The Nurses (TV series)

*The Nurses*
The Nurses
Starring	Mary Fickett; Melinda Cordell; Nicholas Pryor; Paul Stevens; Lesley Woods; Lee Patterson
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	395[citation needed]
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	September 27, 1965 –; March 31, 1967

*The Nurses*
The Nurses
	Zina Bethune, Joseph Campanella and guest star Diana Hyland in a scene from the program, 1965.
Also known as	The Doctors and the Nurses
Starring	Zina Bethune; Shirl Conway; Edward Binns; Stephen Brooks; Michael Tolan; Joseph Campanella;
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	98
Production
Executive producer	Herbert Brodkin
Producers	Arthur Lewis (1962–1964); Arthur Joel Katz (1964–1965)
Editor	Lyman Hallowell
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	Plautus Productions
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 27, 1962 –; May 11, 1965

The Nurses is a serialized primetime medical drama that was broadcast in the United States on CBS from September 27, 1962, to May 11, 1965. For the third and final season, the title was expanded to The Doctors and the Nurses and it ran until 1965, when it was transformed into a half-hour daytime soap opera. The soap opera, also called The Nurses, ran on ABC from 1965 to 1967.^[1]

Synopsis

The series is set in Alden General Hospital (patterned after Roosevelt Hospital) in New York, and the primetime program starred Zina Bethune as Gail Lucas, the young nurse, and Shirl Conway as Liz Thorpe, her older nurse mentor.

Unlike most television dramas of the era, save for ABC's police drama Naked City (1958–1963) and the sitcom The Patty Duke Show (1963–1966), the series was filmed in New York and not Hollywood. The show was mainly filmed at the Filmways and Pathe Studios in Manhattan.

The program was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards.^[2]

Cast

Zina Bethune as Gail Lucas
Shirl Conway as Liz Thorpe
Michael Tolan as Dr. Alex Tazinski (1964–1965)
Joseph Campanella as Dr. Ted Steffen (1964–1965)

Other performers who appeared in episodes were Billie Allen, Margaret Barker, John Beal, Lane Bradbury, Sandra Church, Michael Conrad, Ruby Dee, Ivan Dixon, Dana Elcar, Elizabeth Frazier, Robert Gerringer, Arlene Golonka American actress, George Grizzard, Vincent Guardino, Larry Haines, Barbara Harris, Joey Heatherton, William Hickey, Dustin Hoffman, Ellen Holly, Bernard Hughes, Kim Hunter, Diana Hyland, Albert Grant, Lee Grant, Judson Laire, John Lasell, Linda Lavin, Joeseph Leon, Vivica Lindfors, Clifton James, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Jan Miner, Kermit Murdock, Peg Murray, Susan Oliver, Estelle Parsons,Jane Rose, Polly Rowles, Diana Sands, Zackary Scott, Fran Sharon, William Shatner, Martin Sheen, Joe Silver, Hilda Simms, Paul Stevens, Inger Stevens, Elaine Stritch, Florence Stanley, Michael Strong, and Dolph Sweet.

Episodes

Season 1 (1962–63)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Night Shift"	David Greene	John Vlahos	September 27, 1962 (1962-09-27)
2	2	"The Walls Came Tumbling Down"	Herbert Hirschman	Andy Lewis	October 4, 1962 (1962-10-04)
3	3	"Fly, Shadow"	Herman Hoffman	Franklin Barton	October 11, 1962 (1962-10-11)
4	4	"The Barbara Bowers Story"	Herman Hoffman	Al Brenner	October 18, 1962 (1962-10-18)
5	5	"Dr. Lillian"	Don Richardson	Leon Tokatyan	October 25, 1962 (1962-10-25)
6	6	"A Private Room"	Don Richardson	Irving Gaynor Neiman	November 1, 1962 (1962-11-01)
7	7	"The Prisoner"	Elliot Silverstein	George Bellak	November 8, 1962 (1962-11-08)
8	8	"A Strange and Distant Place"	Jose Quintero	Alvin Boretz	November 15, 1962 (1962-11-15)
9	9	"Two Black Candles"	Jose Quintero	Norman Lessing	November 22, 1962 (1962-11-22)
10	10	"The Lady Made of Stone"	Herman Hoffman	Alvin Boretz	November 29, 1962 (1962-11-29)
11	11	"Frieda"	Lamont Johnson	Albert Ruben	December 6, 1962 (1962-12-06)
12	12	"The Soft Touch"	Paul Stewart	John Hess	December 13, 1962 (1962-12-13)
13	13	"Image of Angela"	Elliot Silverstein	Franklin Barton & Leon Tokatyan	December 27, 1962 (1962-12-27)
14	14	"A Difference of Years"	Herman Hoffman	Andy Lewis	January 3, 1963 (1963-01-03)
15	15	"Root of Violence"	John Newland	Mel Goldberg	January 10, 1963 (1963-01-10)
16	16	"Many a Sullivan"	Herman Hoffman	Edward Adler & Albert Ruben	January 17, 1963 (1963-01-17)
17	17	"Night Sounds"	Don Richardson	Larry Cohen	January 24, 1963 (1963-01-24)
18	18	"The Third Generation"	Gerald Meyer	Stanley R. Greenberg	February 7, 1963 (1963-02-07)
19	19	"The Life"	Don Richardson	Alvin Sargent	February 14, 1963 (1963-02-14)
20	20	"Circle of Choice"	Gerald Meyer	George Bellak	February 21, 1963 (1963-02-21)
21	21	"The Perfect Nurse"	John Peyser	Leon Tokatyan	February 28, 1963 (1963-02-28)
22	22	"The Thunder of Ernie Bass"	Jose Quintero	Albert Ruben	March 7, 1963 (1963-03-07)
23	23	"The Saturday Evening of Time"	David Greene	Alvin Sargent	March 14, 1963 (1963-03-14)
24	24	"A Question of Mercy"	Stuart Rosenberg	Leon Tokatyan	March 21, 1963 (1963-03-21)
25	25	"Party Girl"	Robert Gist & Stuart Rosenberg	Larry Cohen	March 28, 1963 (1963-03-28)
26	26	"A Dark World"	Don Richardson	George Bellak	April 11, 1963 (1963-04-11)
27	27	"You Could Die Laughing"	Herman Hoffman	George Bellak	April 18, 1963 (1963-04-18)
28	28	"Choice Among Wrongs"	Paul Bogart	Andy Lewis	May 2, 1963 (1963-05-02)
29	29	"Express Stop form Lenox Avenue"	Stuart Rosenberg	Adrian Spies	May 9, 1963 (1963-05-09)
30	30	"Bitter Pill"	Herman Hoffman	Leonard Kanter	May 23, 1963 (1963-05-23)
31	31	"Field of Battle"	Don Richardson	Albert Ruben	May 30, 1963 (1963-05-30)
32	32	"They Are as Lions"	Alex March	Alvin Boretz	June 6, 1963 (1963-06-06)

Season 2 (1963–64)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
33	1	"No Score"	Stuart Rosenberg	Arnold Perl	September 26, 1963 (1963-09-26)
34	2	"Show Just Cause Why You Should Weep"	Lamont Johnson	Andy Lewis	October 3, 1963 (1963-10-03)
35	3	"Escape Route"	Stuart Rosenberg	Richard McCracken	October 10, 1963 (1963-10-10)
36	4	"The Gift"	Alex March	Larry Cohen	October 17, 1963 (1963-10-17)
37	5	"Strike"	Elliot Silverstein	Albert Ruben	October 24, 1963 (1963-10-24)
38	6	"The Horn of Plenty"	Alex March	Ted Apstein	October 31, 1963 (1963-10-31)
39	7	"The Helping Hand"	Dick Donner	Art Wallace	November 7, 1963 (1963-11-07)
40	8	"Ordeal"	Ralph Senensky	Harold Gast	November 14, 1963 (1963-11-14)
41	9	"The Guilt of Molly Kane"	Paul Bogart	Alvin Sargent	November 21, 1963 (1963-11-21)
42	10	"The Unwanted"	Charles S. Dubin	Stanley R. Greenberg	November 28, 1963 (1963-11-28)
43	11	"Disaster Call"	Gerald Meyer	Richard McCracken	December 5, 1963 (1963-12-05)
44	12	"To Spend, to Give, to Want"	Charles S. Dubin	Andy Lewis	December 12, 1963 (1963-12-12)
45	13	"The Witch of the East Wing"	Gerald Meyer	Archie L. Tegland	December 19, 1963 (1963-12-19)
46	14	"Rally Round, My Comrades"	Charles S. Dubin	Alvin Boretz	December 26, 1963 (1963-12-26)
47	15	"The Seeing Heart"	Gerald Meyer	Alvin Boretz	January 2, 1964 (1964-01-02)
48	16	"Credo"	Stuart Rosenberg	Leon Tokatyan	January 9, 1964 (1964-01-09)
49	17	"The Rainbow Ride"	Paul Bogart	Leon Tokatyan	January 16, 1964 (1964-01-16)
50	18	"The Intern Syndrome"	Ralph Senensky	Harold Gast	January 23, 1964 (1964-01-23)
51	19	"Is There Room for Edward?"	Buzz Kulik	Alvin Sargent	January 30, 1964 (1964-01-30)
52	20	"The Roamer"	Gerald Meyer	Harold Gast	February 6, 1964 (1964-02-06)
53	21	"Nurse is a Feminine Noun"	Paul Bogart	Robert Van Scoyk	February 13, 1964 (1964-02-13)
54	22	"The Imperfect Prodigy"	James Sheldon	Albert Ruben	February 20, 1964 (1964-02-20)
55	23	"For the Mice and the Rabbits"	David Greene	Art Wallace	February 27, 1964 (1964-02-27)
56	24	"Climb a Broken Ladder"	Elliot Silverstein	Art Wallace	March 12, 1964 (1964-03-12)
57	25	"The Forever Child"	Paul Bogart	Alvin Boretz	March 19, 1964 (1964-03-19)
58	26	"A King of Loving"	Alex Segal	Leon Tokatyan	April 2, 1964 (1964-04-02)
59	27	"The Leopard Killer"	Tom Gries	Harold Gast	April 9, 1964 (1964-04-09)
60	28	"The Gismo on the EEG"	Paul Bogart	Albert Ruben	April 16, 1964 (1964-04-16)
61	29	"The Human Transaction"	Leonard Horn	Andy Lewis	April 23, 1964 (1964-04-23)
62	30	"To All My Friends on Shore"	Stuart Rosenberg	Allan Sloane	May 7, 1964 (1964-05-07)
63	31	"White on White"	Paul Bogart	Robert Van Scoyk	May 14, 1964 (1964-05-14)
64	32	"A Postcard from Yucatan"	David Greene	Alvin Sargent	May 21, 1964 (1964-05-21)
65	33	"The Bystanders"	Marvin Chomsky	Art Wallace	May 28, 1964 (1964-05-28)
66	34	"Where Park Runs into Vreeland"	Lamont Johnson	Allan Sloane	June 11, 1964 (1964-06-11)
67	35	"The Warrior"	Buzz Kulik	Stanley R. Greenberg	June 18, 1964 (1964-06-18)
68	36	"The Love of a Smart Operator"	Paul Bogart	Harold Gast	June 25, 1964 (1964-06-25)

Season 3: The Doctors and the Nurses (1964–65)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
69	1	"Once Bitten"	Paul Bogart	Ernest Kinoy	September 22, 1964 (1964-09-22)
70	2	"The Suspect: Part 1"	Robert Stevens	Art Wallace	September 29, 1964 (1964-09-29)
71	3	"The Suspect: Part 2"	Robert Stevens	Art Wallace	October 6, 1964 (1964-10-06)
72	4	"Respect of One for Another"	David Greene	Andy Lewis	October 13, 1964 (1964-10-13)
73	5	"No Shadow Where There is No Sun"	Paul Sylbert	Alvin Boretz	October 20, 1964 (1964-10-20)
74	6	"Hildie"	Lamont Johnson	Albert Ruben	October 27, 1964 (1964-10-27)
75	7	"The Outpost"	László Benedek	Alvin Boretz	November 10, 1964 (1964-11-10)
76	8	"The Family Resemblance"	Stuart Rosenberg	Robert Schlitt	November 17, 1964 (1964-11-17)
77	9	"Time for You and Time for Me"	Robert Stevens	Leon Tokatyan	November 24, 1964 (1964-11-24)
78	10	"So Some Girls Play the Cello"	Stuart Rosenberg	Alvin Sargent	December 1, 1964 (1964-12-01)
79	11	"Rites of Spring"	Robert Stevens	Robert Crean	December 8, 1964 (1964-12-08)
80	12	"Next Stop, Valhalla"	László Benedek	Sheldon Stark	December 15, 1964 (1964-12-15)
81	13	"The Skill in These Hands"	Vincent Donehue	Doug Taylor	December 22, 1964 (1964-12-22)
82	14	"A Messenger to Everyone"	Marvin Chomsky	Andy Lewis	December 29, 1964 (1964-12-29)
83	15	"Last Rites of a Rag Doll"	Stuart Rosenberg	Waldo Salt	January 5, 1965 (1965-01-05)
84	16	"The Patient Nurse"	Leonard Horn	Robert Van Scoyk	January 12, 1965 (1965-01-12)
85	17	"A Couple of Dozen Tiny Pills"	David Greene	Edward DeBlasio	January 19, 1965 (1965-01-19)
86	18	"A Question of Murder"	Robert Stevens	Leon Tokatyan	January 26, 1965 (1965-01-26)
87	19	"Night of the Witch"	Paul Bogart	Stanley R. Greenberg	February 2, 1965 (1965-02-02)
88	20	"Sixteen Hours to Chicago"	Paul Bogart	Doug Taylor	February 9, 1965 (1965-02-09)
89	21	"Act of Violence: Part 1"	Daniel Petrie	Albert Ruben	February 16, 1965 (1965-02-16)
Crossover episode with For the People.^[3]
90	22	"A Dangerous Silence"	Gerald Meyer	Alvin Boretz	March 2, 1965 (1965-03-02)
91	23	"Where There's Smoke"	Daniel Petrie	Robert Van Scoyk	March 9, 1965 (1965-03-09)
92	24	"The Politicians"	Leonard Horn	Alvin Boretz	March 16, 1965 (1965-03-16)
93	25	"The April Thaw of Dr. Mai"	Paul Bogart	Robert Crean	March 30, 1965 (1965-03-30)
94	26	"Threshold"	Leonard Horn	Edward DeBlasio	April 6, 1965 (1965-04-06)
95	27	"A39846"	Michael Powell	George Bellak	April 20, 1965 (1965-04-20)
96	28	"The Witnesses"	Herschel Daugherty	Irving Gaynor Neiman	April 27, 1965 (1965-04-27)
97	29	"The Heroine"	David Pres	James Yaffe	May 4, 1965 (1965-05-04)
98	30	"An Unweeded Garden"	Marvin Chomsky	Robert Schlitt	May 11, 1965 (1965-05-11)

ABC TV series

The Nurses is an American daytime soap opera that aired on ABC from September 27, 1965, to March 31, 1967. The show was a continuation of the CBS primetime drama.^[4]

The setting was Alden General Hospital and the main characters included Mary Fickett as Liz Thorpe, R. N, and Melinda Cordell as the younger and less experienced Gail Lucas, R. N., along with Arthur Franz as Hugh McCloud, Valerie French as Helen Cox, Judson Laire as Jamie McCloud, Lee Patterson as Brad Kirnan, Nicholas Pryor as Ken Alexander, Polly Rowles as Miss Grassberg, Paul Stevens as Dr. Paul Fuller, and Lesley Woods as Vivian Gentry.

Production

Richard Holland and Gordon Russell were the head writers. The executive producer was Doris Quinlan, who later produced One Life to Live, All My Children and The Doctors Several of the performers on this show were later on One Life to Live and All My Children. The music for the series was composed by Frank Lewin.

References

^ Schemering, Christopher (1987). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 166. ISBN 0-345-35344-7.
^ Primetime Emmy nominations 1963–1964
^ Newton, Dwight (February 12, 1965). "Short Notes and Quotes". San Francisco Examiner. p. 39. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 319. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.

External links

The Nurses (CBS) at IMDb
The Nurses (ABC) at IMDb

[1] Schemering, Christopher (1987). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 166. ISBN 0-345-35344-7.

[2] Primetime Emmy nominations 1963–1964

[3] Newton, Dwight (February 12, 1965). "Short Notes and Quotes". San Francisco Examiner. p. 39. Retrieved April 29, 2021.

[Daytime-4] Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 319. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Daytime television soap operas in the United States
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1960s debuts	Another World (1964–1999) Ben Jerrod (1963) Bright Promise (1969–1972) The Clear Horizon (1960–1962) Dark Shadows (1966–1971) Days of Our Lives (1965–2022) The Doctors (1963–1982) A Flame in the Wind (1964–1966) Full Circle (1960–1961) General Hospital (1963–present) Hidden Faces (1968–1969) Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967–1973) Moment of Truth (1965) Morning Star (1965–1966) Never Too Young (1965–1966) The Nurses (1965–1967) One Life to Live (1968–2012) Our Five Daughters (1962) Our Private World (1965) Paradise Bay (1965–1966) Peyton Place (1964–1969) Where the Heart Is (1969–1973) The Young Marrieds (1964–1966)
1970s debuts	All My Children (1970–2011) The Best of Everything (1970) Bird of the Iron Feather (1970) How to Survive a Marriage (1974–1975) Lovers and Friends/For Richer, For Poorer (1977–1978) Return to Peyton Place (1972–1974) Ryan's Hope (1975–1989) Somerset (1970–1976) A World Apart (1970–1971) The Young and the Restless (1973–present)
1980s debuts	Another Life (1981–1984) The Bold and the Beautiful (1987–present) Capitol (1982–1987) Generations (1989–1991) Loving (1983–1995) Rituals (1984–1985) Santa Barbara (1984–1993) Texas (1980–1982)
1990s debuts	The City (1995–1997) Passions (1999–2008) Port Charles (1997–2003) Sunset Beach (1997–1999) Swans Crossing (1992) Tribes (1990)
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Web series	All My Children (2013) Anacostia (2009–2018) As the Cookie Crumbles (2008) The Bay (2010–2015) Beacon Hill (2014) The Cavanaughs (2010–2011) DeVanity (2011–2014) East Los High (2013–2017) EastSiders (2012–2020) Miss Behave (2010–2012) One Life to Live (2013) Ragged Isle (2011–2014) River Ridge (2012) The Spot (1995–1997) Tainted Dreams (2013–2014) They Go On (1997) Venice: The Series (2009–2014) What If... (2010) Winterthorne (2015) Youthful Daze (2012–2016) Days of Our Lives (2022–present)
Upcoming	The Gates (2025)