It's nice to see other viewers' positive comments. But honestly I didn't feel this was a project worthy of Susan Hayward's unique talents. It felt like a run-of-the-mill version of Marcus Welby M.D., except without a real feminist angle, and the Maggie Cole character could just as easily have been a male doctor mourning the loss of his wife.
The various subplots were not too exciting, though they were sincerely acted. Kudos to Beverly Garland and Jeanette Nolan in particular.
Our star actress was perfectly dressed in every scene and sometimes it looked like she was modeling fashions more than she was playing a doctor. That's one reason I didn't feel this project was right for Hayward. Why make it about the medical profession? Why not have her running a modeling agency, or have her as a glamorous actress whose husband has died and she feels a need to help others? It would have been much more credible than having her play doctor, and quite frankly some of the medical jargon they gave her seemed as if Hayward was having trouble pronouncing those phrases. Again this was not the right fit, not the right scenario for her.
A lot of the dialogue was mediocre and uninspired, and a few things that played out on screen required a bit more from the writers. For instance, why spend time building up the girl's grandmother (Nolan) when that character is nowhere around in the hospital scenes. Surely she'd be there when her granddaughter was dying. Instead it was all about Maggie's grief. They didn't even call the grandmother to tell her that the girl had lapsed into a coma! Not realistic at all.
Also, how could Maggie just leave the hospital to go for a drive when the girl was dying, without Maggie signing out? And her male colleague also just left without signing out or at least telling one of the nurses on staff that he was stepping away. Again, highly unrealistic.
Speaking of nurses, the writers spent considerable time establishing Maidie Norman's character at the beginning but midway through, she just sort of disappears. It was like she became inconsequential.
The script needed more polishing, at least another rewrite. And Hayward deserved something more than this. SAY GOODBYE MAGGIE COLE is a far cry from the Oscar winning material she had in I WANT TO LIVE!
Another thing I want to mention is how medical stories have changed on television since 1972. This show has no resemblance to the high-octane emergency dramas that came later -- programs such as Chicago Hope or ER. In those later series the emphasis was on trauma. However, the Maggie Cole series focuses on feeling good about medical care and that hospitals are not a place to fear, that we can all have a peaceful place to go when we're not feeling well. It was as if the producers' goal was to make viewers feel positively about doctors and hospitals...it was all rather syrupy sweet even when someone was flatlining.
The various subplots were not too exciting, though they were sincerely acted. Kudos to Beverly Garland and Jeanette Nolan in particular.
Our star actress was perfectly dressed in every scene and sometimes it looked like she was modeling fashions more than she was playing a doctor. That's one reason I didn't feel this project was right for Hayward. Why make it about the medical profession? Why not have her running a modeling agency, or have her as a glamorous actress whose husband has died and she feels a need to help others? It would have been much more credible than having her play doctor, and quite frankly some of the medical jargon they gave her seemed as if Hayward was having trouble pronouncing those phrases. Again this was not the right fit, not the right scenario for her.
A lot of the dialogue was mediocre and uninspired, and a few things that played out on screen required a bit more from the writers. For instance, why spend time building up the girl's grandmother (Nolan) when that character is nowhere around in the hospital scenes. Surely she'd be there when her granddaughter was dying. Instead it was all about Maggie's grief. They didn't even call the grandmother to tell her that the girl had lapsed into a coma! Not realistic at all.
Also, how could Maggie just leave the hospital to go for a drive when the girl was dying, without Maggie signing out? And her male colleague also just left without signing out or at least telling one of the nurses on staff that he was stepping away. Again, highly unrealistic.
Speaking of nurses, the writers spent considerable time establishing Maidie Norman's character at the beginning but midway through, she just sort of disappears. It was like she became inconsequential.
The script needed more polishing, at least another rewrite. And Hayward deserved something more than this. SAY GOODBYE MAGGIE COLE is a far cry from the Oscar winning material she had in I WANT TO LIVE!
Another thing I want to mention is how medical stories have changed on television since 1972. This show has no resemblance to the high-octane emergency dramas that came later -- programs such as Chicago Hope or ER. In those later series the emphasis was on trauma. However, the Maggie Cole series focuses on feeling good about medical care and that hospitals are not a place to fear, that we can all have a peaceful place to go when we're not feeling well. It was as if the producers' goal was to make viewers feel positively about doctors and hospitals...it was all rather syrupy sweet even when someone was flatlining.