I have just finished watching the first three seasons of ER on DVD with my 13 yr old, and I was amazed by how well the series holds up. The stories are fresh and compelling, the Steadicam makes you feel like a fly on the wall in the ER, and the writing is incredible.
No other TV drama comes close...not even LOST
ER pioneered a lot of stuff we take for granted now, such as the Steadicam and ongoing storylines.
Ironically, I have not seen this season's episodes yet because I have to download them from the internet.
The best series ever...no freaking way. You're saying in the history of television, it's the best show ever? A little early to be drinking isn't it?
It's not even the best hospital drama ever...that'd be St. Elsewhere.
It might have been an ok show back in the 90's, but it hasn't been good in a long time. The storylines are laughable and predictable.
Speng Wrote:It's not even the best hospital drama ever...that'd be St. Elsewhere.
Sorry best hospital show ever would have to be M*A*S*H, but Speng is right overall TV shows I don't think ER would break into the top 30 of all time. I think the show suffered when Clooney left but it really tanked when Anthony Edwards left.
Put the cap back on the Molsons
I completely forgot about M*A*S*H*, I stand corrected.
I never really watched it, so i couldn't tell you how good or bad it was in the past, but sometimes I'd work on TMR on the notebook when the wifey watched and I thought the show was pretty ridiculous. In fact, I think we got into arguments a few times when I not so subtley announced how stupid something was. She, of course, loves it.
To each his (her) own.
It was very good, especially in the first few years. It has ran it's course, however. 14 years is a long time for any show. This one has been through a lot and has launched some very good careers.
I don't think it really lost much when Clooney or Edwards left, only because there were so many other good actors to pick up where they left off. That being said, as good as it was, it still doesn't come close to my top 30 list.
St. Elsewhere? Puh-leeze. And M*A*S*H is not even a hospital drama, it is a one-joke satire set in the Korean War.
I don't give a flying fig for Time's Top 100 Shows of All Time or other pointless lists. ER consistently won Emmies for excellence. The departure of Clooney (sob) and Edwards (sigh) did not diminish the success of the show. Strong male roles were provided by Goran Visnjic, John Stamos, Scott Grimes, Mekhi Phifer, Stanley Tucci and John Leguizamo.
I agree that the quality dropped off in the last couple of years, the storylines became melodramatic, and they brought in popular young actors like Stamos, Leguizamo, and Shane West to boost ratings. Still, ER at its worst is 100 times better than most TV dramas at their best.
Over the past 14 years, ER has been a mirror that reflected the strengths and evils of our society. The show dealt with uncomfortable issues such as racial prejudice, AIDS, poverty, mental retardation, abortion, homosexuality, and even genocide.
There is also an incredible richness to the show. Imagine the planning and coordination required to pull off a long, continuous scene where a patient arrives on a gurney, surrounded by EMTs, doctors, nurses and support staff, and is wheeled down a hallway and through swinging doors into an examination room. Or consider the number of extras required to make us believe that this drama is taking place in a working hospital in Chicago.
ER stories often include settings outside the hospital as well: a hostage incident in a convenience store and a refugee camp in the Sudan, for instance. How many times did St. Elsewhere bust out of the sets to feature a scene in a helicopter or an El train or someone's apartment?
What I hate about so many TV dramas is the simplistic storylines and improbable wrap-ups at the end of the hour. The ER storylines progressed so slowly that it allowed the writers to develop relationships and reach a more satisfying level of intimacy.
However, I believe it is this intimacy that makes the show more popular with women than men. When the show first came out, Himself and I watched it together every week. After a couple of seasons he refused to watch anymore, claiming that there was too much angst.
Fortunately I have any number of children who have been delighted to watch ER with Mom (once they reached the magic age of 13).
I don't give a flying fig about Emmies, it's just Hollywood assholes patting themselves on the back.
Stamos is a popular young actors? He's neither.
As far as St. Elsewhere "busting out of the sets", you can't compare a lower budget show from the early 80s with the high production of a mid 90s drama.
i don't even know why i read these threads.......