Thoughts about "The Doctors" - July 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 July 1973.

Early in the month, Mike gave more attention to Penny than his wife. He spent his day off taking Penny out on a picnic to the lake, and also they went to the sweet shop. (Poor Greta wasn't seen or invited and it is Summer, so she didn't have school unlike Penny who should be studying to make up for missed courses. Maggie told Althea what was going on, and that Penny was getting the wrong idea. Mike and Penny were acting more like they were dating than as platonic friends, including Mike taking his shirt off at the lake. Mike and Toni continued to argue, and Penny thought she may have a chance. Penny used her tape recorder (which was reel to reel) to speak her work, and then type. She left it on one afternoon, while out, which will come back to haunt John Morrison.

Ann and Nick continued to date, and she's the only one who believes him about everything. Nick and John Morrison had a confrontation in Althea's apartment, which was caught on tape unknowingly. John admitted to what Nick accused him of in regards to Kathy, John knew about the pregnancy and miscarriage, and he could walk before he announced it to everyone. Nick went to Matt thinking this would be enough to get John in trouble at the hospital, but John denied it all. Matt can't just take Nick's word about John's behavior. What happiness Ann and Nick had was short-lived as the night after Ann's mother gave Nick, her blessing over the phone, Ann's parents were killed in a boating accident. It blew up, and they went to Acapulco for more information and to take care of their remains. (Ann also was manipulated by Mona, though at first she was against her.) Also, Althea and John weren't happy, and his one-weekend lover Lisa returned to his orbit. Things don't look good for John Morrison.

Mona continued to interfere in Steve and Carolee's life even from her hospital bed. The day before Mona was released, Carolee confronted Mona, but nothing happened. Steve was in the middle, but took his mother's side against his wife at every turn. Billy realized his surrogate parents weren't happy, as Steve was in the guest room. Steve told Billy, this was temporary while Steve recovers from a cold. The family discussed having a cookout, until Steve recalled he promised to have drinks with Mona. Steve brought Mona to the house, while Carolee was at work, so she could see the grandkids. (We only heard a crying Stephanie, and nothing else.) When Steve was called away, Mona was able to get Billy to admit that Steve and Carolee are having issues. Mona had called Winston Croft, a guy who had a crush on her, and a doctor from Boston, who had delivered both Jason and Steve. He was getting ready to retire, Win told Mona that he'd give Steve his medical practice, if Mona would marry him. Mona called Carolee appalling to Win, and thought the best thing would be for Steve to leave Madison. Meanwhile Althea finally got through to Steve, they ran into each other in the elevator. Althea explained how Carolee felt that Steve didn't love her anymore, and she wasn't apologizing because of fear not price. Steve listened, and didn't come home until Billy went to bed. Carolee felt that Steve was going to ask for a divorce, and was happily stunned that he wanted things to work out between them. Carolee admitted even though he moved out of their bedroom, she never locked the door, so he could've come in at any time. Steve told her, he didn't expect Carolee and Mona to love each other, even if they were both important to him. They hugged, kissed and since we haven't seen them on screen since have been presumably up to other things like Althea suggested.

While in Vivian's room, Matt figured out what was wrong with her, after she was moved to her side. Vivian spent a lot of time in a coma, and Carl was frustrated, as he wondered if her heart problem was fixed, it doesn't mean she'll be okay. Carl explained everything to Matt about his past as Charlie. Maggie stayed up until 1 am for Matt to complete the surgery on Vivian. Matt felt that he should have done something for Carl all those years ago, and wanted to make up for it. Carl explained how his marriage fell apart after what happened in Oregon, as Vivian wanted revenge more than anything else. Vivian started waking up, and perhaps Carl and Vivian will get their happy ending. Carl even was decent to Mike for a change, though Mike's latest poor work could have put someone in danger. (Oddly enough this mixture of drugs was something Carl wrongly accused Mike of using on a patient in the past.) Matt had to suspend Mike from the hospital.

Those were the highlights of July 1973. There were five (July 11, 16, 19, 24, and 27) preemptions for Watergate. I'm so glad that Steve and Carolee reunited, as it was a rough few months for them. While he hasn't completely made up for his awful behavior, Steve went in the right direction. I have to wonder if the program got some negative feedback, as his behavior was clueless and shameful. Hopefully Mona will be caught in her lies soon.