Before you can even adjust to the tone of this suburban sex-opera, the most colorful character in the cast is given the shaft, with nothing left to occupy the interest except surgery footage and low-watt scandals. A prominent brain surgeon (John Colicos) is arrested for the murder of his wife, but what should the hospital do when they need his talents to save a dying child? Colicos, pursing his lips and acting archly defiant, doesn't strike me as the kind of husband who would kill his cheating spouse and her lover--he's the type who'd want to watch and maybe join in. Written and directed by people who should've known better, "Doctors' Wives" was considered pretty heavy stuff in its day (the first time it ran on network TV, there was a "parental discretion" warning preceding the movie), but its 'raciness' is now rather quaint. Aficionados of '70s cinema will no doubt enjoy Dyan Cannon's wicked cackle, or Richard Crenna, a young Gene Hackman (with a tidy little mustache), and urologist Carroll O'Connor all playing frustrated doctors engaged in a game of musical beds. * from ****