Hope Memorial: The Doctors

In LIVING COLOR on NBC!

Elizabeth Hubbard was amazingly beautiful as Althea, and quite a terrific actress! She was quite different than she was as Lucinda. (I first discovered her when she recurred as snooty socialite Estelle Chadwick on "One Life to Live", playing that part in between the two shows.) Both Ellen Burstyn and Kathleen Turner started here and wrote about their not so great experiences in their autobiographies. But a young Anna Stuart was gorgeous here (and sweet!), and Meg Mundy was the Phoebe/Geraldine/Kay controlling matriarch. I never watched it when it was on the air, but old episodes I've watched are truly amazing. I've heard that Geraldine Court was the bitch of all bitches on this show, and Nancy Pinkerton went from doctor who lost her medical license as the original Dorian to the hospital administrator. I'm glad I snagged some episodes off line to burn to DVD, so I have many of these stars in several of their soap roles. (There's a brief clip of Anna as Dr. GIna Dante on one of the "GH" montage clip videos, as well as her stint as Vanessa on "GL", so you get to see how she grew as a young actress.)

Anna with a couple of her "Doctors" cast members.

Anna with Gary Carlson on "General Hospital", no longer a lab technician, but now a full fledged doctor. On "Another World", she even got to own the hospital!

When I first started watching the Retro reruns I crushed hard on young Dr. Mike.

Amazing that these old episodes survived when so many soaps got wiped.

The guy in shades is cute.

My mother used to watch this one, and I would sneak a peek too. I remember Nick and Althea had quite a bit of sexual chemistry.

It is ironic to catch a few episodes of Elizabeth Lawrence as Mona's housekeeper, Virginia Dancy (Nola's mother), looking quite different than she did as Myra Murdock, Palmer's housekeeper (just a year later!) on "All My Children", sans her dark Mrs. Danvers outfit and neatly styled bun. She was great in her role as Brandon Spaulding's old secretary on "Guiding Light" who hid documents she had on Spaulding Enterprises and had a stroke before she could sell them to the highest bidder. I'll never forget her always flirting with Alan Michael and giving him a huge check before she took off in her brand new sports car that Alexandra bought her as a reward. Ms. Lawrence had been a busy character actress on stage, soaps and film, and during the last years of her life had some very memorable film roles, including Rebecca Nurse in the acclaimed movie version of "The Crucible".

Just found this rare picture of Elizabeth Lawrence & Kathryn Harrold as Virginia & Nola Dancy. I love that the old soap magazine pictures keep popping up with new stills I've never seen before.

Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek) plays a CHILD ABUSER - and in this scene he is in court mandated group therapy

Go 30 Minutes into video for his group therapy scene

Love this show!

Elizabeth Hubbard was so gorgeous.

Richard Niles was hot as Rico. Wonder why his career didn't take off. He's still alive and is a drama professor in NYC.

This was an awesome episode.

Peter Burnell was so cute as young Dr. Mike.

A weird story about the Kathy Griffin lookalike.

She was so evil on the show for so long!

Apparently she either OD'd or committed suicide.

And Peter Burnell was sadly one of the first wave of AIDS patients.

He died in 1987 and his partner a year later.

This was their home in Provincetown.

R12 Rico looks and sounds a bit like Miss Coco Peru to me! LOL

A great scene with Kathleen Turner and Meg Mundy at 4:43 here.

Greta pushed that bitch down a flight of stairs!

Please, don't anyone tell the Glasshole who's in the clip at R17!

[quote]Just found this rare picture of Elizabeth Lawrence & Kathryn Harrold as Virginia & Nola Dancy.

Kathryn Harrold, Kathleen Turner, Kim Zimmer -- all the Nolas were great.

A clip with Zimmer as Nola.

Hm, didn't know Nola became a rich lady.....

Found this - late in the run about a year from the end?

Crap, don't repeat the title too much. I guess people were trying to stealth post on YT etc so the clips are not deleted.

The guy playing Mike Powers here is HOT as FUCK too.

Don't remember this Ann story. But I can see the roots of Doug Marland taking her over to GL to do a similar story.

[quote] The guy playing Mike Powers here is HOT as FUCK too.

PULEEZE - this is HOT as FUCK

Doug Wert from OLTL - the bulging muscles, the washboard abs, and the treasure trail

See video

R25 You may post about OLTL to your heart's content here

Apparently, Kim Zimmer left "The Doctors" about six months before the cancellation. Real life husband A.C. Weary played her new dashing lover who escorted her out of the show. She came back for Mona's funeral according to a Soap Opera Digest synopsis. Would she have returned had the show not continued? From my memory, Nola was the equivalent to Tina on "One Life to Live", Cecile on "Another World" and Raven on "The Edge of Night".

I think it was maternity leave, R27. Or at least initially. Probably also budget related.

After three Nolas there probably wasn't much more to do with the character.

Was it true that Kathleen Turner didn't quit but was actually fired because of weight gain?

She was slim in Body Heat, but she was so miserable on The Doctors I could see her drowning her sorrows . 🍸🥃🍔🍕

Peter Burnell didn’t die from an AIDS-related illness, he committed suicide before it killed him.

A friend's sister, an RN, took care of David O'Brien at a hospice. He died of AIDS at 52 in 1989.

There were many homosexual actors on The Doctors. And of course our beloved Geraldine Court, who loved eating pussy.

Are they the only pre-1980s soap other than Dark Shadows that has most of their episodes? why? I remember that my local market was one of the first RetroTV markets when the digital transition occurred, but they dropped the channel before they started The Doctors. I wish one of these channels would put on a full soap line up during the day. The Doctors, Dark Shadows, Edge of Night, Search for Tomorrow, etc...

R33 I would pay for a classic soap streaming service

R30 I think I read somewhere that it may have been after he learned his partner was sick, too.

So David O’Brien took cum up his ass? How else would he have gotten the aids?

R33 R34 Many of us would.

They tried with P&G shows a while back but nothing came of it. The Doctors seems to be one of the rare shows that actually has all (or almost all) of their episodes.

Shows that have every episode (or almost every show) archived:

Dark Shadows

Days of Our Lives

The Doctors

Ryan's Hope

Young and Restless

Anything that debuted in 1979 or later

P&G started archiving its shows in 1979. A handful of pre-979 shows exist, but the overwhelming majority of the pre-979 tapes were erased.

ABC has tapes of all its episodes (or almost all) from 1978 forward. A warehouse fire destroyed the pre-978 tapes. Yes, SoapNet aired ABC's Ryan's Hope from its 1975 beginning episode. Those tapes primarily came from Claire Labine's personal collection. The episodes that Claire didn't have were found in Ireland where the show aired in the 1970s.

The status of other shows like Love of Life, Secret Storm, Where the Heart is, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, etc. is unknown, but they were likely erased.

There is some speculation that Love is a Many Splendored Thing and Where The Heart Is have complete collections because those shows were sold to foreign countries. They haven't turned up yet, so they're probably gone. Hollywood Squares was found in unlabeled boxes in the back of a warehouse, so who knows what could be out there.

Most anything made before the 80s is gone except as outlined above.

I think ABC has some chunks of 70s tapes for AMC and OLTL but they are incomplete.

That should read pre-1978 and pre-1979 in my reply at r39. Sorry for the typos.

What I have loved about rewatching The Doctors was discovering just how amazing Rita Lakin and Rick Edelstein were. That show was as a good as any premium cable drama on TV today. It was so adult and literate and contemporary. When people talked about The Doctors it was always about the Pollocks. They definitely wrote it as a soap opera and brought the ratings, but it pales in comparison to Lakin and Edelstein.

It's also been interesting to watch a show in real time (after the fact) and you can see where things started to go wrong. And poor Doug Marland made some mistakes on this show. We are now in 1978 and the show is really beginning to unravel now, with a few moments of good stuff here and there.

In that Jonathan Frakes therapy scene is George Hearn (Broadway's La Cage) and Anna Maria Horsford (TV's Amen).

The Doctors was Doug Marland's first soap as HW. Yes, he made some newbie mistakes, but he really revitalized the show bringiing on the Darcy clan.

Doug left in early 1978 to go HW General Hospital. The unraveling that r43 mentions happened because of his departure.

[quote]What I have loved about rewatching The Doctors was discovering just how amazing Rita Lakin and Rick Edelstein were. That show was as a good as any premium cable drama on TV today. It was so adult and literate and contemporary.

Totally agree with R43. That's what I loved about discovering the show too. Took only a couple of episodes for me to get hooked.

We learned it wasn't Doug Marland who introduced the Dancys. It was Margaret DePriest. Marland's huge blunder on this show was to take it out of the hospital and write a bunch of characters out of character.

OMG, I am 55 years old, and STILL remember Nick Bellini was my dream man. And Russ (Sam Groom) from DOOL.

And Michael Nouri from Search for Tomorrow, and evil Christopher Reeve from Love of Life,..

Damn, soaps were good.

For some reason, I love that there are gays who are actually following a reruns of a soap from 1978. You're awesome.

I'm a television historian, and part of my job is cataloging old interviews with people who worked on television. One day, it was an interview with a mid level executive from NBC. He began to brag about how it was he who got the idea to "recycle" video tapes. In other words, bulk erase a given episode of The Tonight Show after it's first rerun, to save money on storage and the actual video tape.

He'd made the suggestion to NBC owner David Sarnoff, who singed off on the policy. NBC President Sylvester "Pat" Weaver (also Sigourney Weaver's dad) raised concerns, but was overridden. ALL videotaped talk shows, soap operas, and game shows were to be bulk erased, and other networks followed suit

I remember thinking as I watched "as a television historian, this person is really the bane of my existence." Thousands of hours of historical, "living color" videotape from 1958 to 1974 just wiped with one gesture.

When you see black and white footage of Carson's Tonight Show, it's always a bad kinescope. From the time Carson was on in 1962 on the show was in color and on tape.

OMG, R49, I would love that job. Can I be your intern?

R50 a/s/l? ; )

The Rita Lakin scripts were so contemporary and timeless.

It all also reminded me a bit of a British series called The Royal. (Made years later, but a bit of the same feel - small town hospital.)

This is the show - the couple at 1:30 are sort of the Matt and Maggie of that show (and married in real life, too).

I could see, either on daytime or nighttime, a show like the Doctors and or this show - small town, facing all the challenges of that (costs, looming mergers, etc.) and the lives of the people.

I just realized that the really cute Mike Powers I was seeing in these late 70s shows - the one with a very muscular chest under his polo shirts - is Jim Storm, who would go on to play Bill Spencer the senior on Bold and Beautiful. He aged quite a bit in those 8ish years between those shows, I wouldn't have recognized him without seeing the name and IMDB credit.

Um, never mind. I was incorrect at R54.

Jim Storm did play Mike later on but the guy I was seeing and described in R54 was this guy.

Yeah, John Shearin was fucking cute. That cleff in his chin.

Sorry...cleft.

A great clip of Althea being beautiful and fiery.

With bonus appearances by wacky lab assistant and Kathy Griffin.

Yeah, Shearin was my type. Tall, wavy black hair, and a torso that looked like it was carved by the gods.

MAMA LIKEY

[quote] With bonus appearances by wacky lab assistant and Kathy Griffin.

It really is kinda weird how much Ginger Gerlach and Kathy Griffin look alike.

The show is finally up to the part where I remember watching it the first time as a kid, Greta's upcoming teen pregnancy storyline. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it plays out all these years later.

Even though the show's best days are behind it, the stories are all threaded well. Greta and Billy is a prime example of this. Another thing I notice about these shows is that they being produced on a nickel budget, but they have nice sets and extras in restaurant and party scenes something that is missing from current soaps.

I really didn't watch this all the time as a kid so I am confused.

Who was the half sibling of Toni aka Anna Stuart? I saw a scene with a younger kid talking to her.

What was the story where Greta was holding a blanket and thought it was a baby?

Is Erich Carolee and Steve's son?

Toni's half brother is Billy Allison Aldrich (they share the same mother)

Erich is Steve's biological son with Dr. Karen Werner. Karen was a hot mess who was in love with Matt Powers and started dating Steve. Steve was something of a spoiled playboy and wasn't used to getting told no and had sex with Karen. Karen got pregnant and Erich was the result.

I'm not sure about Greta and the blanket.

There's a scene online where Greta is holding a baby swaddled in a blanket; she thinks she can use it to summon the spirit of her big brother Mike, who the whole family thinks is dead. (He's actually alive in Asia.)

Maggie is super-psyched about that, of course.

Greta was kind of a hot mess.

Greta was also the little demon hussy who pushed Julie down the stairs, right?

And wait, so how does Billy become an Aldrich?

And this was Billy who Alec Baldwin eventually played?

Carolee married Billy's "father" Dan Allison who was just a mean mean man and she must have adopted Billy of camera. When Carolee married Steve, Billy became an Aldrich.

This is the same Billy that was played by a young Alec Baldwin. My favorite Billy was David Elliiot who was hot AF in that 1970s teen kind of way. And he still looks good as a daddy.

R55, if you want to see more of Shearin, he's in the pilot for the soap Loving, which you can find on Youtube. He has a couple bedroom scenes that make it worth looking up.

Thanks R68! (Seen at the link starting around 0:40)

Nice! He looks even hotter with his shirt off. Nice and furry. Definitely looks older, but still hot.

R65: Greta was involved in Julie going down the stairs, yes. But she didn't push her. Julie tried to grab something Greta was holding, which broke, and Julie went boom crunch.

Julie had freaked out because she discovered 8-year-old Greta was stealing and hoarding things. In addition to generally acting like a bad seed. The doctors thought she might be a sociopath but it was ultimately determined to be a brain bacterium caused by a rat bite or something.

Anyway, she recovered, only to become a preggo teen sent to a home for single mothers, from which she ran away. Gurl was a mess.

Then she and her boyfriend Billy were recast with hot actors (Alec Baldwin as Billy), and the characters changed.

I loved the Doctors too. Julia Duffy played nurse Penny I believe and was it Luke darcy??? I remember when the woman was in a comatose state sitting in the chair. Was she Steve aldrichs wife or something???? Ii also remember a story about a home for unwed mothers and some crazy cult story. Those were the days

I haven't found a scene yet showing Julia Duffy as Liz Hubbard's daughter - want to see them together.

Would love to see some from the very end, when Hillary Bailey Smith was there and when Liz came back. Weird that Matt and Maggie were apart at the end?

Oh yeah, and Greta's parents later thought she might be psycho because, as a young teen, she was using a baby (not sure whose) as a human Ouija board to talk to her dead older brother (who was not dead).

She had issues.

La Hubbard and Duffy in 1974. Very good casting.

R74 Thanks - wow!

Any dirt on David O'Brien's private life?

[quote]Greta was involved in Julie going down the stairs, yes. But she didn't push her. Julie tried to grab something Greta was holding, which broke, and Julie went boom crunch.

Happens all the time...

I was a late 70s arrival to The Doctors; Kathleen Turner but before Alec Baldwin. The guy who played Billy just before Baldwin was surfer-boy cute.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "Far Wind." He was played by the handsome older guy who went on to be a soap legend. I can't think of his name because this was the only soap I ever watched and I only watched it for a few years.

Ellen Burstyn used the name Ellen McRae on this show and other shows during the '60s.

Can anyone in NYC get RetroTV?

They allegedly had a local affiliate I was never able to bring in on my (new and pretty powerful) digital antenna. Just to watch this show. It's that good.

In Kathleen Turner's first episodes, she looked chubby and had a dowdy short haircut. A real comedown from Kathryn Harrold as Nola.

Her acting was also very mannered and grand and didn't fit in with the show's more naturalistic style.

Her hair got better as time went on, but I'm not sure she ever did.

R80 It probably depends where you are in NYC, both affiliates were Low Power stations and there is conflicting information as to whether either one is still operational.

[quote]r79 Ellen Burstyn used the name Ellen McRae on this show and other shows during the '60s.

I remember watching during Alec Baldwin's reign as Billy. Hated, hated Greta...she was such a cow.

[quote]There is some speculation that Love is a Many Splendored Thing and Where The Heart Is have complete collections because those shows were sold to foreign countries.

Love is a Many Splendored Thing was shown in its entirety in Australia, and likely still exists in a salt mine somewhere because they archived everything from the beginning. In fact, almost every US soap was shown in Australia and NZ in the late 60s to 90s. Also, different parts of the country got different shows. Sometimes they showed every single episode, other times they would just test a new show for a few weeks or months. One Life to Live was tested for a few months in the late Rauch era with harsh lighting and convoluted storylines, it was just too confusing to pick up new viewers. Search for Tomorrow, The Doctors and Another World were all hugely popular.

Cult leader Far Wind was played by David Canary. At that point, Canary was best known for playing Candy on Bonanza for five seasons.

However, Canary went on to greater soap fame playing Adam Chandler on All My Children for 27 years. Canary also played the back-from-the dead character of Steve Frame on Another World from fall 1981-early 1983.

r49 Fascinating info. Thanks for sharing it.

What was the name of this mid-level exec? We need to know who our enemies are and he was clearly one of them. Just imagine all the shows we'd still have if this man hadn't come up with his "brilliant" cost cutting move.

The many Mike Powers were always hot. Got this young gayling stirring, even if I didn't understand what it meant at the time.

My favorite was Armand Assante, who played Mike from 1975-77,

Armande Assante was wrong for the part, but he was hot, young and sexy and just off the NBC soap How to Survive A Marriage, so I'm 100% positive that Lin Bolen forced him on to The Doctors. They had Mike join the police force, which was weird. This story turn upset Anna Stuart and she spoke out about it in the soap press.

My friend Geri (Court) told me that Assante had awful body odor.

The Billy right before Baldwin was named Shawn Campbell. He was fired when his drug problem was out of control.

Geri Court ate out my snatch.

Related to the earlier discussion on which shows had complete series on videos... when SoapNet was showing Ryan's Hope back in the day, they would start from the beginning, but end around 1981... I think about the time of the Egyptian Mummy curse storyline. Were they missing the later episodes, or were they just not shown because of the music rights? I always wanted to watch RH all they way through, even though there were some real low points.

Re: the Mikes - Peter Burnell was just so angular and sexy. I only saw the episodes with him recently (I was but a wee tot when they were first on) but something about him has really stayed in my memory since seeing them.

And John Shearin was *such* a hot hairy beast.

Armand did look completely wrong for the part. He looked more like Toni's brother!

r92 RE: Ryan's Hope reruns on SoapNet.

When they reached the late 1981/early 1982 episodes, SoapNet claimed they were going back to the beginning episodes to give people a chance to catch up.

However, when they reached late 1981 the second time, the truth was revealed. Late 1981/early 1982 is when Ryans's Hope, and all the ABC soaps, began using popular music heavily. By popular music, I mean Top 40 songs you'd hear on the radio.

There'd been some scattered popular songs here and there before that. Luke raped Laura in 1979 while Herb Alpert's "Rise" played in the background, for example. But 1982 is when you started hearing the Top 40 hits, plus music from film soundtracks routinely. All My Children used the "Somewhere in Time" theme music composed by John Barry heavily.

This happened because all the soaps on all three networks upped their music budget due to the increasing popularity and rising ratings of soaps (remember Luke and Laura married in 1981).

However, with the RH reruns, SoapNet didn't want to pay for the music rights and also didn't want to spend the time substituting in other, less expensive songs where the popular one had been (something SoapNet had been doing when reairing classic episodes of AMC, OLTL and GH).

That's why you never saw Ryan's Hope episodes from 1982 to 1989 on SoapNet.

R58 Martha Allen, played by Sally Gracie, was the wacky lab assistant. Ironically, I just watched this episode on video last week, and instantly remembered her as Ina Hopkins, the landlady for Karen, Jenny & Katrina on "One Life to Live" from 1978-1983 where she was definitely an eccentric. She later played Dixie's maternal grandmother on "All My Children" (short term role). Her voice made me think of Beverlee McKinsey in its sound technique. She definitely could have played Beverlee's drunken older sister on stage or soaps. I believe that Martha became the confidante to Anna Stuart's Toni Ferra. I think she was on "The Doctors" for a decade.

Music rights is also why Santa Barbara will never be rebroadcast or have episodes released on DVD.

Santa Barbara used so many popular songs throughout its run. I mean, Kelly and Joe's theme song was Peabo Bryson's "If Every You're in My Arms Again," which was also airing in heavy rotation on the radio at the same time. They must have paid out the gazoo to use that as Kelly and Joe's theme song.

Cruz and Eden had several theme songs, but Natalie Cole's "A Little Bit of Heaven" was one that ran the longest and most heavily associated with that super-couple. After that, Santa Barbara composed theme songs for them in-house.

I loved the show "Daria" on MTV and a few years ago it came out on DVD and I was all excited. Then I learned they had replaced all the music and the show just wasn't the same.

On the Doctors they just play the popular music. The other day they played a James Taylor song. I'm not sure if Retro doesn't care or if they have some kind of special exemption. Days of our Lives played a lot of popular music in the 80s. I guess they only licensed the song for one airing.

[quote] I guess they only licensed the song for one airing.

I think most soaps licensed it for a shorter time than nighttime shows, they may have licensed it for a period of a few years in case they played a flashback.

But no one saw the licensing rates change the way they did in the late 90s/2000s. It became unworkable for lots of shows to go to DVD.

A lot of primetime shows in the 1980s and 1990s negotiated music rights for network reruns and syndicated reruns. However, they failed negotiate music rights for DVD releases since the concept of releasing an entire series on DVD didn't exist in the 1990s.

Music rights is what held up the DVD release of The Wonder Years until 2017. That show used hundreds of 1960s and 1970s songs during its 7 year run. But when the DVDs came out, the show had cleared about 95% of the original songs.

[quote]The other day they played a James Taylor song. I'm not sure if Retro doesn't care or if they have some kind of special exemption.

Likely the ratings are so low and Retro is such an obscure sub-channel, they're just hoping to fly under the radar.

R90 Do you think that Assante wanted to smell your good friend Geri’s nasty snatch odor? She was one to talk. It was well known that lezzies didn’t wash down there.

R99 I really hate the music licensing issues, it is one of the reasons Murphy Brown, wasn't seen as much as it should have been. I am of the opinion, that artists should be paid one up front fee when it is used and that is it. Since it is really an advertisement for the song and artist, if people hear it on a show and like it, then they will seek it out on Spotify, itunes, Amazon music, etc... and then the artist will get money.

Stay classy, R101.

I wonder what Kathy Bates was like in her day player role (1979)

The music issue is also to blame for re-done WKRP episodes.

Too bad about RH. I always wanted to see the King Kong story (even though it was likely a shitshow). Although there are brief scenes on YT.

I also wanted to see the mid 80s episodes with Geoff Pierson (new Frank), Marg Helgenberg (new Siobhan), Judith Chapman (Charlotte Greer), and Cali Timmons (Jill's trashy half-sister Maggie). I watched those as a kid, but didn't get to see it all the time because it aired at 12:30 locally.

Yeah, R105, I wanted to see Maeve’s monologue which basically kicked off the storyline with Charlotte.

R105 If you can manage to live until the mid to late 2070s you might get the chance, since music released in 1980 will become public domain in 2075, so I guess they wouldn't have to pay for music rights then.

It really pisses me off that someone thought that daytime was so disposable that they could just wipe all the tapes and use them again. Without any regard to all the work that was put into bringing those shows to air. The Doctors was truly a gift.

The book was better

Rq103 Ignore the trolls. They're at a few other soap threads too. One seems to have a very weird fascination with bowel movements, body odors and other personal matters.

from a soap opera site:

--------------------------------------

[bold]Former Star Kathleen Turner Says 'The Doctors' "No Longer Exists, For Which We Can All Be Thankful"[/bold]

Oscar-nominated actress does not mince words about her days acting on NBC soap opera The Doctors in her new book, "Kathleen Turner on Acting: Conversations about Film, Television, and Theater," co-written with Dustin Morrow.

In a long exchange with Morrow about her time on the soap Turner explained, "I was a regular on The Doctors. Which no longer exists, for which we can all be thankful. It was just a very run-of-the-mill soap opera. My character was so incredibly dumb that at a certain point I just couldn’t figure out how to justify the words that came out of her mouth, so I just asked the writers to make her a drunk."

Turner revealed the last straw for her with the soap.

"I'll tell you the breaking point for me on The Doctors," she wrote. "I remember this like it was yesterday. I was doing a scene where I was giving birth, after a four-month pregnancy of course, and I had researched the process and learned lamaze breathing and everything. After the first take the director, who was a man of course, came up and said, 'You're doing great, I can really feel what you're going through. But can you just be a little more . . . ummm . . . attractive?' 'Attractive.' While giving birth. That was it for me."

She did admit to learning something from her time on The Doctors.

"Having that experience on The Doctors helped me when I did move on to feature filmmaking, because I learned that on the day, on the moment when the shot was set, you had to be committed to your choices. There's no do-over if you don’t like what you did on a given shoot day on a film. You can’t just go reshoot something because you were unhappy with your performance, it would be prohibi­tively expensive."

R112 I hope she goes channel surfing one day, and comes across herself on The Doctors and has a fit.

I've seen several of Kathleen Turner's episodes, and she is not very good on the show at all. Jada Rowland acts circles around her. Elizabeth Hubbard would have, too, had she been on the show at the time.

She should be more humble and grateful for the break. I sense the rumors that they fired her because of her weight are true.

By the time Kathleen got to the show it was a little messy. So I understand why her experience wasn't the greatest.

Elizabeth Hubbards's Althea and Lucinda are as different as night and day. Can't think of other soap actresses who were so different on different shows. Did she finally win an Emmy? I know she was nominated like seven times.

She won for Althea, never for Lucinda.

And she won for playing Edith Wilson in one of those First Ladies Diaries shows.

Althea was a great character. Unfortunately they couldn't seem to figure out what to do with her outside of Nick Bellini.

[quote]r114 She should be more humble and grateful for the break. I sense the rumors that they fired her because of her weight are true.

Well, she'd already appeared on Broadway. It's not like she'd never done anything before.

As per her weight, she's tall. I can't imagine that her gaining any weight would have destroyed her looks when she was young.

EH never winning one for Lucinda is a travesty.

Then again, Beverlee McKinsey never won for Iris or at GL.

The Emmys were, and are, a popularity contest.

[quote] Althea was a great character. Unfortunately they couldn't seem to figure out what to do with her outside of Nick Bellini.

I think she was great early on as a career woman. It was the later writers who felt like they constantly had to pair her with someone. After a while they just did weird things to her. As you said, they couldn't think of anything for this smart, capable actress to do.

The wedding of MJ - with Chris Goutman (!) walking her down the aisle!

Steve Aldrich looks so sexy here.

Jason, on the other hand, looks like an old bloated drunk.

I still thought Jason was sexy. Did Glenn Corbett also die from an AIDS-related illness?

Glenn Corbett was so sexy. Loved his Jason. As I recall, the show had been in a slump for several months and his arrival really perked things up.

Wikipedia says he died of lung cancer

So Steve had been on for years by himself before they started building out his family?

I wish there was a good website on this show. I'm still trying to figure out the connections!

Yes, R125. Steve was introduced in 1968 as a womanizing, spoiled, rich playboy and cousin of Dr. John Rice. Matt really couldn't stand him in the beginning, which was funny. Neither could Nick. Steve bounced around women, but had chemistry with Nurse Carolee but it took awhile for them to get together.

Jason and Mona didn't show up until the 70s. Original Jason was also a Doctor, but that was changed when the character returned in 76. Mona was never a fan of Carolee's.

Thank you, R126.

I just saw the scenes where Ann is revealed to have been someone else and/or lying to Steve. Were she and Steve together? Was she connected to Carolee?

Steve and the second Carolee have a lot of chemistry. The first Carolee was a bit....unusual looking, I thought. (Though she apparently gave the character its name.)

As I recall reading decades ago, Carolee Campbell was initially a background extra nurse. Gradually, they started giving here a few lines to say here and there. At some point, the writers gave her a name. But when they were on set, Carolee kept missing her cue and didn't respond to that name.

To save time, they decided to use her real name and get on with taping. At that point, she was still an Under-5, so no harm in using here real name. Later, writers noticed a spark between David O'Brien and Carolee Campbell and started giving them more scenes together. The rest is history

R128 That post made me interested in learning more about her, did everyone here know she is Hector Elizondo's wife?

Carolee was the nurse outside of Matt's office. Everyone checked in with her and she was quirky and upbeat. They called her Nurse Simpson for the longest time. The actress also didn't have a leading lady look, but the audience liked her, especially when Steve started flirting with her. At some point she got a backstory about a lover who went off to war. It was a great scene and showed she could act.

Jada Rowland was the only Carolee that I knew until the Retro repeats and now I love them both. Same with Maggie. I had only known Lydia Bruce, but I loved me some Bethel Leslie.

[quote] Same with Maggie. I had only known Lydia Bruce, but I loved me some Bethel Leslie.

Bethel Leslie was very fun and acerbic. Lydia captured some of that and made Maggie more well rounded.

R129 I only just found that out the other day!

There used to be episodes with Bethel on one of the vid sites but I think they got deleted when they mass deleted a bunch of stuff.

[quote]r30 Same with Maggie. I had only known Lydia Bruce, but I loved me some Bethel Leslie.

Who names their child g-damn BETHEL?

^^ sorry. meant r130

Trivia: after Bethel Leslie moved out to LA, she co-wrote the groundbreaking '76 episode of Family about Willie's gay friend.

So, I just realized that if someone was really into medical dramas, there was a time in the 1960s when you could watch The Doctors on NBC at 2:30, then turn to ABC at 3:00 for General Hospital, and follow it with daytime soap version of The Nurses at 3:30. Also, on ABC from 1:00-2:00 they had reruns of Ben Casey.

[quote]Lydia captured some of that and made Maggie more well rounded.

You're right. Bethel's Maggie was more prone to pull a switchblade out of her weave and cut a bitch. She gave the best side eye. I loved her relationship with Nick. They had been friends since Med School. I do wonder what Ann Williams' Maggie was like. Such a good show.

She went on to write for The Secret Storm.

I started watching the Doctors as part of the NBC lineup in the early 1970s. But this thread is making me want to go back and watch shows from 1967 and 1968,

I tried to find those 1967 ,1968 and 1969 episodes on YouTube but couldn't find them. Can someone provide the link those early Doctors episodes. Thanks.

The Company that owns The Doctors had the episodes scrubbed from you tube. Bummer.

[quote] Bethel's Maggie was more prone to pull a switchblade out of her weave and cut a bitch. She gave the best side eye.

YES!

That was my first reaction when I saw the early episodes.

Dr. Mike again, looking so dreamy.

But this is the first time ever Liz just isn't selling me on a scene. I can't buy her as an amnesiac!

(Male Voice-over) - "The part of Nola Aldrich is now being played by Kathleen Turner"

Watch below

In R141, the guy who plays Mike reminds me of Conan O'Brien and his girlfriend reminds me of Parker Posey (she even has the widow's peak!).

R142, he says “The part of Nola Dancy Aldrich will be played by Kathleen Turner...”

"The part of Nola Dancy Aldrich will be played by

(((((((BELCH))))))))

....ahem, by Kim Zimmer."

I never liked seeing a familiar character being replaced, but those pronouncements were amusing, like the voice of God. "I've just replaced this person with a different person. Deal with it."

They didn't have to do that with the new Darrin.

Seeing all those things makes me miss the days when soap were soaps.

I think this must have been the year Liz was away from the Doctors.

Had to be a bummer to leave the show, only to play essentially the same character in an episodic show.

At 10:00 -

THAT is a caftan!

I liked that actress who played Sarah Dancy-Dorothy Fielding.

Lois Smith (Eleanor Conrad) is still working. I've seen her in four Off Broadway plays in the past 5 years.

Lois played Martin Sheen's mom on Grace and Frankie a few seasons ago

I died at 101, bitches.

I'm still here, bitches!

Lois Smith was Emmy-worthy in an episode of The Americans a few years ago. She lost to Margo Martindale for a far less performance on the same show.

Who was the British-ish guy they had chasing after Althea after she and Nick broke up? I remember seeing him a few times.

Was the guy with the weird wavy red hair a regular?

Patrick Horgan was the British guy-he was on for several years. His wife Susan Bedsow Horgan wrote for soaps.

R157 OH. I had no idea. I know who she is.

Guess he was Dr. John Morrison and on for a few years. He didn't ever seem to click w/Althea though.

Cool!

[quote]r146 those pronouncements were amusing, like the voice of God. "I've just replaced this person with a different person. Deal with it."

I think they're also assuring the viewer that they're not going crazy. ("Your eyes are NOT decieving you. Breathe deeply...!")

[quote]r155 Lois Smith was Emmy-worthy in an episode of The Americans a few years ago. She lost to Margo Martindale for a far less performance on the same show.

Eileen Fulton said she got her long running role on AS THE WORLD TURNS because the producers called her agent asking for Lois Smith (who was unavailable.)

Eileen shit the toilet at ATWT! She plugged it! O

[quote]r162 Eileen shit the toilet at ATWT!

Feast your eyes on the cheesy montage at the 6:00 mark:

We can add R163 to the P&G soap thread attached below.

We can institutionalize R162, who has severe mental health issues and seems to be fixated on toilet functions.

Hey, Eileen plugged up the toilet. No me. Thanks for being a fan.

*eyeroll*

R5 Me too..watched the show w/Gran after school. She loved Althea and Nick.

So sad about Dr.Mike:

Peter Burnell Born April 29, 1942 in Johnstown, New York, USA Died January 5, 1987 in Chicago, Illinois, USA (suicide by hanging)

I didn't know much about Peter before I started watching The Doctors on reruns and thought he was so handsome.

Stunned to find out he killed himself. If various online posts are to be believe, both he and his partner learned they were positive or had AIDS.

David O’Brien had the aids.

I just watched Pamela Lincoln, AKA The nutty Doreen Aldrich, in the camp horror classic "The Tingler". play storyline on retro now has her obsessed with former brother-in-law Steve, and bowing to kill Tara Lee. The storyline will unfold over the next four months in soap time (2 months in retro time) and dread seeing her going from a delightfully funny and glamorous gave her to a typical soap psychopath. she was basically written into a corner like a bee Dalton's Julia on "Falcon Crest".

Carolee, not Tara Lee. Voice recognition sucks monkey balls.

Doreen Aldrich! Character had so much potential. But as r170 noted, she wasn't used properly.

I agree, R172. She was a bit of an Auntie Mame type who loved the men, didn't trust many women, yet could be funny and vivacious, even flirting with Barney. I loved the episode where Pamela Lincoln (as Doreen) arranges for Nola to get drunk so she makes a fool out of herself at her Medicine Man opening. In a previous episode, she stewed as Nola (Kathleen Turner) rehearsed "One Halloween" from "Applause!" (singing very well I might say....), and starts to try to distract Jason. Nola notices and stops the song and tells Doreen off for being rude. It left Doreen speechless, but set up her revenge.

Apparently, Retro is working on getting interviews with surviving cast members. Allegedly, Jada Rowland, Elizabeth Hubbard and Kim Zimmer are already on board. They are also going to make the anthology series episodes available at some point as well as the episodes from the serial version that have not been aired.

That's great news r174. However, I doubt Kathleen Turner will agree to an interview.

She trashed the show in her book.

Just wondering if they get residuals from the episodes that are airing. That would be a year and a half's worth of checks, maybe not much, but I haven't heard anybody complain about it airing. Unfortunately, a good percentage of the cast (particularly the core cast) is deceased. Only Elizabeth, the two Carolee's, Jennifer Houltan and Anna Stuart (5 1/2 years) are still with us.

I wanted Nick Bellini in me quite deeply.

It seems unlikely that Retro TV will continue to carry the Doctors - I don't know how close they are to the end of the run but it seems that Retro will either cease broadcasting or shift into an old sci fi channel.

...oops. I stand corrected.

Retro TV is contiuing but as a streaming channel and yes, the Dictors will be a part of it

I found this information on the Cancelled Daytime Soaps board for "The Doctors", Updates of who will be interviewed. Thrilling news! Also posting on the "Donna Love Hudson" board for fans of Anna Stuart.

Posted January 13 Update from the Retro rep. She also said she would be interviewing the following actors today for the behind-the-scenes material and promos:

Jada Rowland, Liz Hubbard, Kim Zimmer, Jennifer Houlton, Richard Niles, Anna Stuart, Marie Foster, Thor Fields, Count Stovall, Eileen Kearney, Brian McKeon and Patricia Hayling.

Pamela Lincoln (Doreen Aldrich) who also appeared on "Love of Life" and "One Life to Live" passed away in November of last year. Her Wikipedia and IMDb pages were just updated with that information. She's on some January 1984 "OLTL" videos you can find on line where she appears with Erika Slezak and Clint Ritchie. This picture of her as an older woman is very stunning, something poor Doreen apparently didn't have according to her nasty "Big Daddy" type father.

*swoon*

Who dat, r182?

R183 That's Peter Burnell, mentioned a bit upthread.

He played Mike in the early years of the show.

Lots of hot men played Mike Powers as an adult over the years. One of the most recast roles in soap history.

The Adult Mikes:

Peter Burnell, 1968-74

Michael Landrum, 1974-75

Armand Assante, 1975-77

John Shearin, 1977-79

Jim Storm. 1979-81

Ashby Adams, 1981-82

Stephen Burleigh, 1982

[quote] One of the most recast roles in soap history.

Hold my hat.

[quote]R60 It really is kinda weird how much Ginger Gerlach and Kathy Griffin look alike.

They say it was suicide.

I say it was Crisco.

If you have Roku, The Doctors dedicated streaming app is now up. Search for Watch The Doctors, under channels, subscriptions are $2.99/month or there is a yearly version for thirty something. Also, the new special WATCH THE DOCTORS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? will premiere on April 24.

Below is the facebook post, that DL won't let me link to.

[quote] RETRO TV WILL DEBUT “WATCH THE DOCTORS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?” ON FRIDAY, APRIL 24 Chattanooga, Tenn. (March 30, 2020) – Retro TV is the exclusive home of the classic daytime drama, The Doctors, and will debut an exclusive broadcast special, Watch The Doctors: Where Are They Now Friday, April 24. This special broadcast will be aired on local Retro TV affiliates at 12 p.m. and on the livestream daily at 4 p.m. at MyRetroTV.com. With an encore broadcast at 7:30 p.m., this episode features behind-the-scenes stories you’ve never heard before and interviews with Jada Rowland, Anna Stuart, Marie Thomas-Foster, Patricia Hayling-Price, Count Stovall and Richard Niles. Joel Wertman, President of Reach High Media Group says, “This beloved drama has been engaging audiences since 1963 and we are proud that Retro TV is the exclusive rights holder for The Doctors on-air, online and in your favorite App Store.” Wertman adds, “COVID-19 related closures at warehouse facilities housing the tapes of The Doctors have impacted our ability to digitalize the episodes in the upcoming storylines airing on Retro TV. Until we are able to resume that process, we invite fans of classic daytime drama to join us as we return to Hope Memorial Hospital and the 1967 season beginning Monday, April 27, 2020. We are committed to our fans and will resume the 1979 season with a weekend broadcast schedule as soon as those facilities reopen." Set in the fictional New England city of Madison, The Doctors was known for featuring cutting-edge storylines and received seventeen Emmy Award nominations. The series ran from 1963 to 1982 with cast alums including Alec Baldwin (30 Rock), daytime stars Kim Zimmer (Guiding Light) and Anna Stuart (Another World), Ted Danson (Cheers), Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue Got Married) and Emmy Award-winning actress Elizabeth Hubbard (As the World Turns).

Can someone provide the link to The Doctors streaming service, please.

Now that I'm stuck at home during the coronavirus, I've got time to binge watch the show starting with the 1967 episodes.

here you go

Thanks!!!!😀❤️👏

Awesome, R190!

I've been bingeing this show all weekend.

It is beyond fabulous!

If you are watching the streaming service, has anyone experienced any problems? When I got to episode 2 of of 1968, it came up saying I wasn't subscribed. I just skipped it.

If anyone is streaming The Doctors, how long does that awful bitch German doctor, Karen, stay on, I CAN'T FUCKING STAND HER!

I tried to figure this out, R195, because she is annoying as shit.

IMDB shows her making appearances until 1975, meaning seven years.

She ended up hooking up with Steve Aldrich and giving birth to Erich, who ultimately knocked up Greta Powers and caused no end of drama for the core families.

R196 Yuck! She is the only character I'm hating right now.