The Doctors

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

I posted this earlier on the Daytime Royalty website and thought I'd share my thoughts here too:

*****

I've been spot-checking the show. I skipped over Althea's latest surgery and recovery, since it was just a rehash of her previous stories. And I don't feel like I missed anything. Last night and this morning I watched the stuff with Eleanor and the pearls in the glasses, plus the two episodes afterward (June 29 and 30 1976). Some observations follow:

Eleanor's scenes are too long. It's obvious she's DePriest's favorite. Scott's turned into a cartoon villain. Paul is also a cartoon villain but at least the actor is decent. Geraldine Court is having fun playing the devious Ann but it's so out of character to see Ann become that way. If this had been a newly introduced character, not an established character undergoing a radical personality transplant, I could get behind it.

I don't like how Mona's being written. She seems to turn a blind eye to all of what Paul and Ann are doing. A woman as savvy as her would not be so clueless, she'd be on to them.

Mike working for the law is uneventful. He came over to the Aldrich place and all they do is sit on that sofa with their legs crossed talking about Carolee not contacting her kids. Extremely boring, repetitive, and no action. We don't even see them making calls to people who might know where Carolee is. The whole thing is drawn out talk-talk-talk and ridiculous.

Mona being selected for a position on the board is so overdone you'd think she just won a Nobel Prize award.

The Dancy daughter plot is still being dragged out. It's clear DePriest is a conservative in the episode where she was the only credited writer and obviously furnished all the dialogue. Having Matt and Hank talk about hospital policy about euthanasia, then the mention of how it's illegal to unplug someone in Joan's state (at that time), then giving villain Paul the position that he opposes Matt and thinks life support should be ended-- it's all heavy handed, meant to manipulate conservative-minded viewers who are pro-life. It's kind of like the way this show handles abortion. Nobody is allowed to play god and take a life. If they do there will be dire consequences.

The only actress who is consistently good is Julia Duffy. She's the only one I find compelling episode in and episode out. The others are going through the motions, flubbing their lines, getting out of character. But Duffy is a pro in every scene she does. She gives us a very interesting, nuanced character. It's easy to see why she had so much success in primetime.

Nick is bringing out the more loving side of Althea. And she actually seems more feminine with him. But we know this isn't going to last.

Stacy's pill popping storyline is absurd. All her storylines are contrived and have been a flop. This idea of her being sexually frigid has been played to death. They should be taking her in a new direction, making her more self-confident.

M.J.'s story with Dr. McIntyre (who does not have a first name in the credits) is dull. No chemistry at all. Another dud story eating up screen time.

I don't like the new hospital set. They've tried to make the nurses station look like a pharmacy with all the stuff on the shelves. Nowhere on this show do we ever see anyone use a cotton swab, apply a bandage, use a tongue depressor or even dispense an aspirin. So to have these "props" on a shelf, just set dressing and nothing else, is about as fake and bogus as DePriest's scripting.

The guy who plays Jerry has an awkward way of kissing. And then there's Gerald Gordon who is constantly trying to put his tongue down Liz Hubbard's throat, which is what he used to do with Geraldine Court. The Hollywood studios used to give contract players lessons on everything from horseback riding to fencing to kissing. The actors on The Doctors could benefit from lessons in screen kissing to make the scenes more dignified, natural and realistic.

There are boom shadows in every episode I watched. Sometimes the shadows fall on the actors' faces or over their hair, or the shadows are cast on the walls right behind them. The lighting on this show is a problem. After thousands of episodes this show should be able to light and film an episode without boom shadows. It's unprofessional.

The phones have smudge marks on them from the actors' oily fingerprints. This was very noticeable when Paul was using a black telephone receiver in his home. Stacy also used a black phone receiver in her apartment. If they were using white or beige-colored phones the oily smudges would not be visible because of the bright lighting on this show. Or if they continued to use these dark colored phones, then surely the set decorators should have the stage hands wiping the phone receivers clean. There is no way a doctor is going to put a dirty phone receiver up to his ear. Too dirty and too many germs. So it's very unrealistic that Paul's phone is as oily looking as it is.

The actress who plays the Dancy mother is adequate but she has a weird smile she does between some of her speeches, like she's happy she just remembered her lines. She was much better on All My Children playing a sour-faced character. On this show she's supposed to be torn up about her daughter's medical situation but I don't buy her lack of genuine emotion.

DePriest's pre-introduction of Nola Dancy is silly. She just keeps having people say Nola sings and plays the piano, as if this is supposed to define a new character and get us anticipating her arrival. A lot of people sing and play piano, what makes her so darn special?
 

[SoapDope]

So far in the 1976 episodes, the Dr. Paul Summers storyline is the most interesting. He is manipulating everyone around him and it's fun to watch. It's a matter of time when he will seduce Stacy. She is already under his spell. His back and forth banter with Ann is hilarious. 

 

Nick and Althea were a super couple of this show, but I fast forward through their scenes. 

[Soaplovers]

 

Paul Summers is the connector character.. connecting previous characters/plots that were previously islanded together.  Stacy/Rico weren't working as a couple despite the Pollocks and Cenedella trying their hardest to make them a rootable couple and Penny as the spoiler.  Depriest recognized Stacy/Rico had no chemistry and broke them up than spinning Stacy off into Paul Summers orbit.. and briefly tested Rico/Penny but wisely is going the Penny/Jerry route.. despite testing him with Wendy Conrad.

 

And finally there is some movement with the Conrad story.  Cenedella was writing Scott/Althea as a couple even though it clearly wasn't working.. and trying his hardest to make Eleanor unbalanced to try to drum up sympathy for Scott/Althea.  Depriest wisely changed the whole dynamic of the story by having Nick come back to save Althea's life.. and showing them finally get a chance to be together six years after they officially broke up/divorced.. and now it appears as if both are remembering the bad along with the good in their previous marriages.  And Depriest is writing Scott as gaslighting Eleanor so he can be rid of her and to get back with Althea... and writing him as pathetic/crazy (sort of how the actor was portraying the character even when he started playing the role).

 

I can buy the Ann Larimer switch.. The pollocks were slanting a character change in their last months as head-writers with the illness she suffered, putting her practice on hold to recover, relocating with Nick to warmer climates to recover, becoming restless that Nick was working and she was always by herself, returning once she gets a clean bill of health and broken up with Nick, bitter over the break up, leaning on Steve.. with Althea/Matt/Maggie noticing the closeness and alerting Carolee.. who becomes green with jealousy.  Ann having nightmares over being frigid, and than finally the heart to heart between Carolee/Ann where Carolee was accusing Ann of being a sexy distraction to Steve with Ann remarking that everyone else was telling her she was being frigid (you saw the light bulb go off)... and than Cenedella took over and Ann is put in backburner central where she's shown only as a talk to until the last few weeks of his stint where Steve starts to lean on Ann and pursue her.. and than Ann gives in and goes crazy with the first hints of passion/love and is determined to keep it thus losing all sense of reality.  So to me, it fits.

[MonaCroft]

The negativity above about the production values and acting talents is a bit over the top.   From what I understand, TD cut it very close from tape to air date.  They likely were working on a quick turnaround.   Indeed, it taped at NBC in Rock Plaza where none of the crew had likely trained on soaps.  Also take into account the era.   Audiences were not as mean and super critical as they are today.  As for the acting, it is generally good.   There are some isolated bizarre choices, but, for the most part, the cast is decent.   I have admiration for those acting in this medium, which might one of the most difficult creative venues to be in.

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

I've never seen the value in making excuses for things that come across unprofessional and not as good as they could be. There's a reason the show started to tank in the ratings. They had done over 3000 episodes by mid-1976. Some of the behind the scenes people had been employed on this show since the 60s. The fact they still can't do an episode without boom mic shadows is ridiculous. Why make an excuse about that? Would you make an excuse for a chef who can't cook your hamburger properly after making 3000 other hamburgers? We can be critical of these things as the consumer without it being construed as meanness.

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by JarrodMFiresofLove

[Paul Raven]

When Matt punched out the reporter outside Joan Dancy's room, it was poorly staged and looked fake.As for knocking into the wall and having it bend...

[robbwolff]

Agreed but he never punched him. He missed. The fact that he missed has been referenced on screen a number of times.

 

[Paul Raven]

Fair enough...should be watching more carefully.

 

Is it fair to say that the majority of scenes are taking place outside of Hope Memorial?

 

This was a criticism of Marland's upcoming writing, but is DePriest guilty of this also?

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

Yes. When she spends many episodes with long scenes inside the Conrad home we can say she's guilty of it too. It's weird when they have a whole episode that takes place away from Hope Memorial then use the hospital set at the end for the closing credits. It seems disjointed, like the show is losing its main identity.

[Soaplovers]

 

Yeah, I can agree with this to an extent.  At the same time, I think there were times with previous writers that whole episodes are focused outside the hospital (the pollack's did this, for instance) as well.

 

Still Depriest has started a story with new character Dr Paul, who is plotting to unseat Matt Powers as chief of staff...and has recruited an unknowing Stacy as hospital volunteer m, Ann as his partner in crime, and Mona is now on the hospital board.

 

So while I agree that there are some episodes that focus away from the hospital..the hospital is still talked about and most of the characters are still tied to it..except for the Conrads...but I think that story is wrapping up in the coming weeks.

[robbwolff]

Yes, with previous writers, there were entire episodes set outside the hospital. And while the current storyline with the Conrads may be wrapping up soon, some of the Conrads will be around for quite some time...through the end of 1977 or early 1978.

 

I clearly remember the set they're using for Paul Summers. The windows are so distinctive and reminiscent of the windows in the Evans cottage on Dark Shadows. I think that set becomes the home of another character in 1977.

[Chris B]

I’m still in 1970, currently in March. I just finished the episode where it’s revealed Anna is having pains and Althea and Maggie worry it’s soemthing bad. I know Anna leaves this year so I’m getting worried as well! She’s such a delightful actress it’s a shame she didn’t stick around longer. With that said, I’m interested in seeing where this goes. 

 

Beyond that im very disappointed in the story with Carolee and the abortions. I just don’t see the purpose of it. In the end nobody was really to blame and she quickly patched things up with Julie and Nurse Buckley. I feel like they could’ve done more with it. I notice they keep mentioning Carolee’s mom. I can’t wait to finally meet her since she sounds fun and I remember y’all enjoyed her from older posts. 

 

Matt and Maggie are still dealing with the fallout from their car accident. Maggie seems distant and kinda obsessed with the boy who survived. This is another thing I’m curious to see. I’m ready for Maggie to have something centered around her for a change. 

 

Now my one big question: What did y’all think of Ira Avery as a HW? I saw on Wikipedia that he gets a co-HW next month. So far I think the show is fine but it could definitely use a kick. Im curious if that co-HW will improve things any. Clearly he couldn’t be that great if he gets replaced with the Pollocks but I’m still enjoying the show!

[JarrodMFiresofLove]

 

He wasn't very good. I thought his episodes were filled with nonsense. When the Pollacks come on, it's an immediate improvement.

[Chris B]

@JarrodMFiresofLove Thanks for that! I definitely see what you mean. So far his tenure doesn’t seem too destructive like some HWs, but he doesn’t seem to have much of a vision. The show is watchable but there aren’t any stories that are really standing out. 

[MichaelGL]

Ira Avery and a solo Rick Edelstein(sp?) were the lowest of low points so far for the reruns IMO.