ER
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Season One (1994-95)
Rate:
5 out of 5
Viewed:
4/26
4/26:
ER is the most popular medical TV show of all time.
I usually can keep up with the material for a lot of genres, but this is beyond my comprehension. Sometimes,
the characters talk so quickly that I've had to rewind the DVD player. Hence, it's all impressive, hence
my utmost respect for doctors, nurses, and the staff. Imagine the thespians having to keep up with the
medical jargon and make everything all look real to achieve credibility while using proper tools and perform
techniques in the correct manner. A nice thing about the Special Features is that it includes an explanation for
many words.
Knowing that a lot of people love George Clooney and maybe Noah Wyle because of their looks, my true favorite is
Eriq La Salle as Dr. Peter Benton (I shan't expect him to be emotional about it). Of course, the former scores
a lot of points because he deals with kids. Anthony Edwards will always be the man, and this is the show he's
famously associated with.
There are suggestions for improvement I hope to see implemented for the upcoming season. One, the doctors
should explain to either the patient or the medical student why a procedure is necessary and what the medical
jargon s/he just uttered means. Two, this has to be mentioned, no matter what: cost. Everything I've seen done in
the E.R. and O.R. looks expensive. Three, operations of various nature should be explicitly shown more often.
"Motherhood" is the best example of what I mean. Four, I'll like to know the final outcome for some patients,
especially the serious cases. Many went unknown this season.
Here's my analysis for some of the following episodes:
24 Hours: It's so strange to see Miguel Ferrer's character losing it after learning of a possible terminal
lung cancer diagnosis. He would die of throat cancer in 2017 at age 61 due to smoking. Harder to believe is the
actual ER doctor's salary, hence Dr. Benton's quip: "Make some more? We work 36 hours on, 18 off, which is 90
hours a week, 52 weeks a year. For that, we are paid $23,739 before taxes, and we also have to make the coffee?"
Going Home: The hospital screwed up in one serious case: they should've gotten a professional
interpreter instead of relying on Frank to tell the truth about what's going on at home. By the way,
Dr. Taglieri is played by Rick Rossovich, and he's easily remembered as Iceman's sidekick in
Top Gun alongside Anthony Edwards, Maverick's best friend. The senile woman
who kept singing all the time, she's George Clooney's aunt Rosemary and also Miguel Ferrer's mother.
Into That Good Night: Dr. Ross needs to forget about Carol. He's George Clooney with Cary Grant looks,
for goodness' sake. Millions of women would go for him in a heartbeat. His predilection as a womanizer is
thus understandable.
Chicago Heat: That marks it fourth time for Ivan. Either he relocates or finds a
new line of work. It's moot anyway because he'll be going to prison for murder. Law & Order's
Richard Brooks guest-stars.
Another Perfect Day: Nice save, Dr. Ross.
ER Confidential: Obviously prejudiced, it's not Carter's fault. The patient had deep-seated problems
long then. By the way, I knew it was a guy before the doctors checked "her" over. The black guy who kept
complaining has a good lawsuit against the hospital after a flower was inserted in his ass. Tyra Ferrell
won't be back anymore; too bad. Ditto for John Terry as Dr. "Div" Cvetic (the lack of closure is becoming a
problem at this point).
Blizzard: This is the second best episode of the season.
Happy New Year: It's not Dr. Susan Lewis' but Dr. Jack Kayson's fault. He's just covering his own
ass after failing to take more time to review Vennerbeck's medical case.
Feb 5, '95: Wild guess: Dr. Greene euthanized the female patient by upping the morphine dosage. If
that's the case, he did the right thing because the pain was unbearable for her and she wanted to die anyway.
By the way, he flew a lot of times, huh? Yeah, that's because Anthony Edwards was in
Top Gun.
Sleepless in Chicago: I've been patient for as long as possible in regard to Greene's family situation
due to not knowing enough info. Here's my opinion: the wife is 100% wrong. They live in Chicago, a pretty good
city, and there are no job for lawyers?!?! Bullshit. As for Dr. Benton, I hate to say this, but he's way over
his head and has to admit defeat by putting his mother in the nursing home. So many outstanding guest stars
this season, but Robert Carradine, hands down, wins Performance of the Year award as "John Koch, MIT,
Sloan School of Management." I've never forgotten this episode when it first aired because of him. Funnily,
when Anthony Edwards and Robert Carradine were walking together in the hallway, it's impossible to forget
the legendary comedy film they did in the 80's: Revenge of the Nerds.
Love's Labor Lost: Tough night for Dr. Greene in the most dramatic case of the season (and the
series, too?). No wonder why it won five Emmy awards (the most for any episode of ER). It's not his fault;
he and others kept calling for an O.B. for hours and hours, but nobody ever came. Regardless, the bereaved
husband will sue the hospital for medical malpractice and win.
Motherhood: Easily the worst directed episode of the season, it's a good thing that Quentin Tarantino
wouldn't do another. There's a 15% difference in style, and I hate it. Meanwhile, what a cad Dr. Ross is after
doing a lot for Jake and then cheating on his mother. I'm really tired of Chloe; she's an all-time loser.
Everything Old Is New Again: That's an unfair evaluation of Dr. Benton by Carter; he did what was
expected of him but had been dealing with her mother's medical issues during the year. Noah Wyle's acting improved
over time, becoming a likeable character compared to the Asian wannabe who just left. I wonder how much money was
wasted on the wedding for Carol and Dr. Taglieri.
Season Two (1995-96)
Rate:
5 out of 5
Viewed:
4/26
4/26:
ER is such an exciting show.
I want to mention a couple of thespians at the front desk: Abraham Benrubi and Kristin Minter. The former is
very well known as Larry "Eat Now?" Kubiac in an obscure TV high school show called Parker Lewis Can't Lose,
and the latter appeared in an all-time silly movie with Vanilla Ice:
Cool as Ice.
As for Dr. Weaver, I thought she was fine and seemed to be very helpful despite being hated. If people
would let her, she could be an assistant. Dr. Lewis is a nice woman and all, but she needs to be more
receptive to her. What do I think of Carter so far? It's too early; he's never consistent.
Here's my analysis for some of the following episodes:
Welcome Back, Carter!: New changes. What happened to Wild Willy? How did Morgenstern get back so
soon? Jeanie finally cheats on her husband with Dr. Benton. Mark moves to Milwaukee and commutes from there.
It's not a bad addition: Ron Eldard as an EMT. Christine Elise graduates from Brandon Walsh to John Carter.
By the way, Noah Wyle's tan is actually fake.
Summer Run: I like those ride-alongs. They should show them more often.
And Baby Makes Two: That's a good one: tell the boss what a husband did and the police will take care of
it.
Days Like This: Take that, Brandon Walsh...Emily Valentine bags George Clooney. Speaking of his character,
he's getting to be self-destructive, huh? If the mustache looks familiar on Ron Eldard, it's because he
was doing a film at the same time: Sleepers. Here's a new name for the
opening credits: Gloria Reuben.
Hell and High Water: If Anthony Edwards had his most dramatic episode in "Love's Labor Lost," George
Clooney gets to match him in terms of intensity. Now, Dr. Ross will be famous, get to keep his job, make people
to do what he wants, and sleep with more women. Not a bad life for him, but in all honesty, that was a heroic act.
Hence, George Clooney was robbed of an Emmy; this one really put him on the national map. At the beginning,
I thought the old woman, who happened to be a pothead, was Gloria Stuart of
Titanic, but it's actually Ellen Albertini Dow.
The Secret Sharer: It's funny that every time Dr. Benton thinks Carter fucked up, the latter gets
rewarded for doing the right thing. Maybe the former should pay attention to him more often. It's so stupid
of Carol Hathaway to breach confidentiality by talking about an explosive case concerning a brother and
his sister. Anyway, I remember Austin O'Brien from Last Action Hero,
and here he looks very different.
Home: The cat is finally out of the bag. I long suspected Dr. Greene's wife of an ulterior motive for
staying in Milwaukee and asked the all-important question. Anyway, forget her...she's a cheating bitch, and
Mark can do better. Better yet, he can ask Dr. Ross for some pointers in the dating game.
A Miracle Happens Here: That was a mistake for Carol to buy a broken-down home that happened to be
next to the El. What a waste of money. Good one, Dr. Greene, for thinking of the old man with a beard as
Jerry Garcia. It never occurred to me. Carter is acting like a used car salesman for surgery, eh? I can
see how badly this will end. Performing surgeries in record time? That's insulting.
The Right Thing: Yeah...what happened to Carter? He used to care and has now turned into Dr. Benton.
In an earlier episode, when Dr. Vucelich talked about the p value of 0.05 to achieve statistical signficance
(I actually thought the standard was higher in medicine by setting it at 0.01), alarm bells began to ring in my
head. When that happens, data manipulation comes into play. Not getting the desirable results means no
publication. Therefore, all the money, effort, and time spent on the project have gone naught. It's a common
problem in research, regardless of the field, and that's why many studies published in journals are
worthless. If Dr. Vucelich eliminates the failures from the equation, the p value will stay intact; once he finds
more successes, the p value goes lower, justifying his medical procedure. The only way he gets
exposed is when somebody else tries to replicate what he did and gets the opposite result
consistently. That's only possible if s/he knows how to perform the procedure as exactly and it's not patented.
Baby Shower: The more Jerry talked, the higher hope I had of seeing it happen, and there he was in the
flesh: Scottie Pippen.
The Healers: That's a pile of bullshit when it comes to Chloe...people don't change easily.
A Shift in the Night: That's stellar acting by Anthony Edwards.
Fire in the Belly: After being exposed as a hypocrite, Dr. Benton finally does something about Dr.
Vucelich. This will be interesting. As for Harper Tracy breaking up with Carter, who cares? I never liked
her from the get-go. This is her last episode; good riddance. Plus, she cheated on him with Dr. Ross. That's
an all-time funny moment when Dr. Greene confessed a secret to Dr. Ross and it's later replayed on video for
everybody. By the way, I thought it was okay to remove the appendix if the surgeons were already inside?
John Carter, M.D.: Oh, well...nothing came out of the spat between Drs. Benton and Vucelich. Forget the
baby; Dr. Lewis is going to have to move on. Like it or not, Chloe is the rightful mother. If the other one
wants a baby, she should procreate herself. Shep has become tiresome; he needs to go.
Season Three (1996-97)
Rate:
out of 5
Viewed:
5/26
5/26:
Gloria Reuben had this to say about ER: "It was real. Actual ER doctors were on set every day. We had
the real people there, [to say something] if we were handing something over that we shouldn't be in one of the
emergency rooms or saying a medicine wrong or whatever it may be. Everything technically was right. It was as
if you were walking into an actual ER. There was groundbreaking camera work, no question about it, for sure."
Here's my analysis for some of the following episodes:
Dr. Carter, I Presume: Um...did the jaundiced girl from previous episode get a liver transplant or not?
It's a surprise that Boulet tested positive for AIDS because I didn't think she would be. Well, I have a
serious problem with her working in ER considering the high amount of blood involved. She should find a
simpler position within the hospital. Two years on the job, and all of a sudden, Dr. Carter doesn't know
anything? Didn't Carol quit? Anyway, Laura Innes becomes part of the main cast for the first time.
Let the Games Begin: Carol finally wants to sell her piece-of-shit house. It was a bad idea from
the get-go.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell: I'm surprised to see film noir legend Lawrence Tierney allowing himself
to play dead for the most part in this episode.
Last Call: Dr. Ross plans to swear off women? I doubt it, but let's see.
Ghosts: If Carol wants to get a medical degree, that's fine. She's more than qualified and just needs
to pass the classes and be trained.
Union Station: This feels like a season finale, turning a probable relationship between Drs. Greene and
Lewis into one of the biggest nothings in TV history. Face it: they were brother and sister during the entire
time. Anyway, Sherry Stringfield got tired of filming all day, so she wanted out of the contract for good and
would come back during Season Eight.
Night Shift: Dr. Greene and Chuny...not bad. I didn't see it coming. No way; that's Dr. Carter's fault
for Gant's suicide by backstabbing him when confronted by Dr. Anspaugh. Dr. Benton is merely a harsh evaluator.
Because of this episode, I've ultimately decided that I don't like Dr. Carter. Dr. Keaton won't be back again; I
found her inappropriately weird by being sultry while speaking to people.
Post Mortem: Enough, Dr. Carter...the whole thing was your fault, and you were never Gant's friend. When
Carol asked Chuny who she was rebelling against, the whole thing was taken from
The Wild One with Marlon Brando.