Very Cool!!!

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Good concept, poorly executed.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Almost every creator of a medical Drama since the 1990's has tried to copy this shows formula, but with no avail. The workplace dynamics are beautifully interwoven into every episode. The likable characters have their flaws and even the villains have redeeming values, the best part is viewers don't necessarily know where the show is headed, a novel idea for 1990's era TV. It was a bold show for an era in which producers rarely went away from a show's standard format. I'm writing this entry on March 18,2018, while the show is streaming on HULU. It's a binge watcher for sure. Many of the social issues ER dealt with like LGBT rights and sexual harassment were brought to the forefront in this cutting edge drama

ER (1994 - 2009) TV Series starring Anthony Edwards for 14 of its 15 year run is the most visible and widely viewed and studied statement about healthcare in the USA during the decade and a half when it was produced. Healthcare and Technology problems and changes were the two most important crisis problems which faced USA citizens and the USA government between 1994 and 2009, and arguably are the two most important problems we all face in the present age (written in 2017).The pilot for the popular TV series is about the lives of a group of doctors, nurses, and staff members of a busy emergency room at a Chicago hospital. These attractive and consistently heroic professionals are depicted as virtuous to an ideal level. We watch them deal with the seemingly endless casualties which arrive non-stop at the Emergency Room at their big city (Chicago) hospital. The central characters are the chief resident and family man Dr. Mark Greene, (played by Anthony Edwards); outgoing Dr. Doug Ross (played attractively by George Clooney), Dr. Susan Lewis (played by Sherry Stringfield) , the only female ER doctor among the mostly male physician staff of the Emergency Room; and young, enthusiastic and optimistic not yet cynical third-year med student John Carter (a character based on real life experiences of ER creator and writer Michael Crichton 1942 - 2009, a former Harvard University Medical School student).The show provides detailed food for thought about the status of USA healthcare at the beginning of the 21st Century, its good parts and bad parts, its strengths and weaknesses, its players, politics, accomplishments and its notable and embarrassing (and possibly immoral) failures.Better healthcare and better education (both improved and made more widely available) are the predictable, comic book solutions to USA citizen problems proposed (and sometimes acted on) by high level USA politicians. Meanwhile, down in the trenches, workers in places like the Chicago large downtown hospital ER Room are seen "doing it" day to day, hour to hour. What they do, how they do it, what they face are things worth being exposed to and studyingFormer Harvard University Medical School student (late 1960's), Michael Crichton (1942 - 2009) created and wrote scripts for the ER (1994 - 2009) TV Series and died of cancer at the relatively young age of 66 the year the show ended its spectacular and epic 15 year prime time television run (331 separate episodes).Crichton was a Harvard University undergrad interested in literature and writing, and was an example of the sort of spectacular, brooding troubled intelligence overachiever attracted to and actively recruited by Harvard University which have given that excellent USA school its justified reputation as an institution which prepares cultural and other leaders later famous for their high profile, high level accomplishments (Norman Mailer, Tom Lehrer and many others are included in this group).The study of ER (1994 - 2009) is worthwhile pursuit for all people, especially healthcare professionals and wanna-be professionals. That study certainly requires detailed attention to the life, times, accomplishments, and overall history of Harvard overachiever Michael Crichton (1942 - 2009) starting with a read of his detailed biographical pages on both the Wikipedia and IMDb.Com websites.The ER shows are notable for their accurate portrayal of medical practice and hospital administration as brutal, militaristic, and fast paced to a clearly unhealthy level. Those who can function and even thrive in the middle of all this become the central players, the "unmoved movers" who the rest of us depend upon for health care, and delivery from health problems.ER pays special attention to the question of "who are there medical professionals?" It's good question to ask, and ER does a good job of giving answers to the question, complicated and problematic as it is.Healthcare and the problems and adventures of Emergency Room Hospital Medical Care are presented to viewers of ER (1994 - 2009), and that is done in a way which makes difficult and sometimes stomach turning problems understandable and palatable. Good for ER, good for Michael Crichton, good for the many thousands of players and workers at many levels who contributed to ER and its delivery to the USA (and world) public. Those people did a hard job, and they did it well...................not much different than the heroic ER doctors and other workers who save the day, often, in the Chicago, Illinois USA hospital emergency room where troubles arrive hourly, and are dealt with carefully and professionally by people who would be, except for TV shows like ER, mostly unsung heros and heroines. The entire (complete) set of ER's 331 episodes filmed and videoed over 15 years (1994 - 2009) are available used from Amazon.Com for about $200 (written in 2017). $200 is a lot of money for many people, but it is a worthwhile investment everyone should consider. Nobody in today's (2017) world can or will escape the labyrinthine world of professional healthcare and/or government efforts to provide it and regulate it. A basic understanding of the subject is vital for citizen survival in today's (2017) world, and the ER (1994 - 2009) Complete Series Set (331 episodes) is a good, relatively painless way to learn about the important subject of healthcare in our times. -----------------------Written by Tex Allen, SAG-AFTRA movie actor and movie historian. More about Tex Allen by visiting WWW.IMDb.Com, world's largest movies, TV, and celebrities database website. -------------------

I didn't watch the show when it was on air. The first time I watched it was in 2014, this is when I started with the pilot, 20 years after it first aired. I didn't expect that I will watch it all, but already the first episode got me hooked and I went on through all 15 seasons, loving it for the most part.Of course with the show that goes on for such a long time one has to expect that the quality will decline. And it did somewhere halfway through it. For me it was when Anthony Edwards who played Dr. Mark Greene left. But it still remained of pretty decent quality that made one want to keep watching.Dr Greene was definitely my favorite character. I loved the acting and the personality that he was given. I felt with him through the joy, worries and his pain. But besides him there were many others that I liked a lot. Dr. Benton, Dr. Carter, Dr. Pratt, Dr. Morris, Dr. Romano, Dr. Lewis, Dr. Corday and Dr. Weaver would be the top ones.The show always had great stories. The short ones about the patients where they gave us many different diseases and extraordinary stories that made one think a lot. The days and nights in the ER were always portrayed like I would imagine them happening, full of action, decisions to make and responsibilities thee doctors have. As well as the longer going stories about the lives of the doctors, usually there were several that were going on through the whole season that we wanted to see evolving.Later the main problem was that it became to soap operish. I still enjoyed it, but some things were getting on my nerves. For example my least favorite character was Dr. Neela Rasgotra. Parminder Nagra did a great performance like all other actors, and she was not such a horrible person. What made me dislike her was that the character ended up in too many love relationships in the ER, too much love drama that gets too much as there should be a limit.It was definitely a wonderful show. Well written and with very talented cast that made it a big joy to watch. We felt the drama, some fun relief moments and stories and a lot of action that kept us from ever getting bored.

I loved the ER series on TV 20 years ago. In fact it was my all time favorite show and couldn't wait until the series came out on DVD. I remember the show being realistic, compelling, offering witty language, real characters and compelling drama. Finally the first two Netflix discs showed up in my mail box only to discover that they contain French but LACK the English captions. I grew up in the Netherlands due to having Dutch brain" and beginning hearing loss I have a really difficult time understanding the fast paced and often intermixed with background noise dialogue without the help of the captions and am VERY disappointed. I am sure that many hard of hearing ER fans will have the same issue. This is so disappointing.