Thoughts about "The Doctors" - January 1977

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 January 1977.

Towards the end of the month, Jerry and Penny got married after they argued the night before. We didn't see Penny's bachelorette party, but we did see the guys gather for Jerry at Andre's. Penny got a check from her father that she wanted to use to pay for a better apartment, which upset her fiance. Their first night together was in their new place, though they got interrupted by their new landlady. Jerry's best man was Jason, and MJ stood up for Penny.

Barney was in the hospital, and Sara saw him accidentally as she was going to see Eleanor. They were shocked to see one another. Sara called Jerry, and Jerry said all the kids have to decide what to do together. Luke didn't want to tell their mother, but the others did. Initially once Virginia was told, she was the only one who could see him, but eventually everyone else could visit. Luke used the money Eleanor had given him for art school to run away, he returned before the end of the month, but after Jerry and Penny's wedding so he could not be the best man. Barney has hepatitis from donating too much blood and unclean conditions. If he becomes too upset, it could risk his health, so he doesn't know about Joan's death. Virginia wants to take him home, once he is released, but the others are not sure this is a good idea.

Nola and Wayne's relationship was short-lived as he wanted sex, and she did not. He decided to go back to Texas, Jason and Nola spent some time together on a date. Mona was not happy about this idea. Nola is sometimes filling for Sara watching Michael Paul. Matt seems to like this, but Maggie does not. Matt rebuffed Maggie in bed, and Greta knows they are having issues. Matt won't even speak to Mike on the phone due to their fight, as Mike remains in California.

Early in the month, Paul announced his marriage to Stacy to everyone. She wanted to tell the truth about what she did, but doing this kept her quiet. They also shared the pregnancy, and Stacy and Paul went away for a few days to Canada. He came back to work, and she remained in the woods. Paul also averted the strike, and kept Carolee's picture from those who would recognize it. Althea also spoke to Dr. Brandt, but did not receive the image as Paul hid it. Ann lied that she worked with "MaryEllen", and backed up the phony story as she called the clinic that has Carolee. Carolee's vocabulary increased, but not enough to make a difference, Dr. Brandt didn't understand why Steve and Doctor were put together (ha ha).

Ann went to the mountains with Steve, Erich and Steffy. Steve flashbacked to a time where he and Carolee were alone in the woods again, and we also saw an alternative New Year's Eve (after the New Year) with them together discussing her pregnancy (timeline wise not inaccurate). There were also bad memories of Ann and the name added to Carolee's speech. Steve went to Jason to get divorce papers, which he signed. After coming back from the mountains, Steve went over to Matt's to invite Billy to spend an evening having dinner at Ann's place. Billy said no, but Greta convinced him, and the kids were thrilled to see their brother. Steve was still interested in MJ, but backed off as she said she didn't love him, but she clearly did as she told her visiting brother Darren. She also was talking about moving to NJ to get away from Steve. While Steve was at the hospital trying to save a woman who died after having three kids (separate pregnancies), Steffy was ailing at home. Ann got a sample to Martha, and it was strep, so Steffy has rheumatic fever, and was going to be rushed to the hospital as the month ended.

Those were the highlights of "The Doctors" for January 1977. There was no episode on January 20, 1977 due to the Carter inauguration, and January 25th was missing. This was a big disappointment, as that was Jerry and Penny's wedding. So we went from Jason and Tom couldn't find Jerry to Jerry carrying Penny over the threshold. Jerry's friend Tom is being played at this point, by James Rebhorn, who had a long career and died in the last five years. The last major role he had was playing Carrie's Dad on "Homeland", but he worked on and off soaps for many years, and was one of those recognizable actors in prime time and movie projects.