The Doctors

[Soaplovers]

Ugh... Nick... the most over-rated, unattractive character ever... and proof that character propping was in style back in the early 70s.  I watched them as a couple and don't get the appeal.. even during the Lakin years, they weren't all that interesting together.  Thankfully, this future return will be short-term and hopefully will close the book out on this toxic couple once and for all.

 

[jam6242]

The Nick-propping was at its worst during the Pollock era.  Everything was seen from his point-of-view.  He could do no wrong.  At least the writers prior to the Pollocks used to have other characters occasionally call out Nick on his bad behavior.  If Nick wasn't featured, all the other characters talked about him, even after GG left.  It's only since the Pollocks left that he hasn't been mentioned very much.  I am not looking forward to his return.  Yoking Althea to Nick has ruined her character (for me).

[Soaplovers]

 

This is why I'm partly interested in the Scott/Wendy/Eleanor trio.. because it gives Althea something to do outside of awkward, but fascinating, interactions with Penny.. and missing Nick (though denying that she is).  It's why her relationship with Tom didn't work because he was written as a watered down Nick instead of a character in his own right.

 

 

[amybrickwallace]

 

I agree with that. It was a big mistake on the show's part to try to make Anthony Cannon into another Gerald Gordon. The audience obviously didn't buy it, and thus he was backburnered until they decided to make Tom terminally ill.

[Soaplovers]

 

I give Cenedella props for actually writing for Tom and making him a character in his own right.  His character wasn't harsh nor grumpy whatsoever... and I liked the rapport between him/Martha/Toni.. and made me wonder why we never really saw the three interact all that much pre Cenedella.   Cenedella wrote Tom as more meloncholy and a little more quirky then what Nick was..imho.

 

 

[amybrickwallace]

I liked Nick until Ira Avery took over as HW. Both he and Althea were really special separately and as a couple under Rita Lakin. The subsequent writing regimes truly gutted everything that made those two special.

[Franko]

Believe it or not, The Doctors' cancellation inspired a sketch on Late Night with David Letterman. (Runs until 9:40)

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And the conclusion:

 

[amybrickwallace]

Yup, I've seen that before. It's a fun oddity.

 

George Coe (Scott Conrad) was in the first original episodes of SNL in late 1975 at the same time he was on TD. At least both shows taped at 30 Rock, meaning his commute between jobs was mere floors.

[slick jones]

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A brief sighting of Jason Aldrich #2 (? James Greene) and his second wife, Doreen(unknown actress)  Both will return in the next few years. Jason (played previously by Chris Bohn) will be played by Glenn Corbett, and Doreen will be portrayed by Jennifer Wood and Pamela Lincoln.

 

Can anyone help identify this actress playing Doreen?

[robbwolff]

I'm so disappointed that they didn't list her name and that she was only seen so briefly. I really enjoyed her in this role.

[amybrickwallace]

I hate when they don't credit people. Who knows, maybe Doreen will be back at some point with this actress before Jennifer Wood takes over. We never did find out who was the first actor to play Pete - who regularly had lines and was the witness to Nick and Cathy's City Hall nuptials in 1972!!

[SoapDope]

I wonder why Chris Bohn did not return to play Jason ? I remember him flubbing his lines in one episode when he called Steve by Jason, before correcting himself. Bohn's son has a page on youtube where he has some of his fathers work uploaded. 

[MonaCroft]

As a writer myself, I have to say that the current batch of TD episodes (Christmas 1975) are pretty well crafted.  The Tom Barrett write-out was paced well and, while you know where it goes, the Althea/Conrads story is interesting.   It reminds me of how good Elizabeth Hubbard was in this role.  My only quibble is that these two stories were a little bit of a downer during the holiday season.  But, then again, this past Christmas, DOOL had a character planning suicide.

[amybrickwallace]

It's too bad that the show didn’t start writing to Anthony Cannon's strengths until the very end of his tenure. His big misfortune was being hired to be the "new" Nick Bellini. Anthony Cannon was not Gerald Gordon, he was Anthony Cannon and the writers finally figured it out. I suspect that's a major reason why he was backburnered for so long between the end of the quack faith healer story to the beginning of Tom's terminal illness plot. If the writers had made Tom a real character from the very beginning instead of as a substitute for Nick, maybe he would have lasted longer on the show.

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

I think the phony faith healer story was just a plot device to get Althea to realize her feelings for Tom after he saved her life. That's the only purpose it served, and it coincided with Gerald Gordon's last episodes before leaving in May 75.

 

But I think the real reason they backburnered Tom after that plot was because they realized Cannon and Hubbard really did not have much chemistry together. If they had shown greater chemistry, then Cannon would have been kept front and center, regardless of whether or not Tom was a Nick clone. But they fizzled not sizzled, so he just became a background character at the hospital. The new headwriter was stuck with him, so the next thing that happened was his exit story.

Edited May 20, 2018 by JarrodMFiresofLove