenda avatar.

Totally agree with you. I sometimes worry I'm taking the show for granted at this point, because little things annoy me, but it really is so good, and so consistent, the way soaps used to be.

Also agree about Liz. I see no Lucinda in her performances. It's a revelation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Thanks! Glad someone recognized Brenda Dickson (it's from early 1974) in my avatar. She was really terrific on Y&R from 1973-1980 and then again from 1983-1986 or so...and then her performance kinda went off the rails...and that's what most people think of when you mention Brenda Dickson as "Jill Foster Abbott." A shame!

I think you said it perfectly--little things occasionally make me cringe or sigh (Liz Wilson was locked in that flimsy room in Phillip Townsend's house for WAY too long and I was watching it two episodes a day--imagine once a day for months?! LOL)--but I don't want to take it for granted and discover it goes away in a few months. I wish Retro would stream it with (new) ads so that more people could see it. I live in the Los Angeles metro area and have no idea whether or not I can access it on my cable system (I don't think so). Like you, I think it's so good and so like soaps used to be. It sounds snobbish, but 98% of these folks could really ACT and had the training and experience to back it up.

I see some of Althea in Lucinda, but I think it's mostly the "darlings" and her great ability to sound so natural. Plus, Liz was always good at connecting with her on screen children--from Penny Davis to Lily Walsh, you believed Liz's portrayal of the parent-child connection in her performance and it made her younger co-stars look even better for it and obviously learn from it. That said, I definitely don't feel as though I'm watching Hubbard portray the same character on TD as on ATWT. Definitely a revelation!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I keep meaning to contact them again about airing it here, as I take for granted that they will keep airing it.

By the 1982 episodes I've seen, Liz is much more Lucinda. You can see traces here, but she's much more down-to-earth.

I posted some Brenda articles in the Y&R old articles thread - I always mean to put more. She did some great work (even in her last year). It was a treat to get to see the John/Jill divorce clips on Youtube...she impressed me there.

At times the show is a little repetitive, and Penny gets on my last nerve, and sometimes I miss some of the sharpness of the earlier episodes (when the characters had somewhat more hostile interactions), but overall it's a terrific show, one that also manages to keep bringing in interesting new characters to keep the story going.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I agree about how well Liz was able to play the mom to her on-screen kids - especially considering that in 1969, she had yet to become a mother in real life!! (Her only child, a son, was born in 1971.) She had the same maternal vibe with Jami Fields' Penny that she later had with Martha Byrne's Lily (and Martha Byrne wasn't even born yet in early 1969!!).

Speaking of Liz, Carl, have you found the Brim commercial yet (sorry to be a nag)?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yeah, I really ought to just CALL Retro and tell them, " I want my Retro TV!" LOL The more they hear that, the more likely they are to consider continuing to air it.

Brenda was probably at her best working with Jeanne Cooper and Julianna McCarthy--one brought out her b!tchy side and the other brought out her vulnerable side. If BD were to return to Y&R today (which would never happen, of course), she wouldn't have anyone with whom to shine. (I'll say Jess Walton now has the same problem, but I've already talked a little too long about Y&R here on the TD thread!)

The show was sometimes a little repetitive, but I chalk that up to the era; there were no second airings, no online recaps, no spoilers, no "next time on The Doctors..." and the soap press of the time wasn't as topical as today's. Penny can be grating at times, but I don't blame Jami Fields for that as much as the writing. I am probably wrong, but wasn't Fields probably 15-16 years old and playing a 12-13 year old? They couldn't write her too maturely so Penny sometimes comes off like a simpleton to me.

I think one thing that bugs me, but might change as the show goes into the 70s is that the background characters (nurses, orderlies, etc.) are often mute. I think it's Susan Walker (I forget her nurse character's name?) gets all the exposure in the credit crawl, but she rarely says more than 5 words an episode. Nurse Grant (_____ Butts) actually had a few lines in the episode when they were buzzing at the nurse's station about Phillip Townsend escaping the mental hospital, but she rarely speaks. Carolee often talks to them and they clearly had to just stare back at her or raise their eyebrows or whatever. If they're worthy of getting in the credits, they should've at least be able to have brief conversations with the cast beyond nodding, eye-rolling, eyebrow-raising, and occasionally saying yes or no. Oh well, an opportunity lost.

Oh--and I occasionally wonder why purpose CC Courtney's Jody Lee served beyond saving Liz Liz from Phillip T. He kind of seems like comic relief in the Hee Haw, Green Acres vein. He should've been in med school when he arrived (still with the occasional homespun shtick) and a contemporary and new school friend of Mike Powers. Mopping floors and then (now seemingly) doing nothing but socializing with Carolee and Liz has left the character as kinda pointless. I think having "down home" character on the canvas was a good idea, but I think they shouldn't have made him so pointless. Do any of YOU really think Jody Lee would've finally gone to med school and become a doctor? I don't. Maybe things improved with additional doctors after Rita Lakin finally left the co-HW spot and The Pollacks(?) replaced her and Rick Edelstein? We know Dan Allison and the black doctor whose name I'm forgetting both come in around 1970, so... someone realized the doctors on The Doctors had gotten kind of slim!

Edited by DanMan869
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

No problem!! Jami wrote me a very sweet letter a couple of months ago and autographed the screen caps I made of her as "Penny". She hadn't known that Retro TV was airing the reruns, but she now has a few friends who are watching - one of them records the episodes for Jami. I wonder what she thinks of herself now playing such a bratty teen!! LOL Yes, she was indeed a very talented young actress. 90% of her scenes were with LH and/or GG, and I don't think every juvenile actor could hold their own opposite those two. After she retired from acting, she worked as an assistant to the producer in the early 80s at GL and ATWT. Ironically, she left ATWT just before LH joined the cast!!

Today, Jami is the acting president of The Twelfth Night Club in NYC. Click on these links, and you'll see what she looks like now. Even without the blond wig they made her wear on TD to look more like La Liz, I think they look even more like mother and daughter now!!!!

http://twelfthnightclub.org/meet-the-presidents/

http://twelfthnightclub.org/club-activities/recent-productions/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The past week's worth of episodes have been nothing short of amazing, from the acting to the depiction of surgery. The operations we've seen thus far have looked frighteningly real. I also loved how Matt kept calm through the whole process (from helping Nick search for Althea, to snapping into action to get help for her once she is found, and trying to be strong for Nick, Penny, Maggie...). If the Daytime Emmys had existed back then, there's no doubt in my mind that Gerald Gordon would have won if just for these episodes alone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Re the background people. I'm sure this is a budget thing as when an actor speaks they have to be paid more. I'd imagine TD, like other soaps of the time were produced on a tiny budget to maximize profit.

So any way they could save money they would. I also read that once an actor had over 5 lines they became a dayplayer and from then had to paid at that higher rate,so the producers avoided giving them extra lines.

I wonder when Carolee went on contract? Did she start as an extra,then u/5, then dayplayer before graduating to contract status?

Also,I would think that the show had a certain budget for each week and to pay for something more grand eg Nick and Althea's wedding( which required a special set,costumes,extra actors etc) they would have to cut back in other weeks to balance the books.

Or did NBC or C/P throw a little extra there way for this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The black doctor is Simon Harris, I believe, and his arrival is imminent…his name appeared in the credit crawl on one of Friday's episodes.

I don't mind the background actors not having lines and I'm sure it was because of budgetary reasons -- lines meant they got paid more money. Each of them does a great job with their facial expressions. I love Nurse Wheeler's looks of disgust at times when Nick opens his mouth. I think this continues for a few more years. I remember seeing an article posted online called "The Silent Ones" and it profiled some of the background actors, including Dorothy Butts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • What a wonderful photo! It really is a shame that Peacock will not show those early years. I know I'd love to see them!
    • With the death of Days and GH actress, Denise Alexander, someone posted this in the Days thread, a '60s-era photo of some of the cast, which lists the names. In the upper left, is a young Susan Flannery, who obviously ended up playing Stephanie Forrester on B&B, who was one of a few actresses to play Dr. Laura Horton [mother to Mike and Jennifer Horton] on Days. Here is a link to the photo: https://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/38014-days-behind-the-scenes-articlesphotos/?do=findComment&comment=2022200  
    • https://parade.com/news/days-of-our-lives-star-susan-seaforth-hayes-pays-heartfelt-tribute-to-denise-alexander-a-friend-to-treasure

      Please register in order to view this content

    • Sorry, there must have been a error, while creating the file. I redone it and it has audio
    • Tamara Tunie was on a local CBS affiliate in Baltimore the other day talking about a few things she had going on, BTG amongst them: "Beyond the Gates" star Tamara Tunie is in Baltimore for the Reginald F. Lewis Museum's 20th anniversary
    • Kobe/Long had their own template and pretty much gutted the cast. As soon as contracts were up established characters were dropped. They needed to free the budget for the new characters. Going back to Ann,I wonder why the Dobsons renewed her contract around 78? After her initial story she became supporting and they didn't seem to want to pursue a romance with Mike. Maybe the feedback was that viewers blamed her indirectly for Leslie's death. If Mike hadn't taken on her case etc. Did she decide not to disrupt her son's life? Seems odd after everything she didn't claim him back. 1976 continues... Joe Werner is just not bouncing back after his recovery as he should, and Sarah, concerned about his sometimes morbid-seeming depression, consults Justin Marler. They agree that Joe is becoming a “cardiac cripple,” and know this kind of overcompensation for illness and overprecaution can not only be a permanently depressed condition but can actually cause a setback for him physically.  Marler releases Joe into Sarah’s care, but it’s soon apparent that just being out of the hospital hasn’t done anything to boost Joe’s spirits about his return to a normal existence. Marler finally lays it out to Joe—the choice has to be his. He can choose to lead a normal, productive life as a doctor and as a husband to the best wife he could have, or he can choose to become an invalid and live on the outside looking in for the rest of his days, sentencing Sarah to the same fate. Realizing the selfishness of what he’s doing to —Sarah as well as the narrowness of the confinement he’s set for himself, Joe begins to see his preoccupation with his illness as the self-pity it really is and decides he’s ready to return to the hospital for a one hour shift each day. Sarah is overjoyed by his turnabout, but full happiness is hers on the day she overhears Joe telling a fearful patient that the world is beautiful and worth any. effort to get back into it. Steve and Adam are thrilled to learn that Cedars has been the recipient of the Levy Grant for expansion of hospital property. But they have learned, as they report to Ed, that the land they were hoping to build the new research facility on, the land immediately adjacent to the hospital, has been purchased by Dr. Justin Marler. Both Adam and Steve feel that Justin is expanding a power base at Cedars and the land purchase is just one more block in Justin’s power play. When Ed asks Marler why he purchased this particular parcel of land, Marler explains that he bought it with the express intention of someday building his own offices and facilities convenient to the major facilities of Cedars. When the subject of the hospital’s needing the land arises, Marler meets with Adam, and they agree that he should realize a fair profit from his property and that an unbiased assessor should be engaged to evaluate the market value of the land so they can agree on a selling price. When Sarah comments on the fact that Marler is to realize a profit on the land, he bitterly replies that no matter what he’s done since coming to Cedars to prove that he has changed. since she last knew him, she refuses to see him as anything but what he was all those years ago. Sarah insists this isn’t true. But Marler then calls Adam for a meeting and informs him that the land is not for sale at any price. As Adam begins to grow alarmed, Marler continues that the site for the new building will be his personal donation to the hospital. As Adam expresses profuse thanks and appreciation, Marler wryly notes that the tax deductions he’ll realize on this contribution to a charitable institution will benefit himself almost as much as Cedars. When Steve Jackson learns that Marler is to be elected head of the research wing that will be built on his property, he expresses the conviction that this was the exact intention of the gift. Adam, however, assures Steve that the donation wasn’t a factor in the hospital  board’s decision, they were concerned only with Dr. Marler’s reputation as a doctor. | After lengthy consultations and meetings. with the hospital  staff, Ed assured by the head nurse that her nurses performed commendably despite the added pressure of the train wreck, presents his findings to the hospital review board. Steve arrives at two possible explanations for the facts. Either Grainger, more active than usual due to the previously delayed medication, reached for the writing pad and inadvertently disconnected the breathing tubes, or he was in a state of extreme upset because of the delayed medication and.in the excitement a surge of adrenalin within his system caused his brain aneurism to start hemorrhaging. " Upon learning that the review board has ruled out negligence in Grainger’s death, Ed tells Rita, who takes her first free breath in a long time. But Ed hasn’t thought to tell Rita that he’s been in touch with Grainger’s attorney, Mr. Schafer, who, knowing that a woman was at the base of Grainger’s investigation, is coming to Springfield to try to find out who the woman - was who walked out on Grainger when he collapsed —in the restaurant. Peggy, learning that Rita’s “forgetting” to deliver Holly’s message was instrumental in their divorce ‘being finalized, tells Ed that Holly wanted to reach him to stop the divorce. Immediately after, Peggy is torn by doubts, wondering if she did the right thing.She confides in Barbara, who then discusses the situation with Ed. He tells her he and Holly have discovered a new closeness now that they are building their separate lives. Barbara quickly contradicts him: Holly is not building a new life. Barbara gently cautions Ed, saying, “People change, feelings change, and what seems right now may not be right a year from now. No decision is irrevocable.” Ed agrees with this. Now that Ben has declared his love for her, Hope finds herself apprehensive, fearing that she might be making a mistake, as she did a few years ago, when she was sure she was in love with her college professor. Explaining that she doesn’t want to make another mistake, she asks Ben to be patient, and he agrees. When Mike expresses his disapproval of Ben’s overstated independence, his need to be beholden to no one, Hope quickly jumps to Ben’s defense, and Mike apologizes. But Ben, surprisingly, accepts Mike’s assessment as constructive criticism. Later Hope, examining her feelings and desires, tells Ben she does love him and wants to belong to him. Later that evening, after they’ve made love, Ben asks Hope to marry him.And, delighted, she replies that she will. At Hope’s instigation, Bert has a family dinner to which Ben is invited, and Hope announces their intention to marry over glasses of wine. Mike politely offers best wishes while Bert thrills the couple with her offer to' make a Christmas wedding for them. Bert later tells Mike he must accept this engagement with good spirits for Hope, and later, seeing the joy she’s feeling, he gives his daughter his approval. But Ben finds another problem on his very own doorstep: his brother Jerry, who announces he’s left home after several bad fights with their parents. He refuses to tell Ben what they were fighting about. As Ben is showering, Jerry borrows his car and goes out for an hour. The phone rings, but Ben can’t hear it. Shortly after, two uniformed officers visit Mike at home to tell him that his late wife’s car has been involved in a delicatessen robbery earlier in the evening. Since Ben bought Leslie’s car, Mike accompanies the officers to Ben’s apartment. Ben curtly informs the police that he had nothing to do with the robbery and makes it clear that he feels they wouldn’t be there if he didn’t have a record and that his exoneration doesn’t prevent his being hassled like any ex-con,as they tell him he has to go to the police station for questioning. Hope tells Ben she called him earlier, and when he replies that he must have been in the shower, she accepts his word unhesitatingly.Jerry finally returns to Ben’s place and under questioning from Ben admits that he robbed the store,explaining that he has debts. Ben is now in a quandary,as he feels he must protect his brother but doesn’t want to be unfair to Hope. He tries to ease the situation by withdrawing $185 from the joint checking account he opened with Hope and repaying the delicatessen owner. He then sends Jerry out of town to stay with a friend. His relief at having solved the problem is short-lived, however, when Mike informs him that, despite the reparations, the robbery was a felony and the police will continue to investigate. Hope is badly upset to learn while making a deposit that Ben withdrew’a sum which Mike tells her is equal to the amount stolen. This shakes her belief that he _was really home when she called, and she goes to him, asking for an answer to put her mind at rest. Ben can’t betray Jerry and asks Hope to trust him, promising she will have the whole story eventually. But Hope can’t accept this; she needs complete honesty and openness in her relationship and without it cannot goon. She painfully tells her father that the wedding is off despite her love for Ben, and tells Bert to stop preparations. Mike goes to Ben, reminding him that half the money in the account is Hope’s and she has the right to an answer. But Ben won’t say any more and refuses Mike’s offer to represent him legally, again stating that he doesn’t need a lawyer, because he’s done nothing wrong.     
    • And not since. I recall it was quite small for a house that size. And I don't know why you would walk down a narrow corridor to get to the main living area. I hate when the sets on soaps don't have a logical layout! As for Andre his clothing is fashion forward and suitable for his character.He ain't gonna wear no blazer!
    • The last I remember seeing Ben, he was divorcing Amanda. He came to tell Evie that he still loved her, but was leaving town so that Amanda wouldn't blame Evie for his divorcing her. I'm not exactly sure when, but Evie doesn't leave town until sometime after Nola and Quint's engagement ball. I'm not sure if she leaves before or after Justin leaves in Sept(?) of '83. I grew to like Helena when she became friends with Vanessa, once she's edging her way out of Quint's life.
    • Please register in order to view this content

    • Please register in order to view this content

       
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy