The Nurses (TV series)
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 second 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]
| The Nurses | |
|---|---|
 Zina Bethune, Joseph Campanella and Diana Hyland in a scene from the program, 1965. | |
| Also known as | The Doctors and the Nurses |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 98 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Herbert Brodkin |
| Producer(s) | Arthur Lewis (1962–1964) Arthur Joel Katz (1964–1965) |
| Editor(s) | Lyman Hallowell |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Plautus Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | September 27, 1962 – May 11, 1965 |
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
- Shirl Conway
- Edward Binns (1962–1964)
- Stephen Brooks (1963–1964)
- Michael Tolan (1964–1965)
- Joseph Campanella (1964–1965)
ABC TV series
| The Nurses | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Mary Fickett Melinda Cordell Nicholas Pryor Paul Stevens Lesley Woods Lee Patterson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 395 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | September 27, 1965 – March 31, 1967 |
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.[3]
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. 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
- Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 319. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.