Saturday, September 12, 2015

Playing Doctor

Jim Metzler and Shelley in a still from Cutter to Houston

Shelley starred in her second TV series in 1983, Cutter to Houston. He co-stars were Jim Metzler and Alec Baldwin. The series was set in Texas and was about three doctors who were assigned to a small town clinic in the fictitious town Cutter. The three were there for different reasons. Shelley played Dr. Beth Gilbert, an ambitious surgeon who needed the assignment as a stepping stone towards her real goal - to become a surgeon in a big city hospital in Houston, Texas. Jim played Dr. Andy Fenton, a general practitioner who grew up in Cutter and was happy to be home. Alec played Dr. Hal Wexler, an internist on probation for writing unnecessary prescriptions, who hadn't quite figured out whether he liked it there or not. The series had a short run, but it had its charm and was gaining ground, audience-wise and critic-wise, before it was canceled. Let's hope it makes it on DVD.

a promo pic of Shelley for Cutter to Houston, 1983