Guest Who: Call for "The Doctors"

We catch all sorts of heat at work for daring to watch vintage television during our sole 20-minute break. Flipping between The Doctors (a daytime drama that aired from 1963-1982), Ray Combs installments of Family Feud, The Big Valley and The Ed Sullivan Show, we have to endure endless comments from passersby such as, "What the hell are you watching??" or "Is this some old show or what..." There are joys though, too, such as when I am watching The Doctors and spy something interesting or unusual.

Take, for example, this episode. Thanks to a complicated (it is a soap opera after all!) story line that I won't bore you with, one of the primary doctors and his doctor wife find themselves in need of a psychologist for their young daughter. They fretfully consult with a young doctor on staff at the hospital over how to best proceed with the situation.

The doctor turns out to be none other than a young Ted Danson! This is an uncredited appearance that cannot be found at imdb.com. It aired in February, 1975 and is very likely his first time acting on national television in a speaking role. He was twenty-eight.

Later that year, he won a regular role on another soap opera, Somerset, and stayed for close to two years. Then in 1977, he returned to The Doctors as an entirely different, regular character.

We love having the ability to unearth these early bits of work by people who later became famous for something else (in Danson's case, a long run on Cheers and a variety of movies such as Three Men and a Baby among a multitude of other projects continuing up to the present.)

Of course, we also enjoy The Doctors because it gives us a chance to watch the early work of one Gil Gerard, best known for playing Buck Rogers in the 25th Century from 1979 to 1981. He wasn't a guest, but played a regular character for about two years. He's seen here during a marriage ceremony.

After the ceremony, the lovebirds head off on their honeymoon and ol' Gil starts to strip down (as far as 1975 daytime TV would allow.)

He and his newlywed bride enjoy some champagne and a few soulful kisses until the hit song "The First Time Ever (I Saw Your Face)" comes on and they embark on their primary honeymoon task (which, for them, truly was "the first time!")

This wasn't Gerard's acting debut. He'd been in countless TV commercials and had a couple of small film roles before this. His run on the show was getting close to an end, though it wasn't long before he was cast in Airport '77, the place we first experienced him. He was thirty-two at the time. If our keen eyes spot anyone else of note, you'll be the first to hear about it!