Anyone remember the medical drama ER

[ILoveMarkGreene]

I watched part of it when it was on in the nineties but since then have rewatched it several times from the start.

If I'm ever sick in hospital I want Dr Greene to treat me. He's so kind, so easy going and so reliable and trustworthy. Plus a good doctor obviously and the actor who played him I thought was one of the best on the show.

I thought Luka Kovac was a really good replacement for Doug Ross. In fact I think I liked the Luka character more. I thought he was more attractive too. He was so tall and George Clooney seemed a bit short.

The show although dated in parts (payphones, pagers, home telephones) is still a really great show. The cost to make it must have been huge as each episode contains so many extras and often they are set out of the hospital in different locations. Each episode is like watching a good film.

I want to speak like Elizabeth Corday with her clipped english accent. I like the character too although she is quite abrupt at times. I was so sad that she didn't get her happy ending when Mark died.

Romano was a great character and gave the show an angle it hadn't had before. I loved the whole arm getting cut off thing but dying by a helicopter falling on him was just silly. One of the few times I thought ER had lost the plot and was about to go downhill. Who can forget when we saw his softer side operating on his dog and of course glimpses of him being kind to Elizabeth when Mark was dying.

Kerry Weaver - the actress who plays her is only in her thirties at the start Did anyone else think she was older?

I didn't really like Cleo or Chen. Cleo just seemed miserable all the time and Chen just seemed to be a bit of smart ass. Lucy really annoyed me when she first arrived and I was glad when they killed her off.

It was very strange to see Mariska Hargitay playing a needy people pleaser character after being used to her kick ass character in Special Victims Unit.

Where did Maria Bello go. One minute she was there, the next she had left.

Loved her line when she said to Carter about giving him the tour of Cockroach Manor. What a great name for a house

It's not surprising that George Clooney ended up a heart-throb. The show really pushed this angle on him with him rescuing drowning boys and standing up for abused children. Lots of shots of him in nice clothes/tux etc and of course potraying him as having lots of women begging to go out with him and of course his father rejecting him to pull on our heartstrings and want to mother him. I don't actually think George Clooney was a very good actor. A bit wooden. Other characters far surpassed his acting skills. He was obviously good for the show though with his good looks and his lovable rogue character.

I thought Anthony Edwards who played Mark was a great actor and he got alot of great story lines that he played so well (getting beaten up, the brain tumour and the dying of course). I cried buckets when he died. So well done ER.

Carter was good and so cute when he first appeared on the show (and so young looking). I liked his character and his relationship with Dr Benton.

If I need surgery I'll have Peter B please. He was a great character who spoke his mind. It was good they showed his softer side with his son story line.

I was jeleous of Abbey when she had Carter and Luka fighting over her (sigh).

I like the congo scenes and they must have been expensive to shoot.

I liked the aids story line with Jeanie who i thought was really pretty. She played it well and was a good character.

Who didn't swoon went Luka beat up the neighbour who hit Abbey.

Last but definately not least how amazing was it that Carol was only meant to be in it for one or two episodes as a temporary character but she ended up being such a central role. I felt really stressed out though when she bought that house right next to the rail line that was falling down. Glad her and George got their happy ending.

What's your thoughts on the show. Do you agree or disagree with my comments. The show went downhill from about series 12 onwards which was a shame.

Lets have a good ole natter and feel nostalgic for the nineties and ER.

p.s. If you're younger than about 50 you might have no clue what I am talking about.

I think Carter was supposed to complete training and go into private practice- but decided to stay in the ER

I watched it all again a few years ago. It's free on All4.

As a student I agreed that Ken was awful, but now I can see how toxic Mark was in that marriage, leaving all the childcare etc to her.

This is the thread for me! I love ER, you can watch it for free on more 4, every season there. 300 hours of TV and I've watched it three times!

There really isn't a medical show that compares

Not a stupid question about Carol!

Obviously she had the suicide attempt which she only barely survived.

It wasn't fully explained because mental health issues weren't discussed as openly then as it is now. But the background to her character was that she had MH issues due to a difficult childhood. She felt unsupported by her mother and her father suffered from depression.

Also, as a young trauma nurse, she was constantly dealing with the fallout of horrendous social problems in the ER and because she was a nurse, not a doctor, she not only dealt with more bodily fluids, but she got more emotionally involved with the patients because she spent more time with them than the doctors did. It was assumed that her suicide attempt was down to Ross's philandering but she explained to him that she had other issues besides him.

The show was really strong on nurses's rights and as Carol got stronger emotionally and more confident, she became involved in nurse management. She was always short of money and supported nurses pay rises. Kerry encouraged her to take a test to see if she was doctor material and she scored highly but Carol ultimately decided she did more good as a nurse. ER was unusual in that it showed nurses as characters in their own right and not just adjuncts to doctors, Haleh who appeared in every season I think, and Sam Taggart being two examples.

I’m going to have to finish my rewatch after reading this thread! I think I saw some of the Congo episodes when I was at home in the uni holidays, but I'd lost the thread of the plot then and didn't really know what was going on.

Congenital hip dysplasia.

she had surgery in the end as “acting” the limp started to cause real physical damage to Laura Innes.

Peter Benton (Eric LaSalle) has come up as director on a lot of Chicago PD episodes. He's 62 now.

i often see Paul Mccrane pop up on stuff as director as well.

I'm fairly sure that Paul McCrane was in the original Robocop. He played a thug I think. It was years ago when I saw the film but remember at the time saying to myself oh it's Dr Romano from ER. 😃

One of the episodes that really stays with me is Love's Labour's Lost, the one where it really really goes wrong for the woman in labour and Mark Greene (do NOT watch that one if you're pregnant).

And I really remember Abby getting to be heroic and saving the trapped woman in the bus wobbling on the edge of a ravine (all the main characters get their chance to go offsite and be heroic at massive accident scenes at some point or other).

And the mass shoot out that ends with Abby going into premature labour.

One character I didn't like was Susan's husband (Chuck?) Useless manchild and not good enough for her, IMO.

I was also not a fan of Doug Ross. Enough with the ego Doug, stop trying to be a hero and be a team player 🙄. Interesting that he was the only character who was kind of slut shamed, though- his promiscuity was portrayed as a reaction to a crappy childhood rather than him being a stud, which was kind of refreshing.

I didn't realise until the final episode that Steven Spielberg was an executive producer, which makes sense- the camera work was really filmic- and really good- I loved those long tracking shots that went all through the department, and they talk about how difficult they were to set up.

Yes the filming was epic and I think they were pioneers with the cameras moving constantly as the cast moved around. It’s done on all the shows now but was unusual at the time.

Oh god yes couldn’t agree with you more about Chuck! Susan deserved so much better.

Sorry I haven't rtwt but the episode when Dr Greene is in his last few days and they played that guy singing Over the Rainbow' was so moving

Also when he told Carter to 'set the tone'

I liked Chuck! He seemed like a decent bloke who really loved Susan, and I thought it was a really good demonstration of him taking up the child caring reins allowing her to carry on her career.

all the other female docs with kids seemed to be juggling both career and full time parenting if female, or dumping on the wives (yes you, dr greene) if male. It was nice to see a bloke step up and take responsibility for the kid he wanted.

interesting that people saw him as useless and not good enough…

Also while rewatching there were so many actors I recognised who were just starting out and appeared in 1 or 2 episodes and later became very famous.

The live episode was impressive, they had to do it twice, for the east and west coast US.

And there was a storyline where they had to lock down the hospital because one of the patients had smallpox. I watched it during Covid and it was surprisingly familiar!

Am I right in thinking a homeless alcoholic was locked down with them? And as he has gone through withdrawal one of them suggests he stays sober.

He says he drinks because he killed someone (it might be his daughter) drink driving.

"Hearing the opening credits still gives me the chills! My favourite part was always Benton's karate chop with the stethoscope"

@renthead me too and I copy him!

Loving this thread - will be back later with my thoughts!

@sashh there’s no homeless man in this one. Can’t think which episode it would be! Maybe someone else remembers?

I think there’s an episode where a man comes in, can’t remember why - possibly because it’s his daughters birthday he needs to sober up.

they treat him in a cupboard using “rapid detox”- basically give him sedatives and antidotes until his system clears.

he wakes up sober, remembers he killed his daughter, and goes straight back to the drink. We find out they do this for him every year.

sound familiar? I often get my medical dramas mixed up so it may be Chicago hope or one of the others….

Ahhh what a great thread OP! I loved ER, and still love it now. One of my favourite episodes was "Exodus" (season 4 I think), when the ER was contaminated with benzene, and they had to evacuate.

There were a couple of episodes in season 10 where Abby and Neela worked in the NICU. It was so emotional.

I am also still recovering from Dr Green dying.

Mark's death introduced me to the music of the wonderful Beth Nielsen Chapman.

I sobbed to "No one knows but you."

I have a lot of her music and still get teary eyed.

There was a homeless in the lockdown episode, he was a frequent flyer called Stan

I thought Carol was so beautiful; remember the episode where she stood her fiancée up at the altar and they held the reception anyway? She's dancing around and just looks so vibrant and full of life.

Also, it's no coincidence that every man I ever dated was tall dark and skinny like Carter 😁

Also always remember Mark's last words to Rachel: be generous. With your time, your life, your love.'

I sort of carry that with me.

Yeah @Idontjetwashthefucker wasn't he locked in a room with Chen?