This is a weird feeling.
The fifteen year show has honestly been a significant part of my life.
I am currently 22 years old. I was 8 years old when the show premiered in 1994.
This is one of my earliest memories, not just one of my earliest ER memories, mind you, this is one of my earliest memories EVER:
Our family was living in Chicago, therefore, the show was on at 9pm... which was my bedtime. My mother would tuck me in around 8:55 so she could have a 5 hour lay away before the primetime drama came on the television.
As a child with ADD, I would sometimes jump out of bed and hither to my parents room. One time, my mom actually let me stay for some of the show. At this time, I was around 9 and felt "oh so mature." I lasted about five minutes.
It was the episode where Chloe just delivered her baby, and was all hyped up on narcotics.
Five years later, I believed at the awkward age of 14, I was ready to re introduce the intense drama to my little viewing pupils. The show began running in syndication on TNT and I was hooked.
Forget Dr. Ross, I was in love with Dr. Carter (I still am), and seriously considered becoming a surgeon.
What has given me such high respect for this show, is the realistic portrayal of the medical field. Employees in this line of work are employees for a long, long time. Two prime examples derive from Jerry, the teddy bear receptionist, and Nurse Haleh the pink scrubbed nurse, who have appeared on the show since its debut in 1994. This show is realistic: NO dead people floating around the Cook County Hospital; NO "I'm gay now. Wait, no I'm straight... eh, we'll just see how the ratings are and we'll see from there." Basically, there is NO questioning the IQ level of the average television viewer. Thank you Crichton & Co for giving observing our intelligence level.
This television series marked the foundation for current tv shows: House, M.D., Grey's Anatomy, and Scrubs.
Although medical dramas have become a new television genre, ER was the only medical television series that truly remained loyal to the term, "medical." The characters inner tribulations were complex. It makes the Grey's gang look like a McHappy Meal.
Thoughts? Anyone happy about its departure? Sad?
Favorite Character: Dr. Carter
Least Favorite: Dr. Benton - smile once in a while!
