Roy Thinnes starred as the progressive psychiatrist James Whitman, with Luther Adler as his conservative mentor, Dr. Bernard Altman. Whitman's particular specialty was the then-new group therapy method. 

The TV movie was released in non-network syndication as Children of the Lotus Eaters.

Pete starred in the pilot TV movie, God Bless the Children, and also in the first episode of the six part series, In Death's Other Kingdom.  He played the same character in both, Casey Poe, a recovering drug addict.

God Bless The Children

Date Aired:  14 December 1970
Director:  Daryl Duke
Writer:  Jerrold Freedman, Richard Levinson and William Link

Cast:

Dr James Whitman is a psychiatrist.  Pete's character, Casey Poe, is a former teacher and drug addict who has recently been released from prison and as part of his parole he is a patient of Dr Whitman's.  Casey has been clean for 2 years but is tempted again after his landlady throws him out after discovering he was an addict.  He is interrupted in time in a small church and rings Dr Whitman who arrives in time to prevent him from being arrested.  Back at Dr Whitman's apartment, he tells Casey he is the most unco-operative patient he's ever had and says that if he is to stay with him, then he must start to open up and must attend the group therapy sessions he is supposed to be at.

Meanwhile, Dr Whitman has agreed to try and help one of his colleagues who is trying to get a group of parents in another town to listen to him about their teenage children's involvement and problems with drugs.  Eventually Dr Whitman decides to take Casey with him, believing that if he can reach the teenagers, it will help both the teenagers and Casey himself.  Casey is introduced as Dr Whitman's associate and no-one knows that he is a former addict.  He meets with the teenagers but only succeeds in reaching one of them, Kendall played by Joy Bang. 

The early scene where Casey is in a small church and almost tempted back to the drugs is a highly dramatic one.  The scene in Dr Whitman's apartment and the following scene where Casey joins the group therapy session are also dramatic.

"There have been two roles that have been close to portions of my personality. Never the whole guy. But you zero in on those facets you recognize. On "The Psychiatrist,'' I played an ex-junkie named Casey Poe, who was very clear to me. He was a loner. There was much about life he didn't understand. He had a lot of hostility, felt himself misunderstood, the victim of circumstances. I could identify with that, with Casey's fears---the fear of failure, the fear of success, the fear of other human beings we all have to a greater or lesser degree. He was my age and spoke the way I'd speak, and I was able to get right into it. I wore my own beard and my own clothes, no makeup, nothing to distract me. I would just drive to work, get out of my car, walk onto the stage and start shooting. Another thing that helped was that I had read Louis Lablanky's book, Synanon, The Tunnel Back, and for the first time really understood that junkies were human beings. I hadn't been prejudiced, but that book made me understand that all human beings are basically alike, have similar problems and simply take different ways out. When it came time to play Casey Poe, it was a snap."

"It's easier for me when I'm acting in a heavy dramatic role rather than a comedy.  It just fits my personality better.  I wanted to show that Casey was a real human being with real feelings and not a freak who didn't belong in this world. I had to show that he was a victim who wanted to straighten out his life but was also afraid of doing it."

"The Psychiatrist, the best thing I've ever done on film.  The producer didn't want me for 'The Psychiatrist.' He thought all I could play was light comedy, because of my association with 'Gidget' and 'Love on a Rooftop.' Then someone up top showed him film of me as a Czech revolutionary in 'Name of the Game.'  His reaction was: 'So he can act.' He wasn't too sold on me, but accepted me reluctantly."

"I've played two or three roles that have been so well written and directed that I could really get into them. My favorite was Casey Poe, the junkie that I played on "The Psychiatrist" in the pilot and the first episode. Here was a man who had been through hell and was battling with himself and with society to try and get himself together."  

"An actor is an individual who takes a role and makes it himself. I put much of what is me into Casey Poe. I'm not a junkie, but I am a person who has suffered personal tragedy, personal unhappiness, depression, frustration--you name it. When you take a role that is very well written about the battles we as human beings fight with ourselves and the rest of society, then any good actor can really get into it. We have unlimited resources within ourselves. The thing that makes the difference between a good actor and someone who can't act is that the good actor is able to get into and project that part of himself that reflects the role the way it's written."

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In Death's Other Kingdom

Date Aired:  3 February 1971
Director:  Unknown
Writer: Unknown 

Cast:  
Roy Thinnes
Luther Adler

Guest Stars:  
Pete Duel

Pete's character, Casey Poe, is a recovering drug addict who is placed by Dr. Whitman in a methadone maintenance program through special permission of his parole board. 

Publicity Photographs