ER - What did you think?

[T'Baio]

I stopped watching ER years and years ago, pretty much after George Clooney left. I barely remember how good it actually was, but I know I enjoyed what I watched at the time.

What do you folk think of the show? What were the best seasons? At what point did it start to suck, if it did? Where did it "nuke the fridge?" Who were your favourite characters and plot lines and why?

 

[Supreme Admiral]

You stopped watching ER after George Clooney? That doesn't make any sense to me that you decided to stopped watching ER in the first place, perhaps you've losing the good sense of story line in the between of ER universe?

To be honest with you, the previous two last seasons was the great, it was so sad that the black doctor has to die with golf-ball size like in his neck, it was too painful for me to watch it, but that connection of the story was pretty strong, indeed.

We've had good, strong guest stars in the past.

So, T'Baio, you've missed a lot of good stories of ER in the past, so what stop you?

 

[T'Baio]

There really was no particular reason that I remember, other than I just stopped watching a lot of TV in general.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I enjoyed it. It was one of those shows that I didn't watch religiously but it was always good for some entertainment if I had some free time. The beginning and ending seasons almost seem like a different show to me, they did not have the same feel. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. I would say I most enjoyed the middle of the series. There were some really ridiculous stories in there, and throughout the whole series really, but there were also a lot of really great, meaningful, emotional episodes throughout the whole series. So really it depends on which episode you happen to tune in to.

 

[Captain Shaw]

I remember i stopped watching just after they killed Romano i just thought the writers had lost the plot.

 

[T J]

ER was in waaaay to long.

On the other hand it had the best helicopter death ever!

 

[Aragorn]

I remember i stopped watching just after they killed Romano i just thought the writers had lost the plot.

At my local hospital, helicopters fall on people, tanks head toward it, and people get taken hostage all the time!

 

[BigFoot]

I watched parts of the first few seasons back when they first aired. And then the other day I decided to watch the final season because Emily Rose and Shiri Appleby were in it. I have to say I really enjoyed it.

I know I liked Green the most in the first few seasons. And in the final one, I definitely liked Sam Taggart and Archie Morris the most.

 

[Orac Zen]

For several years ER was one of the very few shows I've ever seen that I wouldn't miss for anything less than a family crisis or natural disaster. It was quite brilliant - terrific characters, good dialogue, well-written scripts. But it gradually degenerated, and IMO around the time Alex Kingston jumped / was pushed it went into freefall. The characters were less interesting and it became more like a soap opera. I basically stopped watching not long after Kingston's departure.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

I've never seen it, but god I remember people talking about this show way back in college and I'm almost 40 now.

 

[RoJoHen]

My very first episode was the one where Carter gets stabbed and that intern dies. It was intense, and it got me hooked for a little while. I never watched the early seasons, so I missed all the George Clooney stuff, and I stopped watching somewhere during the season after what's-his-face got helicoptered to death. It wasn't that I didn't like the story (I enjoyed that it was over-the-top), but I was annoyed with the constant cast changes.

I really enjoyed Sally Field's cameos, especially early on when she was still crazy.

 

[Trekker4747]

I used to love this show and would never miss it. I stopped watching it when they decided to make Dr. Green a cold-blooded killer. At that point I was already kind of growing weary of the show as it had just become slightly more absurd. I caught the occasional episode from time-to-time afterward and, feh. It was once great, then it became a farce, then it became melodramatic and then I think it got good again... sorta.

But making Green a cold-blooded killer and then pretty much shrugging it off? Boo.

The utter nonsense of Romano losing his arm via helicopter and then later having a helicopter fall on him? Boo.

All of the nonsense that happens at and around that hospital like bombs going off, desk-clerks firing off shoulder-rockets? Geeze.

The first few seasons -as I remember them- were fantastic but I think it lost something, I'd say around the time Green got the brain tumor. Giving a character a brain tumor is pure evidence of running out of ideas.

 

[RoJoHen]

The utter nonsense of Romano losing his arm via helicopter and then later having a helicopter fall on him? Boo.

I thought this was completely hilarious. Those helicopters had it in for him.

The first few seasons -as I remember them- were fantastic but I think it lost something, I'd say around the time Green got the brain tumor. Giving a character a brain tumor is pure evidence of running out of ideas.

You think so? I rather enjoyed this story. I cried when he died and they played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

 

[cultcross]

For several years ER was one of the very few shows I've ever seen that I wouldn't miss for anything less than a family crisis or natural disaster. It was quite brilliant - terrific characters, good dialogue, well-written scripts. But it gradually degenerated, and IMO around the time Alex Kingston jumped / was pushed it went into freefall. The characters were less interesting and it became more like a soap opera. I basically stopped watching not long after Kingston's departure.

Pretty much exactly the same here. I really found it hard to get interested in the new hip young cast; Pratt was the last addition who I really had any time for. And once John Carter had slipped away from the focus it began to lose it's way - ER began as the story of Carter, and it didn't do very well without him. Having said that, it gave me 10 years or so of one of my favourite shows ever, so it's hardly a criticism - to see a single character like Carter go from med student to old wise attending was fantastic: compare his character growth over 5 years to one of the House brood - much as I enjoy the latter show in its own way, the two aren't comparable for characters.

The first few seasons -as I remember them- were fantastic but I think it lost something, I'd say around the time Green got the brain tumor. Giving a character a brain tumor is pure evidence of running out of ideas.

You think so? I rather enjoyed this story. I cried when he died and they played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Amen to that, I thought the Mark Greene story was one of their best. Doctors get sick; and they handled it beautifully. ER, up to and including Greene, did death very well indeed - Lucy Knight was another tearjerker, and one of Romano's best moments (shame the same couldn't be said of his own demise).

I used to love this show and would never miss it. I stopped watching it when they decided to make Dr. Green a cold-blooded killer.

Is that the episode where he's in the lift and discharges the defibrillator into the air to make it look on the log like hes attempting resus? My memory is somewhat hazy as to who it was in that scene, but I remember loving it at the time.

 

[nx1701g]

^ Mark's story was my favorite and I was so glad that they brought him back for an episode in the final season to tie the first generation to the last generation (his episode was one of the season's best and it really gave you an understanding of the lead character for the final season). I remember that the final episode where he was a cast member was one of the best too (filmed on location in Hawaii), but it didn't get emotional for me until the final scenes with the balloon flying away.

Morris is also one of my favorites and I started out hoping he'd get the helicopter to fall on him (Romano was yelling at him and chased him back into the hospital when the chopper crashed on him). At the end he was one of my favorite characters.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

I stopped watching ER years and years ago, pretty much after George Clooney left. I barely remember how good it actually was,

What do you folk think of the show? What were the best seasons?

I watched it every week from 1996-2000 or so. I really didn't like the show around 2000 when the plots were so much soap-opera oriented and had character arcs stretching 4-6 episodes and over a whole season.
Then in 2003 when the DVDs of season 1 started being released I rented it on Netflix...Every season, every episode I watched through season 9 or 10.

from the DVD review of season 1:

"E.R." was one of the early shows (the first?) to be filmed and presented in widescreen. However, that started later in the show's run (a couple of episodes in November 2000, then consistently starting in December 2000), which makes the new anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) presentations of the episodes in this first season a surprise. Although none these episodes were originally presented in widescreen, they appear to have been filmed with widescreen in mind, as the compositions appeared quite good.

This I really enjoyed as it made it so much more cinematic to watch even the early seasons with the heavy use of Steadicam walk & talks being in 16:9 (years before The West Wing). With so many extras always in the background you see them a lot more in 16:9 and it really adds production value.

The first 3-4 seasons are pretty good.
I would recommend picking up season 1 DVDs used as it is even cheaper than renting each disc in a Netflix account if you work it out...

 

[nx1701g]

^ I remember hearing - I believe it was in the final episode where they did the retrospective on the series - that they spent a lot of time trying to maintain the movie quality of the show and that each episode was handled exactly like a big budget movie production.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

that they spent a lot of time trying to maintain the movie quality of the show and that each episode was handled exactly like a big budget movie production.

I disagree. I think that they spent the money during Nielsen rating sweeps months and that is when it shows. That is when they have more episodes like major on-location scenes.
One of my favorite episodes was in season 4 which was shot entirely on-location (it looks like) and is basically a mini-movie.

(Season 4, Episode 7) "Fathers and Sons" November 13, 1997

Best road trip episode (tie):
Season four's "Fathers and Sons" finds Mark and Doug on a road trip to pick up the remains of Doug's dead, estranged father, then detours into a look at Mark's own strained relations with his dad, and along the way features an iconic Doug/Carol moment when she unexpectedly joins them on the trip.

This article from which the above quote came from is pretty good:
ER: Some of the best (and worst) moments
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/04/er_some_of_the_best_and_worst.html

Mark's father was played very nicely by John Cullum who ended up being well cast in 15 episodes, 1997-2000 and
who was also the character Holling Vincoeur in "Northern Exposure" (110 episodes, 1990-1995).

 

[Kirks_Flying_Wig]

I loved the first few years but stopped watching regularly around season 7. The original characters were all leaving and I found the new ones less interesting. I do enjoy getting out the DVDs and watching classic episodes every now and again (only yesterday I watched "Days Like This" and "Hell and High Water").

 

[Chris3123]

I only saw a handful of episodes here and there during first run. However, right after the show ended I began watching it from the beginning on TNT. And I've come to love the show. It's one of my favorite non-scifi shows ever. I don't know why, there's just something about it. It is in season 9 now on TNT, and I'm still loving it.