Thoughts about "The Doctors" - May 1971

Another month's worth of episodes of "The Doctors" has aired on RetroTV. Below are my thoughts on what has aired for the month of May 1971.

Toni and Mike went on another date. She cooked for him at the home she shares with Martha. They started arguing, but before Mike left he surprised Toni with a kiss. She wasn't sure what Mike wanted or if he even liked her. When Martha was told, she assured Toni that Mike was interested or else he wouldn't have kissed her. Martha also appreciated Toni's Italian cooking even if it was cold spaghetti.

Greta's improvement getting along with Althea didn't extend to Mike. She had a complete tantrum on her older stepbrother. He was devoted to getting the lithium project to work to help her. Everyone else (Hank, Maggie, Matt, Nick etc.) was worried about Mike's studies, but understood his behavior better once they heard about what happened with Greta.

Due to John Morrison helping Greta, Nick wanted to save the girl first. Before going away on a trip, Nick gave Althea a compass. Nick had no idea that Althea was going to see John after a medical convention in New York City. Althea and John decided to elope after looking out at the sites. They found a justice of the peace named Lafferty, who was woken in the middle of the night to do the ceremony. Althea made John pay extra for a ring, so it cost about $35. The only witness was the wife of the justice of the peace. They consummated their marriage at a roadside motel. Back at Althea's apartment, they told Maxwell the stuffed animal their news.

Althea didn't realize she was in a love triangle with her ex-husband Nick and John Morrison. Nick had fallen back in love with her or hadn't stopped, and felt that now they were friends they should try again. Nick went to admit his love for Althea, right after John and Althea returned to Madison. John thankfully was at the No one warned him and eventually he got extremely angry with Matt and Maggie for due to how they weren't forthcoming about John and Althea having a past. Earlier Morrison told him, who was the worst possible person for Nick to hear this news. Nick then took up with Cathy though he thought she was with Steve longer. Cathy went back to Nick's apartment, but she wasn't interested in having sex with him on their first date.

One night after a fight with Dan, Carolee went to Althea's (this was before Althea and John wed) and was given brandy. Today, a doctor wouldn't give alcohol to a pregnant woman. Carolee then went to Steve, overheard Dan and Steve arguing and ran home before being seen. Later Carolee told Steve what happened and Steve explained how Dan barged in and searched his apartment looking for her. Mrs. Simpson tried to get Dan to see reason about Carolee and Steve, but he treated her like a co-conspirator, which upset Carolee. Attack her, but not her mother, who did nothing wrong. When Dan was away, Carolee did see Steve, which was to be expected. Dan went to New York City again to meet with a doctor about his health. He was told that he should have gotten help earlier as now he was due for a serious heart attack, which probably would be fatal. Carolee continued to be a prisoner in Dan's home as she didn't want to be there, but didn't feel like she could leave him. Dan actually said he would think about allowing her to get a divorce after the baby was born. He would then go to Kuwait, but of course this won't be the case due to his health.  Billy felt that everything going on with everyone going to separate rooms was his fault. Carolee told him it wasn't and wished to do something great for his birthday: a model plane themed party in the playroom with airline ticket style invitations. Billy reminded Carolee that he was grounded and didn't know if he would ever not be in trouble. Billy said that he felt that his Father didn't love her or him anymore.

Steve's problems continued as while Carolee supported him they couldn't be together. She visited him at home and lamented about his ailing son Erich, who was in Germany with his mother Karen. She wanted to bring the boy to Madison so Matt could operate. Erich, at only two, was dealing with his third bout of pneumonia. He also had a heart defect, and needed surgery to live. Karen didn't even want to talk to Steve or allow him to be the boy's father. Matt felt that Steve deserved to be with his son. He was the voice of reason, which was a great thing. Until the baby was doing better, all Karen and Steve could do was wait as he had to be stable enough for Matt to operate.

Those were the highlights of May 1971. The last week of the month brought a theme song change. We still have the same dialogue-free opening style though. This will be a bit of an adjustment as this music is a lot more "soapy" or dramatic sounding.