13 East was a hectic ward in a large unnamed hospital where Maggie Poole (Diana Bellamy) – a former army nurse who had served in Vietnam – was the no-nonsense heavy-handed head nurse with a heart of mush.
Episodes followed Maggie’s efforts to deal with the odd behaviour of her patients and her nurses, including naive Kelly Morrison (Barbara Isenberg), knuckleheaded A.J. Gilroy (Rose Jackson), sassy tell-it-like-it-is Monique Roberts (Jan Cobler) and socially-conscious Janet Tom (Ellen Regan).
Gertie Boynton (Marie Denn) was the geriatric candy striper and Wayne Frazier (Wayne Powers) the stuffy hospital administrator. Warren Newman (Tim Wade) – who regularly propositioned Monique – was the featured doctor on the floor.
At the request of head writer/executive producer Scoey Mitchlll, who wanted to get away from the LA lifestyle, the Saturday evening NBC series was recorded at The Studios at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.
Sadly, most of the lines were decidedly unfunny and the overly-loud and strained show received a critical hiding, with the Los Angeles Times calling it “the bedpan of the genre” and asking “how does something like this even get on the air?”
Nurse Maggie Poole
Diana Bellamy Nurse Janet Tom
Ellen Regan Nurse Kelly Morrison
Barbara Isenberg Nurse A.J. Gilroy
Rose Jackson Nurse Monique Roberts
Jan Cobler Wayne Frazier
Wayne Powers Dr Sidney Cooper
Eric Glenn Dr Warren Newman
Tim Wade Gertie Boynton
Marie Denn
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