MEDICAL CENTER: IMPASSE (TV)

Summary

One in this series of medical dramas about the cases of Dr. Paul Lochner, chief of staff at a Los Angeles university hospital called Medical Center, and his friend and colleague, Dr. Joe Gannon, a young professor of surgery.

A young college student named Tobi collapses while fending off her overly-amorous date, and is brought into the hospital. Dr. Gannon is unhappy that a psychiatrist, Dr. Annie Claymor, is interfering with his medication assignments due to her studies on the psychological states of heart patients. He invites her along while he treats Tobi, hoping to change her mind about hospital procedure. Tobi insists that the hospital is not able to help her, and that they should allow her to die. While Dr. Gannon is in surgery, Dr. Claymor investigates a discrepancy in Tobi’s blood chemistry report, and discovers that Tobi apparently lied about taking her pill. Dr. Claymor reports this back to Dr. Gannon and warns him that Tobi is secretly “explosive.” The next day, Dr. Gannon visits Dr. Claymor at her apartment, reporting that the medication isn’t working on Tobi and she will require a myotomy to save her life. However, Tobi has not given consent for the procedure and will not explain why. He hopes that Dr. Claymor might be able to convince her otherwise, since Dr. Claymor deduced many of her issues, including some sort of sexual problem. Dr. Claymor agrees to try, but asks Dr. Gannon for his absolute trust in her, and he agrees.

Dr. Claymor starts talking with Tobi, who discusses her small-town upbringing and transition to city life. She points out that Tobi’s behavior was quite startling when she arrived at the hospital, but Tobi attributes this to “a little blow-up” with her date which will soon be forgotten. Dr. Claymor apprises her of the seriousness of the situation with her heart, and Tobi admits that she needs time to think it over; she seems to respond well to Dr. Claymor and asks to see her again if need be. Dr. Claymor then receives a mysterious call from an unknown source, accusing her of being a lesbian. Later Dr. Gannon meets with Dr. Claymor again, sensing that she is distressed. He asks her out to a football game with him, and she accepts. Afterwards, over dinner, she talks to him about how she got into psychiatry. When she believes that he may be growing attracted to her, she nearly tells him about her homosexuality, but decides not to. While dropping her off, Dr. Gannon kisses her and asks her out again, but she declines, claiming that she doesn’t want to suffer any “emotional entanglement.”

Tobi gets a call from one of her fellow students, Sarah, who is concerned about her. She tells her that her condition isn’t serious and that she’ll be out soon before hanging up on her abruptly, seemingly unnerved by the call. She is then visited by Sam, another boyfriend of hers’, and seems glad to see him. He has just returned from Mexico several weeks after their break-up, but claims he was lonely and wants to get back together with her. He invites her to come back down to Mexico with him, but she declines, saying she needs more time. She seems to suffer a panic attack, screaming that she can’t be with him. Sam calls in Dr. Gannon and Dr. Claymor, who stabilize her and calm her down with a sedative. Sam tells Dr. Gannon that he is mystified by Tobi’s behavior, and is unhappy that she is seeing a psychiatrist until Dr. Gannon explains that Tobi’s condition is far worse than she is letting on, asking him to stay away from Tobi for the time being.

Together, Dr. Gannon and Dr. Claymor try to work out the cause behind Tobi’s problems using the facts they know so far. She agrees that Sam should stay away for the time being. Outside of the hospital, an outraged Sam confronts Dr. Gannon, informing him that Dr. Claymor is a lesbian and shouldn’t be let near Tobi. Dr. Gannon doesn’t believe him, and later visits Dr. Claymor at her apartment. He tells her about his encounter with Sam and she admits that it is the truth. Dr. Gannon does not take the news well, and they have an argument wherein Dr. Gannon reveals his ignorance about lesbianism and Dr. Claymor tries to set him right. Eventually he admits that he needs her on the case, and Dr. Claymor agrees, trying to get Dr. Gannon to change his subconscious view of lesbians as universally misandrist. She hopes to secure his trust again for the case, and he manages to patch things up with her.

Sam manages to visit Tobi again, against her wishes, to give her a present. She insists that she can’t see him at this point and he expresses his concern about her interactions with Dr. Claymor. He reveals Dr. Claymor’s sexuality to her, and believes that she is attempting to turn Tobi into one as well. She later confronts Dr. Gannon about this, leaving her quite distressed. Dr. Gannon and Dr. Claymor confer to determine what is to be done about this. Based on Tobi’s reactions, Dr. Gannon suspects that Tobi is herself a lesbian in denial, although Dr. Claymor does not concur. They decide to definitively determine whether Tobi is a lesbian or not. Tobi secretly calls Sarah, who asks her to come over and talk over her problems. At this, Tobi flies into another panic and runs through the hospital corridors, chased by Dr. Gannon and Dr. Claymor. They end up on the roof, where Tobi threatens to jump off. Dr. Gannon sends Dr. Claymor out to try to calm her down. They have a heated argument, wherein Tobi reveals that she views her own homosexuality as a “sickness” which cannot be cured.

Tobi explains to Dr. Claymor that she hates men and after she broke up with Sam went to talk to her friend Sarah, who offered her comfort and support. Her confused feelings over the incident convinced her that she was a lesbian, and she then went out with another guy hoping to restore her to “normal,” but she felt repulsed by his touch instead. Dr. Claymor tries to give her some perspective, pointing out that her feelings could be the byproduct of the men she has associated herself with rather than her underlying sexuality. Dr. Claymor points out that she has been too preoccupied with trying to conform to what she thought was normal and accepted, and has denied her own feelings and desires in the process. Dr. Claymor tries to get her to sort through what it is that she wants, and a confused Tobi tries to hurl herself off the ledge before Dr. Gannon intercepts her. Finally Dr. Claymor gets Tobi to admit that she wanted to be in a loving relationship with one man, and wants to eventually get married and have children. Dr. Claymor reassures her that such feelings are natural and represent her true self, and that she need not hide her true feelings. This seems to comfort Tobi before she starts suffering a cardiac arrest, necessitating that she be brought to surgery immediately. The surgery goes well and Tobi is expected to recover. Dr. Gannon congratulates Dr. Claymor on her work, and they part on good terms. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: CBS
• DATE: October 1, 1973 10:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:47:16
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:78838
• GENRE: Drama. medical
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, medical; LGBT Collection - Drama
• SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1969-1976
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Frank Glicksman … Executive Producer, Created by
• Al C. Ward … Producer, Created by
• Vincent Sherman … Director
• Barry Oringer … Writer
• John Parker … Music by
• Lalo Schifrin … Theme Music by
• Chad Everett … Cast, Dr. Joe Gannon
• James Daly … Cast, Dr. Paul Lochner
• Lois Nettleton … Cast, Dr. Annie Claymor
• Jamie Smith Jackson … Cast, Tobi
• Tim Matheson … Cast, Sam
• Audrey Totter … Cast, Nurse Wilcox
• Nick Nolte … Cast, Lou
• Chris Hutson … Cast, Nurse Courtland
• Ed Hall … Cast, Dr. Bricker
• Bob Golden … Cast, Police Sergeant