Thoughts about "The Doctors" - August 1975

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 August 1975.

Alan was too focused on his personal problems and not his work. Matt suspended him for a week from surgery, and he walked around Hope Memorial at a loss for what to do. Hank realized that Alan was not focusing, and had to be honest with Matt. Later in the month, Hank got a new position with a trauma unit. Toni decided to give Mike a chance as they were still married. Alan was devastated as even a three-month relationship with Mike was too much for him. Toni and Mike decided to go away to the cape to have better memories than the last time they were there, when Mike forced himself on Toni. She didn't arrive when Mike expected, and thought she changed her mind. Instead Toni was upset, as she and Althea believed that Toni was pregnant again. She went to Matt for consoling, and told Mike the truth. He said he would be okay with raising Alan's child with Michael Paul, as it isn't her fault about the pregnancy as that happened two months earlier. Toni though decided she didn't want another baby, which if she had listened to Carolee and Steve, never would have even tried to get pregnant again with her son being so young, but I digress. Althea confirmed the pregnancy, but asked for Steve's help to set up the abortion. He wouldn't do it, but he called Planned Parenthood, which was mentioned by name on camera. (Guess they didn't want the controversy of a regular character doing that procedure on screen.) Maggie was upset over Toni's decision and tried to make her change her mind. Matt, Steve, Althea and Martha all wanted what Toni wanted, as it was her choice. Toni was resolved, and Maggie wanted Alan to know. Surprisingly talk of Toni's pregnancy didn't ruin the meal at the Powers house, though perhaps Maggie was on her best behavior, as she didn't want Greta to get upset. It was mentioned again how Greta was right about Mike, though I do wish someone would apologize to her. Mike wanted to be intimate with Toni, but she said no until she had the abortion. Toni tried to tell Alan, when she finally spoke to him on the phone, but he wouldn't listen. Once Maggie found out where Alan was, she planned to tell him.

Last month, I wished to see Martha and Cadman on a date, and well that happened as they were allowed to spend time together talking in her home. At least they weren't in the lab and got to be close to one another, while watching baby Michael Paul.

Tom seems to be angrier than normal, and the wheels are spinning between him and Althea. They are dating, but it isn't a great relationship, and seems to be an afterthought. He yelled at Martha at the lab, and wasn't happy with Toni and Martha's behavior.


MJ and Penny continued to live together, but their furnished apartment wasn't as furnished as it should be. Think silverware that is broken, and all sorts of other missing things. Althea gave Penny a suitcase worth of stuff. Rico and Penny bonded, while MJ felt left out. Rico took care of putting up curtains and the like. Stacy and MJ interacted as they are both non-biologically tied into the Aldrich family. Rico and Stacy had an affair, which ended as his life needed to be the hospital though they still seem to like one another a little bit.

Erich moved in with Karen, which was not a good thing. Carolee was upset, and wished Steve fought for his son more. Althea worried about Ann getting too close to Steve, and later mentioned it to Carolee. When she saw Steve comforting Ann in bed, (nothing happened), Carolee watched, but didn't interrupt - this was a flashback. Mona returned, and dragged Karen in her own special way. She didn't like how Karen was treating her grandson Erich, and son Steve. Mona was on Carolee's side for a change, too bad Carolee didn't see it. There was a family meeting with Steve, Mona and Erich, which Karen interrupted. Erich didn't seem receptive to hugging or kissing Karen, but had no problem with doing that with Mona or allowing Steve to give him a piggyback ride. Mona also got the apartment back for Ann from the people who were subletting one month early. Ann was going to move out of the Aldrich house. The tension between Ann and Carolee ended after they had a good talk about what had been going on in the house. When Steve walked in and found them together, he thought they were arguing, but they had actually been joking. It was a quick change or so it seemed, as Ann felt good about Carolee seeing her as more than just a wounded jilted fiance of Nick's. This scene was amusing in a weird way, as usually soaps don't show rivals getting along even for a moment.

Once Ann left, Steve and Carolee were alone. We found out that when Carolee saw Billy and Erich off screen, that Erich sometimes didn't get dinner if Karen wasn't happy with him. They had an honest conversation, and Steve admitted that some of Carolee's fears about Erich were warranted, and that he wished things weren't as they were. They became romantic and flirty, (doing it in public...ha) but instead of having fun on the couch, they went to Pete's PM and invited Stacy along. Carolee wanted to have some time with Steve where they'd talk and not only lovemaking. That said it was a bit awkward as Andy was performing, Penny, Rico, and MJ came together as well. Stacy felt left out, as Andy ignored her for MJ, and Penny and Rico danced together. Steve also felt they were too old to be hanging around at Pete's, but if one thinks about it, Stephanie is under five years old, so they are less than a decade older than some members of the junior staff at Hope Memorial, but compared to 18 year old Penny...that's a completely other story.

Those were the highlights of August 1975. No episodes were missing, and the writers and producer changed. So it felt like some stories were ending and quickly. Like I said earlier, glad to see Martha and Cadman together, and Greta being on screen if only for a few minutes, being treated as a person and not an ignorant child.