Along with Mannix, Marcus Welby, M.D. was another of my favorite shows from the 1960's, Mannix being a detective show and Marcus Welby being a medical drama. The series starred Father Knows Best veteran Robert Young as Marcus Welby and James Brolin, father of Josh Brolin and spouse of Barbra Streisand, as his assistant Steve Kiley.
As with most medical dramas of the day, the plots often concerned a professional conflict between well-meaning physicians. Here, Dr. Welby's unorthodox way of treating patients was pitted against the more strait-laced methods of Dr. Steven Kiley (James Brolin). The catch with this particular program was that the roles were reversed in that Dr. Kiley was much younger than Dr. Welby. In the similar series Medical Center, it is the older doctor who is more orthodox and the younger who is radical.
The opening credits of "Welby" for each episode reminded viewers of the generation gap between the two doctors, Welby driving his long sedan and Kiley riding a motorcycle.
This is part one of the Marcus Welby, M.D. episode which introduced viewers to Kathleen Flaverty, played by "Cagney and Lacey" star Sharon Gless. To see the rest of the story go to this YouTube subscribers page: http://www.youtube.com/user/shmoytz
It is presented in five parts. Shmoytz also has many other classic TV shows posted including Gunsmoke, Cannon, and Barnaby Jones. Since his YouTube page is dedicated to Lois Nettleton, I am guessing that she is a guest star in each of these programs.
The doctors worked alongside each other in their private practice in Southern California, regularly working in conjunction with the nearby Lang Memorial Hospital. At the office, their loyal secretary-nurse and friend was Consuelo Lopez (Elena Verdugo). Other characters that appeared throughout the years included Dr. Welby's frequent girlfriend Myra Sherwood (Anne Baxter), his daughter Sandy and her son (first Christine Belford, then Anne Schedeen; and, Gavin Brendan), and Kathleen Faverty (Sharon Gless), another secretary. Dr. Kiley met and married public relations director Janet Blake (Pamela Hensley) in 1975, at the beginning of the show's last season on the air.
Compared to today's "House", "E.R.", "Grey's Anatomy", and "Mercy", MWMD is pretty tame in what it serves up medically. However, where it is still strong to watch is in the drama and stories that were presented each week. This is one of the shows that I was beginning to think was never going to show up on DVD. But now, thanks to Shout! Factory, it is presented in it's entire first season, not split into half seasons and overpriced like you see so often with one hour drama series that are being released these days, especially from the overzealous greedmongers at Paramount/Viacom.
Right now Amazon.Com is featuring it at 15 dollars off of it's list price. One easy way to buy it, and also to help me out a little, is to click on the banner below.
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