The Doctors

[Avatar610]

How the hell did Bill Winters become a doctor, anyway? What a cold fish! I want Ruth to go completely bonkers at him in public, and call him out as the selfish coward he is! She wants to have a child with him? LEAVE HIM!!! Maybe he can pair up with his ideal woman: Karen Werner!!

[jam6242]

Bill and Ruth don't seem compatible at all. They don't seem even to like each other. Neither has any business with a baby. Their story has been the weakest for me and I'll be glad when it's over.

[amybrickwallace]

Watching their storyline, I have to wonder if a lot of middle-aged couples from that era were like Bill and Ruth and if Rita Lakin was inspired to write about it. The two may have been in love once but have since drifted completely apart. Social drinking was the norm back then, and a lot of people became alcoholics behind their own closed doors. The husband throws himself into his work, and the wife - childless and feeling unworthy - turns to the bottle as her only comfort.

Sadly, Danny would be better off at the orphanage than being adopted by these two. It would be a toxic environment for any child.

The home scenes remind me of one of my all-time favorite shows, which happened to be still in production while all of these stories were going on in this soap opera - Bewitched. Like Samantha and Darrin Stephens, Drs. Matt and Maggie Powers have one of those bars in their living room and often head right to it when they walk in the door after a hard day's work. Elizabeth Hubbard, with her blond hair in that flip and headbands, wearing those sleeveless yet casual dresses, reminds me of another Elizabeth - Elizabeth Montgomery (and both Elizabeths were born in 1933).

One more thought about Ruth - who else thinks she is going to steal any of those babies when no one is looking?

[slick jones]

I can't believe no one has pushed old Barnacle Bunker down an elevator shaft!

Anne Whiteside reminds me of actress Romy Rosemont of Glee[Finn's mom] and Popular.

Hope we meet the nieces this week, I'll bet Polly isn't their aunt.

[slick jones]

I saw Paul Michael Glaser [Noel the orderly] mugging the camera in the episodes that went up on Monday!

[Paul Raven]

Just thinking how some of these stories would have been handled these days

Ruth would have stolen a baby

Liz or Matt would have toppled off the ledge or Joe would have kidnapped Liz

Karen would be undermining Maggie and maybe drugged Matt to get him into bed.

Steve and Carolee would have already had sex

[Avatar610]

It looks like there is a ray of hope for Ruth- was it a coincidence that Danny showed up just as she was about to take a drink? Slowly but surely Danny is working his way into the Winters home. Well, we got to Althea and Nick together- wow! The passion was right there, and one can see why that pair was so popular. Karen has met someone even worse than Nathan Bunker- this Philip seems like a real jerk! He even manages to scare her!

[amybrickwallace]

That was easily my favorite scene from today's episode - Althea and Nick in the clinic. They laughed together, were gentle with each other and that almost-kiss - WOW is right! I am starting to like Nick more and more these days - and the chemistry between Liz Hubbard and Gerald Gordon was phenomenal. I wonder how they got along off-camera.

I still wonder who or what tipped off Nathan Bunker to Althea and Nick's situation.

Did anyone else laugh when Karen told the head of the board that he had no tact? Pot, meet kettle!!!

The February 18 and 19 episodes both featured cameras in the frame. In the scene with Matt, Maggie, Althea and Nick in Matt's office, a camera is seen clearly in the shot on the right side of the screen after Maggie shows up and Matt is about to explain to her about the meeting of the board. In the next episode, the camera can be seen coming into the shot from the left side in Bill and Ruth's home after Danny goes up to bed and Bill heads for the liquor cabinet.

[Matt]

I'm at a confusing OCD quandary. Ever since the first episode on Retro, I've been keeping track of both episode number and original airdate. Thanks to the screencap of the slate for that first episode that Retro posted, we know the first episode was #1305 with an airdate of December 4, 1967. The only pre-emption that I'm aware of is for January 1, 1968 (based on Jason47's DAYS pre-emption list, since I feel it's safe to assume that if DAYS is pre-empted, then The Doctors will be, too, since it immediately follows). By my calculations, Friday's 2 episodes should be #1363 (2/23/68, Friday) & #1364 (2/26/68, Monday). HOWEVER, I have a script for The Doctors in my collection (which I believe I transcribed once in this thread some many pages back) that gives a Production #1365, but an AIR date of 2/23/68 (Friday). Something isn't lining up and it's annoying the crap out of me. The script concerns the board hearing with Matt & Althea's testimony (a very strongly scripted monologue by Matt). I'm just not quite sure what to make of the conflicting info.

Oh, and according to the script's cover page, the episode that was to air on 2/23/68 was taped on 2/21/68 - only TWO days before.

Oh, and this monologue of Matt's is like 4 pages long in the script and ends the episode.

[amybrickwallace]

It feels like a long time since we've seen Steve Aldrich, hasn't it?

Speaking of which, when does his snooty mother Mona come on? I'm guessing probably not for quite some time, but I've heard so many raves about actress Meg Mundy that I can't wait to see her.

I've read that Laryssa Laurent was on TD for many years, so I wonder if Karen became a bit nicer and gained more empathy as time went on. For everyone's sake, I hope so!! LOL

[Paul Raven]

Mona came on in 72.

[amybrickwallace]

Thank you. I've read both 1971 and 1972 as Mona's debut, so I wanted to check. Was Steve a mama's boy or did he know how to stand up to her?

[jam6242]

I've been thinking the same about Steve. But he wasn't originally intended to be a long-term character so that could explain why he hasn't gotten a lot of air time yet. I don't remember Steve being a mama's boy (because he did stand up to her) but she could be very manipulative. Mona was one of the characters I loved to hate. Now with Karen, I remember hating her all the time (so no, she doesn't get more likeable) but I'm actually enjoying her more this time around.

What does everyone think of Polly's sudden interest in Phillip Townsend? Could she be his mother?

[Avatar610]

That's what I think! Perhaps HE, and not the nieces, will get her money! BTW, go to page 32 on this board for Matt's upcoming speech, which should air either today or tomorrow.

[allmc2008]

It's coming to NYC/Dallas/Chicago and other places!!

http://www.myretrotv.com/news/luken-and-mako-sign-major-affiliation-deal