My Fascination With ER

Since the pilot first aired for ER in 1994, starring Anthony Edwards and George Clooney, I have been hooked.  I have seen every single episode.  I owned 11 seasons of ER on DVD. I rescued 10 of them.  The other season was on the tv stand at the time and not on the bookshelf.  I was in the middle of Season 5.  I have watched these DVD's right through from the first season to the last several times.  Some more than others as they only release a couple of seasons per yer, if that, so it has taken awhile to collect this many seasons.  I don't always watch the entire show while sitting on the sofa engrossed.  I know all of the episodes very well, particulary the earlier ones, as they have been played more often, so I often will have it on in the room while I'm doing other things. 


I have come to know each of the characters very well over the 15 years ER was on the air.  I don't find it as gossipy-drippy-beverly hills meets desperate housewives as Grey's Anatomy.  I have watched Grey's from time to time, but I like how ER has so many patients and we get little snips of each person's life. It's like peoplewatching from the safety of my living room within reach of my fridge and a bathroom. They sure covered a variety of medical issues on ER.  I think I could breeze through medical school with my ER knowledge....ha ha...kidding, but whether they are technically correct in every single scene (I really don't care or know the difference, or care that I don't know the difference) I have definitely increased my knowledge of medical terminology and can use some of it in context. 


The stories were real everyday occurrences, and tragic rare happenings.  Not everyone lived, including the staff. In all of their 15 years on the air, the only truly cheesy scene I felt did not fit with anything else they filmed was when Romano was killed by a helicopter that fell on him in the ambulance bay.  I mean, give me a friggin break.  He lost his arm the year before by ducking too close to the tail rotor, so had a "fear of helicopters", rightly so.  But then to be killed by a falling helicopter? No one even found him until the mess was cleared away the following day...ewww...I'm sure they could have slipped what was left of him under the door.

I certainly enjoyed the casting on the show, including all of the guest appearances each week.  The highlight for me was Alan Alda playing a retired army doc with Alzheimer's.  I was also a M*A*S*H fan as well and have ALL seasons of that show on DVD.  The steady characters were richly written, and the guest appearances, introduction to new characters, and the loss of others were well written and I enjoyed each and every episode of the show.


But after all of what I've written about why I like the show, the prominent reason I watch the show on DVD is because the show, the set where it is filmed, and the characters of the show have been the only steady part of my life for a number of years.  I have moved from one end of this country and back again, and through all of that, I have been watching this one show, this one hospital drama.  While my home environment has changed, moved, burned, sold, etc, ER was still there every Thursday night, waiting for me.  And once the series ended after 15 years, I still had my seasons of ER on DVD.  No matter where I am, including this rundown little apartment, I can forget about it while I tune in to ER. 


I know it's a weird fascination, but it's how I roll.