MARCUS WELBY, M.D.: I CAN HARDLY TELL YOU APART (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramas about Marcus Welby, a general practitioner with a special understanding of his patients, and his assistant, Dr. Steven Kiley.
A young woman named June Wilkins accidentally sets herself on fire at her birthday party, suffering severe burns all over her body. She is rushed to the burn ward, where Dr. Welby and Dr. Kiley are on hand as the burn specialist, Dr. Leonard Colman, attends to her. He tells them that the burn damage was so extensive that it damaged her nerve endings, and her prognosis does not look good. Dr. Kiley learns about June's only surviving relative, her sister, and gets Consuelo to contact her. Dr. Welby tries to comfort June, who goes into a panic when she learns her sister is coming, puzzling the doctors. Dr. Welby and Dr. Kiley meet June's sister Jan, whom they discover is June's identical twin. Jan claims that she is not particularly interested in what's happened to June; they have not seen each other in over a year. When Jan sees the unconscious June, she faints from shock.
Jan awakens later alongside Dr. Kiley. She indicates that she resents having an identical twin; she wants to lead her own life separate from June and abhors the notion that they are "interchangeable." This struggle for her own identity was why she didn't attend the birthday party June threw, ostensibly for both of them. June's kidneys begin to fail as Jan leaves, and Dr. Colman leads an hours-long procedure to stabilize June. However, the doctors realize that June doesn't have enough undamaged skin left for them to make proper skin grafts for her. She is also experiencing depression, which Dr. Kiley and Dr. Welby believe will be an impediment to her recovery. June believes that Jan hates her, and Dr. Kiley decides to attend a seminar on raising identical twin children in order to gain insight into June and Jan's relationship.
The next day, Dr. Kiley visits Jan in her home, where she teaches a study group for very young children in need of special attention. While waiting for her lessons to finish, Dr. Kiley notes a number of paintings by Jan, all of which seem to revolve around the idea of the loss of identity. He asks Jan out to dinner, where they talk about June's deteriorating mental state. Jan claims that while she doesn't hate June, she tries not to have any strong feelings towards her. Dr. Kiley believes that their strained relationship is simply a form of "sibling rivalry," and he convinces Jan to visit June again. However, when they get to the hospital they discover that June's condition has taken a turn for the worse, and that she will require skin grafts as soon as possible. Dr. Welby and Dr. Kiley approach Jan about the subject, and she leaves, feeling as though she has been set up. Dr. Kiley talks to Dr. Welby about what he discovered about Jan's feelings and fears, and Dr. Welby asks him to help Jan get her emotions straightened out.
Jan slowly becomes unhinged, drinking heavily and recalling memories from her childhood. Dr. Kiley eventually finds her passed out behind the wheel, with her car stuck on a curb. He reawakens her and brings her to the hospital, finally convincing her to go through with the skin graft donation. The sisters have a brief reunion before heading into surgery for the skin graft procedure. After many painstaking hours, the skin graft is successful. As the sisters recover, they rekindle their relationship and Jan comes to terms with her sense of individuality. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: October 5, 1971 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:50:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:87752
- GENRE: Drama, medical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, medical
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1969-1976
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Victor … Executive Producer, Created by
- David J. O'Connell … Producer
- Leo Penn … Director
- Joanne Court … Writer
- Leonard Rosenman … Music by
- Robert Young … Cast, Dr. Marcus Welby
- James Brolin … Cast, Dr. Steven Kiley
- Elena Verdugo … Cast, Consuelo Lopez
- Sally Field … Cast, Jan Wilkins, June Wilkins
- Russell Johnson … Cast, Dr. Leonard Colman
- Jeane Byron … Cast, Dr. A. Koerner
- Wayne Heffley … Cast, Bernie
- Maggie Malooly … Cast, First Young Mother
- Amentha Dymally … Cast, Second Young Mother
- Maria Fabian … Cast, Nurse
- Hope Wainwright … Cast, Sue
- Michael Stearns … Cast, Andy
- Jackie Russell … Cast, Young Woman
- Claudio Martinez … Cast, Arnoldo
- Venetta Rogers … Cast, Dodie