ER Ending this April after 15 Years - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

dobbles · 02-06-2009, 09:19 AM

i have watched e.r. since the beginning. it was my favorite show for most of a decade. the office is now my favorite and is on before e.r. so its still must see for me. additionally, its a show the lady and i can watch together. i am glad its going to be done as i hate shows that go on too long (the simpsons) and this probably dragged on for a couple years too many.

as has been mentioned, the show lost a lot of steam as it lost primary actors. i do think its been amazing that the show has kept going as a pretty successful show while not having any main characters from the first few seasons.

i think the last season or two has been better after several less than stellar seasons. here's what i think went wrong. the show stopped worrying as much about long term character arcs. they made the main characters less interesting and one or two dimensional. instead of focusing on the staff and their lives, they started focusing way too much on short term patient stories.

the thing i always think of is this. during the first season or two, a patient is wondering around and a couple doctors see him and tell him he needs to go wait to be seen. the guy then turns around and has an arrow stuck in the back of his head. they then immediately help him. for the rest of that episode i don't think the patient is seen again. the guy was not an integral part of the storyline. now, if they have someone come in with an arrow in his head, he will be featured for the episode and get like 14 minutes of screen time. sure it may be a great story, but after the episode is over it will have done nothing for the arcs of the actual characters. even the bob newhart thing is a good example. while the episodes he was in were good and he played a very moving character, once he was gone, it was like nothing had happened.

the show is about the people that work there and not so much the patients. i think thats where the show has fallen off.

thanks for reading my rant!

CaptainCrunch · 02-06-2009, 09:19 AM

There were certain things that I liked about the show. I remember one of the best was when one of the girl interms got stabbed and the episode was based around saving her life, and they failed in the end. I still shudder at the scene when they busted open her ribcage.

The Doctor Greene cancer angle was pretty well done as well.

It was overall a good quality show, but I stopped watching it a few years ago because it became too much of a soap opera.

Frank the Tank · 02-06-2009, 09:21 AM

Besides the Sopranos, this is the only show I have ever watched on a regular basis. Have loved it from day one. Last nights episode with William H. Macey was brilliant.

Russic · 02-06-2009, 09:22 AM

I've always really liked ER. 15 years and they still managed to surprise me a fair bit and I always really liked the direction of it. That episode where the crabby doctor got his arm lopped off was AWESOME. I've always really appreciated its "holy ****" moments.

CaptainCrunch · 02-06-2009, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russic

I've always really liked ER. 15 years and they still managed to surprise me a fair bit and I always really liked the direction of it. That episode where the crabby doctor got his arm lopped off was AWESOME. I've always really appreciated its "holy ****" moments.

Rocket Romano wasn't it?

That guy just didn't have luck with helicopters at all.

I actually liked his character a lot.

Russic · 02-06-2009, 09:53 AM

ah ya, Romano. What an awesome character.

bigtmac19 · 02-06-2009, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russic

I've always really liked ER. 15 years and they still managed to surprise me a fair bit and I always really liked the direction of it. That episode where the crabby doctor got his arm lopped off was AWESOME. I've always really appreciated its "holy ****" moments.

I agree. Still after 15 years, I still think one of my favourite episodes was the first season (I think), where Dr. Green had the couple having the baby, and all these things went wrong and the wife ended up dying. The intensity of that episode was something I will never forget.

I think my second favourite would be the episode where Dr. Carter and the med student got stabbed.

Bobblehead · 02-06-2009, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigtmac19

I think my second favourite would be the episode where Dr. Carter and the med student got stabbed.

Lucy

dobbles · 02-06-2009, 09:58 AM

the girl that got stabbed was character lucy knight. she was played by kellie martin was was famous earlier in life playing in the show life goes on.

she was quite possibly my favorite character. i had a huge crush on her as a teen.

ironically she was stabbed by david krumholtz. i disliked him in any movie i saw for years. but now he is on another of my favorite shows numb3rs. the awesome math nerdiness of that show made me quit hating him!

(and yes i realize i know WAY too much about this subject)

bigtmac19 · 02-06-2009, 10:00 AM

[quote=dobbles;1646516]the girl that got stabbed was character lucy knight. she was played by kellie martin was was famous earlier in life playing in the show life goes on.

she was quite possibly my favorite character. i had a huge crush on her as a teen.

ironically she was stabbed by david krumholtz. i disliked him in any movie i saw for years. but now he is on another of my favorite shows numb3rs. the awesome math nerdiness of that show made me quit hating him![/quote]

I know what you mean, I kind of felt that way too.

Remember the ER episode where he came back and Dr. Carter turned around and saw him sitting there?

dobbles · 02-06-2009, 10:01 AM

yeah! i forgot about that!

bigtmac19 · 02-06-2009, 10:04 AM

Whoa, I just realized something. My son turned 15 today. I remember watching ER and holding him when he was just a baby.
I can't believe it.

Bertuzzied · 02-06-2009, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigtmac19

I think my second favourite would be the episode where Dr. Carter and the med student got stabbed.

I totally forgot about that episode. That was one good ending. Lucy was damn annoying but seeing her lying there in a pool of blood was pretty intense.

Frank the Tank · 02-06-2009, 10:06 AM

How about the episode when Carter's wife had a miscarriage. I cried like an Oilers fan during that one.

bigtmac19 · 02-06-2009, 10:07 AM

Actually now that I think about it, I may just go and buy some of the early seasons on DVD. There were some really great episodes!

CaptainCrunch · 02-06-2009, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

I totally forgot about that episode. That was one good ending. Lucy was damn annoying but seeing her lying there in a pool of blood was pretty intense.

I remember getting choked up through that whole episode because the actress did such a good job of trying to be brave and frail at the same time. It showed how brutal medicine can be in an effort to save lives as well.

It was such a terrible ending because she just faded away.

nieuwy-89 · 02-06-2009, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Goon

My wife's a big fan of the show but I never could get into it. I understand that one character was killed after a helicopter dropped on him a second time?

Yep. Up to that point ER was one of my weekly guilty pleasures. When the helicoptor crashed on top of the evil administrator character the show completely jumped the shark. Its been more of a soap opera than a medical drama since then.

bigtmac19 · 02-06-2009, 11:27 AM

I just thought that was hilarious really, seeing as what happened to him with his arm, I laughed.

BlackArcher101 · 02-06-2009, 11:31 AM

The last time I remember watching this was when Carter was stabbed along with Lucy. I still think that's the best episode I have seen and one of the best on TV.

bigtmac19 · 02-06-2009, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

The last time I remember watching this was when Carter was stabbed along with Lucy. I still think that's the best episode I have seen and one of the best on TV.

For sure, the end of that show, when it shows them both lying on the floor in that room by themselves, and they can see each other.
Wow.