Thoughts about "The Doctors" - June 1973

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 June 1973.

Lauri thought she was helping, but caused more problems for Mike and Toni. She gave Toni a bottle of pills Mike left behind, and Toni became upset. Mike is using sleeping pills at night and pep pills during the day. His behavior is inappropriate for anyone working in a hospital, and Toni went to Matt with this information. Matt berated Mike for his behavior, but didn't put his son on leave even though his actions could endanger himself or even worse a patient. Toni and Mike continued to argue and she told him how he was acting like a boy. While at home alone, as Martha was out at the movies, Mike attacked Toni. Thankfully she was able to stop him before he raped her. Lauri and Hank really didn't have much to do together, with the shortened month.

Althea and Penny went to New York City, and Doctor Rosenthal discovered that Penny's vision has gotten worse. The doctor told Althea to lie to Penny, but Penny had to find out the truth as she wondered why she had to do the same tests twice. Mike ran into Penny in the break room, and later they went to the sweet shop together. He convinced her to give school a try, and spoke about how Hank kept him from flunking out of medical school. For Mike, Penny was going to study, and her new tape recorder and typewriter would help her with her work. She found her file in the clinic under the doctor's name, which shows that Hope Memorial needs better security. Penny was horrified, and the only people she gets along with are Mike and Nick. Nick comforted her, but there was nothing Althea could do about it. John wants to be there for Penny and Althea, but isn't helping.

Ann tried to help Steve and Carolee, but made things worse for them. Mona used this to her advantage, and Steve and Carolee's misery intensified. Steve went to talk to Mona on Carolee's behalf, and she made herself look good while subtly trashing Carolee. There is no evidence of her having a heart attack, though she remains in the hospital. Due to stress, Carolee hasn't seen her mother-in-law. He moved into the guest room, which was his idea as they weren't communicating. Billy, who was off screen all month, was mentioned as seeing the problem within the Aldrich house. Ann avoided Mona due to this situation, as she was livid with her, and told Nick about it. We also were told that Steve is going to leave Hope Memorial in two weeks, but due to how time works on "The Doctors", I have no idea how long will it take. I also wonder if someone will be able to stop it from happening, as Mona continues to be unchecked.

Carl and Matt continued to interact angrily, while all Maggie could do is listen to everyone's problems. Vivian, while drunk, called Matt to their apartment. Carl (Charlie) came in and eventually Vivian passed out while the men argued. She was rushed to the hospital, and it is unknown if she will improve.

Those were the highlights of June 1973. There were seven preemptions this month (June 5, 12, 25, 26, 27, 28, & 29) due to Watergate, and two days there were technical problems with RetroTV. The irony of "The Doctors" this month is other than Matt, every other husband on the show is awful. Mike is using drugs and attacking Toni, Carl thought his wife was a drunk, but she had another serious medical problem, John is lying about everything, and Steve is treating Carolee awfully and his home like a hotel as he's moved to the guest room. Soap operas need romantic stories, and instead we're getting jerky men and the women who have to tolerate these messes. Please fix this soon.