Thursday, April 2, 2009

The end of an ERa.

The abundance of "The Final Episode of ER" commercials have gotten this bird a bit nostalgic. Don't get me wrong, of the shows 15 year stint (wow that makes me feel old) I only watched about the first 3 or 4 seasons, which doesn't make me a super-fan. The only current stories I can tell you are what I see on the previews while I watch The Office & 30 Rock. But back in '94, I was a super-fan, religiously taping each week (yes, I said taping) to see Dr. Carter, the preppy hero in a white coat.

My childhood best friend and I used to sneak in episodes of "Sisters" after TGIF during our ritual Friday night sleepovers. Does anyone remember Sisters? Just in case you missed it, it was George Clooney's 1st TV drama. He was a minor character, but for the CBF, it was puppy-love at first sight.

As the dutiful best friend, I indulged CBF in viewing ER with her. It was the first time I'd seen "real-life" drama on TV and I was hooked. I've mentioned before my lack of major celebrity swooning (then & now), but there was something about the young Dr. John Carter, a preppy rich Chicago kid wanting to save the world. (Needless to say I had an ER poster hanging in my closet right next to Saved By The Bell.)

The ER ritual continued for several years, then Dr. Ross (Clooney) left, and CBF vowed to keep watching that "he would come back. I just know it!" The plot killed off Dr. Greene (Anthony Edwards of "Goose" Top Gun fame). I started watching sporadically until they sent Dr. Carter to Africa. I thought for sure the show was down the "going to be canceled" pipe-line with several other favorites (Nurses & Empty Nest to name a few). I focused my older and more sophisticated taste on Pacey Witter ... ahem, I digress.

Much to my surprise, ER has run the gamut of characters and has prevailed 15 medical-jargon filled years. Bravo to the characters who have come, gone, and now come again. Perhaps for old times sake, I'll pop a VHS tape into the recorder tonight to capture the final days of County General.

Wait, do they even still make VHS tapes anymore? (And yes, I am probably the last remaining person who doesn't have a DVR thankyouverymuch.)

14 comments:

QueenBeeSwain said...

love that you love carter. my fam loved this show, I never really watched and gave up after nurse hathaway left. will watch tonight though.

PS- snuck sisters too- we had a babysitter that would let us watch solong as we didn't tell our parents that she let us watch! cheesy- but the opening sequence always gave me goosebumps.

B said...

I honestly haven't watched this show since Clooney was on, but you can bet I'll be watching the last episode!

Well I Do Declare said...

I LOVED sisters! Frankie, Georgie, Teddie, & _________. This is going to bug the heck out of me!

Dollface said...

George Clooney!!! How gorgeous.... Im sure all the good shows will come to an end one day, tear... xoxo

Lucky in Love said...

Let me tell you how obsessed I am with Dr. Carter. I have posted about him before :) when they brought him back from Africa this season. I watched ER religiously when he was on...and then boycotted the show when he left.

The season finale where he was stabbed was a traumatic time for me. I had to wait so long to find out if he was going to live or die! Thankfully, he lived, and thanks to his kidney transplant, it looks as if he will continue to survive the finale. I'm so glad...because I was devastated when they brought him back and he was sick. I don't think I could've handled them killing him off.

So have you had enough of my rambling on Dr. Carter yet?? :) I'm glad you share the love!

Purple Flowers said...

I loved the show ER, but after a while when the actors started to leave, I started to lose interest.

Well I Do - the other sister was
Alexandra (played by Swoosie Kurtz)
I LOVED that show!

Molly said...

Enjoy it! All my friends are freaking out about tonight..I may just have to watch.

Anonymous said...

Oh i know im so sad.. im taping it and plan on watching it later this evening.. i know i will cry, i have watched the show pretty much since the beginning.. :)

Anonymous said...

Gosh, now I'm feeling really old, I didn't realize it was fifteen years! Yikes! I'll be watching tonight as well...sigh.
tp

KPB said...

Hahaha - You crack me up. Every fall when I am gearing up for a new season of The Office I see a commercial for ER and I think - WHAT?! This show is still on? And then when Uncle Jessie joined the cast - I was like YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING. It tickled me to no end. None the less I must say I was a bit excited to hear the George was going to be on the show. Delicious. Definitely DVR'ed.

Piper Jacquelyn said...

I can't believe it lasted so long! And I loved Sisters. I'm actually kinda sad it's not on any longer, haha!

Anonymous said...

I used to watch ER with my mom every night. And yeah, I kind of lost interest after the 4th-ish season, because it just got too dark and brooding. My mom kept watching, but every time she did, she'd go, "I hate how depressing this show has gotten! Can't anyone be happy?"

Anyhow. I think it's kind of interesting that they're bringing back all the old characters, but...I probably won't even watch those. With the current writers, I just worry they'll find some way to make even the old characters all depressing and ridiculous, and screw up my happy memories of ER, the way it once was.

Hopsy said...

I used to love ER too. In fact I sometimes still watch the re-runs from way back when. I hope the last episode was good!!

Anonymous said...

I loved Sisters! That was such a great show.