Reruns on Cable
Cancelled
Not Watching Anymore
ER
Review, 11th season
They really must want me to stop watching
Show Ranking #25 of 25
Season In Review
Now What?, 09/25/03
Now What? 9/25/03
News
Kisangani, 05/15/03
When Night Meets Day, 05/08/03
NBC's schedule...
Things Change (a.k.a. Episode 19), 04/24/03
Finders Keepers, 04/03/03
The Advocate (a.k.a. Side Effects), 03/13/03
A Thousand Cranes, 02/20/03
A Boy Falling Out Of The Sky (a.k.a. Shifts Happen), 02/13/03
No Strings Attached, 02/06/03
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, 01/30/03
A Saint in the City, 01/16/03
A Little Help from My Friends, 01/09/03
Hindsight, 12/12/02
Hindsight, 12/12/02
Next of Kin, 12/05/02
Holiday Meanderings Part III, Wednesday and Thursday
First Snowfall, 11/21/02
Tell Me Where It Hurts, 11/14/02
One Can Only Hope, 11/07/02
A Hopeless Wound, 10/31/02
A Hopeless Wound, 10/31/02
Walk like a Man, 10/17/02
Insurrection, 10/10/02
Dead Again, 10/03/02
Chaos Theory, 09/26/02
Chaos Theory, 09/26/02
Thursday Nights
Whining Part IV, Wednesday and Thursday
Lockdown (Air Date 5/16/02)
Season Finale (Air Date 5/16/02)
On the Beach (Air Date 5/9/02)
On the Beach (Air Date 5/9/02)
The Letter (Air Date 5/2/02)
| Home |
ER: Review, 11th season
Sunday 02.06.2005
alice ttlg || 07:48 PM
Somewhere after Dr. Greene died, this show just disintegrated. The connections between the characters are gone, they've become flattened, instead of being complex, multi-emotional people like in real life, they're two-dimensional shadows of the people we'd come to know over the first eight years. It's become all about the next sensational thing that happens, too many stunts for sweeps and not enough of what kept this show up in the ratings all season long. Color me sad.
ER: They really must want me to stop watching
Monday 01.10.2005
MattM || 10:18 AM
After recovering from the Ray Liotta episode of ER that almost made me want to quit the show on the spot they have decided to do one better. Enter Cynthia Nixon of Sex and the City. She will play a soccer mom who has a stroke and who can see and hear but can't communicate and we get to see inside her mind. Oh great here we go again. Come on guys lets get with it I know lets have Dr. Kovac chase a patient around and let an anvil drop on his head....on second thought I better not give them any ideas.
Damn too late.....I just found out in a later episode Abby is going to get kidnapped....ugh ugh ugh
ER: Show Ranking #25 of 25
Tuesday 10.12.2004
MattM || 03:39 PM
My entries have been lagging lately so as to give my sister sometime to get within oh say 300 or so. You notice how she took the entry count off. So instead of writing up reviews for shows I am going to give my state of TV rankings. I counted and so far to date I watch 25 shows. Man, thats alot. All that being said there is alot of really good TV out there. So today we start with my 25th ranked show. This former great is now a garbage show that was reduced to cartoonish violence last year. I hear they are ordering their medical supplies from ACME now. That being said I continue to subject myself to the weekly hour long torture session that is this show because I have the faint hope that after this year with Mr. Moppy (Noah Wylie) Ms. Never Seen (Alex Kingston) and Ms. Whiney Quiter (Parminder Nagra) will all be gone. With any luck we can throw out Sir Galahad himself (Goran Visnjic)as well. Then with all them gone we can get back to what used to make this show great. It was a time when they actually focused on that forgotten place....the ER.
ER: Season In Review
Friday 06.25.2004
MattM || 09:30 AM
The defining moment of this season was the helicopter landing on Romano's head. Taken striaght out of Bugs Bunny it defined the show for the year. In other words it stunk. This was once a proud and great show and now its garbage. I will watch it some next year but it is on a short leash. John Wells in near record time has managed to ruin three of the best shows on TV: ER, West Wing, and Third Watch. That being said the biggest problem with the show this year can't be laid at his feet. The biggest problem was our newly blessed superstar Noah Wylie. Ok, I can understand wanting to have a year where you don't shoot as much. You can take time off for the family but do it later NOT this year. This was your year to shine. The year the show centers around you. The transation begins and your not there and it leaves this gaping giant hole in the show. Next year is too late this was the year and you missed it. Of course it didn't help this whole Africa/Kem/Baby god awful make me want to puke story line. That was so awful and so poorly done that I don't even want to talk about it. Then again I don't even want to talk about this show because it was so bad and forgottable. Kerry losing her baby? Barf Neela and her weirdo problems? Barf There was that helicopter falling on Romano's head. I kept expecting Porky Pig to jump out and say t-t-t-h-hats all folks. Seriously why not have Road Runner and Wiley E. run havok in the ER next year? Or Bugs Bunny pop up and say I knew shouldn't have made that left turn. That would be an IMPROVEMENT on John Well's Days of our Lives running of shows. Now we get to wait til next year to see who got shot in that stupid ass car chase. Oh and one last thing this show is about the doctors and the ER not about the accident before they get there. They violated the major rule of this show and that more then anything is a jumping the shark sign. Then again there was the helicopter......seriously it should have been anvil then it would have been perfect. Next week on ER Elmer Fudd goes to the ER for help with his speech problems!!!
[Alex adds] I see your point this last season was a little boring. But I'm a huge E.R. fan i think somethings that you said were harsh. Your comparing a great show to cartoons who has steaped to a new low now? (June 29, 2004 07:08 PM)
[MattM adds] Next on ER we get a sense of humor transplant!!! STAT. Seriously Alex its called humor but I had and stick by my point that Romano's death was cartoonish, over the top, and just plain stupid. Yes ER WAS WAS WAS a great show. Right now thanks to the great show destroyer John Wells it is no longer that. John Wells wants to go for soap opera melodrama and that is not what made ER great in it's prime. When ER was great it was realistic stories about realistic doctors living through a hard day in the ER. There was humor, there was sadness, and there was victories. That is GONE. Now we have copters landing on people's head instead of trying to draw the real human drama of Romano's character out. I use Romano's death as the catalyst because it really does sum up all the problems of ER right now. They could have shown Romano an arrogant prick who loses the one thing he is great struggle and overcome instead they landed a copter on his head for cheap thrills and ratings. The show goes easy and cheap soap opera where it used to go hard and riveting drama. Lastly, I want to say how offended I am by saying I had sunk to a new low. I compared a great show to one of the best cartoon's ever!!! Jeez not like I compared it to Hammerman or The New Kids on the Block Cartoon or the Wild Thorneberrys. Oops sorry using humor again. (June 30, 2004 02:34 AM)
ER: Now What?, 09/25/03
Saturday 10.04.2003
MattM || 01:31 AM
I really won't add much because my sister already nailed this one on the head. Gone are the days when this show was a real power house. That have just totally lost and are now swiming with sharks. I hate the Carter/Abby thing I wish it would go away. I hate that they made a talented new med student the love triangle. This episode was just boring and nothing too interesting. Oh yea and Kovac is dead...........NOT. Yea right that was too cheap too easy. At first I thought it was a dump job but I think its just a stupid sucker ploy. Also is it just me or does anyone else think that Franks character has to go. Calling her TWA is wrong not just for the character but for the show. I know this thing happens out there that ignorant people don't understand the difference between tan people (hell they probably think Mexicans drove the plane into the towers) but I just found that so insulting and dumb there was no point it was just glossed over like it was a joke. It isn't and they need to get a clue.
ER: Now What? 9/25/03
Sunday 09.28.2003
alice ttlg || 01:34 PM
This show has lost all focus over the last year. It wanders all over the place, people wander in and out of the plot, the patients' stories are minimized and lost in the various couplings, the best characters get shuffled offstage after one or two lines and instead we get working mom taking kids to field trip and spectacular crashes.
The whole Carter/Abby thing is such a pointless mess, not only does Carter not know what Abby wants, *I* have no idea what the writers are doing and I know longer care. Carter and Abby were an interesting couple two years ago, somewhere in there, the writers wandered off into....nothing, just nothing. None of it has made any sense in ages.
The title for this ep is very apt, although now that I've seen it, I'd change it to So What?
ER: News
Saturday 08.23.2003
MattM || 06:21 PM
And it now appears that ER has officially contracted David Kellyitis aka Hey Haven't I seen that story line before on this show last year disease. Bob Newhat has signed on for a guest arc on ER and here is what E!online reports it as:
He will play Ben Hollander, an architect suffering with macular degeneration. As his progressive loss of sight increasingly affects his ability to work, Hollander also begins to lose interest in the world. He befriends Dr. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield (news)), who develops an odd attachment to him.
Um ok didn't we do this story line last year only with a really young patient? I think ER is starting to get awfully close to shark terrority if this is the continued direction its going. I never liked Stringfields character on ER, NYPD Blue or Third Watch. Since she has come back to the ER it has been about 10x worse. They seem to be going all over the board with that whole creepy weird young patient story now being morphed in creepy old patient story and that weird marriage bit that seemed like it might be interesting but they neved did a thing with. I really wish she would just go away but preferabbly I wish the writers would go away and new ones would appear. This show has missed something since Clooney's departure and its called a sense of fun and humor and takes itself too seriously now.
ER: Kisangani, 05/15/03
Sunday 05.25.2003
MattM || 09:06 AM
Another one that didn't really feel like and shouldn't have been a season finale. I really like how they showed the Africa situation and just how awful it is there. I loved seeing the veteran Kovac put in a very familiar environment and Carter in total shock. Still the Abby thing at the end was just bad and not well done at all. It shouldn't have been that simple at all. It also left us with a lot of things wide open. Just a really good episode all by its self but it should never have been a season finale. They should have had a 23 episode season instead of 22 can't tell me that isn't possible for a show like ER.
ER: When Night Meets Day, 05/08/03
Sunday 05.18.2003
MattM || 11:20 PM
One of the better episodes all season even if the format was a bit jarring and confusing at times. You really had to stay up and awake to catch the parellels as they bounced back and forth. The whole Pratt is going to stay thing though seemed oddly rushed. I did like how they are showing Carter really struggling with the demise of his relationship with Abby and the loss of his one truely close family memeber and the sudden wealth and power he now possesses. The whole thing about the eclipise however the camera shots were really low quality and rather cheesy. Overall it was an improvement on most of the episodes they have done this year and I hope it sets up a good finale and maybe they can bounce back next year.
2003-2004 Season, Boomtown, Crossing Jordan, ER, Ed, Frasier, Friends, Happy Family, Judging Amy, Las Vegas, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU, Lyon's Den, Third Watch: NBC's schedule...
Monday 05.12.2003
alice ttlg || 04:36 PM
Eeeesh. ALL the descriptions on the NBC site for the new shows are so dripping with marketing-speak, they are truly horrendous! Badly written, overblown and thoroughly sensationalized. Ack.
See the show grid for the NBC Fall Preview and click on the spoiler link below to read the rest of my comments.
...there be spoilers below...
Sunday
Hmmm, looks like I may not be watching NBC at all on Sundays, I never watched American Dreams (useless glamorized nostalgia), L&O: CI was good sometimes but usually bad more than good and so uneven, I got tired of wasting time watching it hoping it would be good. And Lyon's Den sounds so unbelievable and soap-opera-ish, in spite of a few good people in the cast, it hardly seems worth watching. Matt Craven is good, I first saw him years ago in High Incident, a terrific cop drama with a great cast that got cancelled after one season. Frances Fisher, I've seen her in other things, can't recall what right now but I think she's good too. But Rob Lowe's character....eesh. Yeah sure, the managing partner dies and they decide to pick a young guy running their street law clinic to bump all the way up to managing partner overnight??? Why don't they throw in a bridge for sale while they're at it?Monday
Fear Factor, I don't watch reality shows. 'nuff said.Tuesday
Whoopi, Happy Family, again the descriptions are really badly written, but I like Whoopi, if they don't overdo the one-liners, it could be good and John Larroquette and Christine Barranski sound like a good match, they could really make the show good, but the kids sound atrocious. I'll give them both a chance since I'm taping Frasier at 8pm anyway. I'll skip Good Morning, Miami tho just like I did when it was on Thursdays too, I've never cared for Heather Locklear in comedic roles. L&O:SVU at 9pm, hmmm. So now I'll have three mediocre shows to watch at 9pm on Tuesdays, Judging Amy, NYPD Blue and SVU. I'm about to stop watching NYPD Blue tho because they've totally massacred Connie's character, done a complete 180 on her this season, taken her from being a strong female cop, able to hold her own in the squad to this wimpy nagging thing with a father fixation for Andy, the whole Andy/Connie/baby plot line just makes me gag. Judging Amy is still good tho, I think I'll skip both SVU and Blue and just watch Amy.Wednesday
Er, didn't NBC move Ed to Fridays? Why are they moving it back? Just couldn't find anything better to put there??? West Wing could really start sucking next year with Aaron Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme leaving, but I'll keep watching and see how it goes. I dropped L&O ages ago, they stopped doing all the stuff that made it so good the first six or seven years.Thursday
Friends, Scrubs, Will & Grace, Coupling, the last one sounds terrible and I have no interest in it but I think it will do fantastic, it'll fit right in with the other shows and get good ratings. But I never liked Scrubs and Will & Grace went to hell in a handbasket two seasons ago. Friends has been pretty bad this year, I guess I'll stick it out thru their last year but I don't have any expectation that it'll improve. ER was pretty bad too this last year, it's been renewed for two more years, I dunno, maybe it's time to start watching CSI and Without a Trace instead of taping them.Friday
Miss Match could actually be pretty good, the plot is reminiscent of Clueless and if they do it right, it could work. And there's nothing else to watch on Fridays (I want my John Doe!) while waiting for Boomtown in L&O: SVU's old time slot.Saturday
Nothing but movies here, but the rumor is that Crossing Jordan will go here at 9pm when it returns mid-season, that's the kiss of death for it. And what happened to the spin-off for Woody?It's interesting to note that NBC only has six new shows, they're keeping most stuff, I suspect all the other networks will have more new shows than NBC. Overall, best shows on NBC are Boomtown and, and...well, Boomtown. West Wing, Third Watch and ER are iffy but the sitcom lineup on Tuesdays could be good.
[MattM adds] Forgot to comment on Las Vegas and Third Watch there but did comment on Fear Factor coming back for its third season hmmm interesting should I take this as a slight to Third Watch and Las Vegas? Also your right what did happen to the Crossing Jordan spin off???? Man it must have stunk BAD to not even get a nod either that or they plan on putting both on Saturday nights in mid season HAHAHA (May 12, 2003 11:23 PM)
[ValB adds] What the heck happened to Kingpin? It really was must see TV for me! (May 14, 2003 10:36 AM)
[MattM adds] Well either its a mid season replacement or its gone completly. I tend to think its gone because I haven't word one about it. (May 14, 2003 10:59 AM)
[hammerdown415 adds] I love Crossing Jordan and I was looking into the same field of work. I hate that they took it off of the air. But Jordan Cavanaugh is pregnant in real life and I would want some time off to stay home and be with my newborn. I am just glad that it will return. Maybe one of these lame new shows will hit bottom and it will be returned to the weeknight schedule. (October 14, 2003 08:31 PM)
[LUCY adds] While I like Law and Order SVU I beieve it could be better if they stick to the format of the show, SVU means Special Victims Unit about sexually based crimes and sometimes some of the stories do not have a sex crime in them, also I believe it could be better if they get rid of the new ADA Casey Novak, she is as bad as the one on the regular Law and Order (March 10, 2004 03:40 PM)
[Jim Smith adds] I really enjoyed Lyon's Den. Too bad they did not give it the time to develop. (July 14, 2004 08:15 PM)
ER: Things Change (a.k.a. Episode 19), 04/24/03
Sunday 05.04.2003
MattM || 09:07 AM
This should have been a really good episode. This was a pivotal episode in Carter's life. Losing the one family member he was really close to would have made for a great episode. Yet they diluted it and took away from it with the Abby and her brother. Abby and the psycho. They psycho bit was totally just throw in the there for fun with absolutly no point to it. Then theres Romano with NO bruising NO marks after his beat down???? The Corday missing a diagnosis for no apparent reason? Um ok Thursday night was bad TV night apparently....
ER: Finders Keepers, 04/03/03
Monday 04.21.2003
MattM || 12:41 AM
I kind of like the whirlwind of destruction and death wish that is Dr Romano now and Carrie being so callous was classic. Still at least Romano is fun to watch even if you know its not going to end well. I loved Gallant saying was and the patient repeating it that was classic. Still I thought they would do more with that guy stealing Carrie's cane but they kind of passed it over. The one thing I think they did a great job of was the issue of late term aborations and I think it once again clearly shows why our idiots in the Republican Majority should have no right or say so of what goes on between doctor and patient. Overall though not a bad episode and one that sets us up nicely for the home streach.
ER: The Advocate (a.k.a. Side Effects), 03/13/03
Tuesday 04.01.2003
MattM || 02:46 AM
And the unevenness continues. Some good some bad. I do like how Kerry's two sides one her by the book follow the rules is now clashing with her driving ambition and I think they handled it well. Although I am glad its gone it seems kind of weird the whole baby thing was just totally dropped. Giving me married with childern Katey Sagal miscarriage flashbacks. Then there's Carter and Abby and I don't know the whole thing seems to be rather flat. I loved Kovac "therapist" they really hit that one right on the head and thats so Kovac. Romano also handled well especially the karma speech but still this show is so uneven right now. It kind of reminds me of the funk they went through a couple years ago which gives me some hope that they can rebound.
ER: A Thousand Cranes, 02/20/03
Friday 02.28.2003
MattM || 07:07 AM
Great now they are going to draaaaaaaggggggg out this Abby/Carter relationship marriage propsel until the end of the year which we all know she is going to say yes. Then the whole plot line for which the episode titled was just a little weird I mean I get Susan being a good person and helping the dying kid even though it seemed a little forced but letting him kiss her? That was just sort of weird. I am still not sure though who that was Kovac was seeing? That all seemed rather disjointed. Lastly the whole racist issue was filled with stereo types. You know what I miss about this show that has been missing for awhile? Less soap opera more day to day humor, sadness, and drama. I was watching an old episode where Ross, Carol, Carter and another nurse stole machines from another floor. That was what so great about this and they seem to with each passing year get away from that.
ER: A Boy Falling Out Of The Sky (a.k.a. Shifts Happen), 02/13/03
Thursday 02.20.2003
MattM || 11:30 PM
Ok what are these things Kovac has to do? I know Abby is going to say yes to Carter but does anyone else smell a train wreck? Lastly, they have done a good job of showing a realistic lesbian relationship why did they have to have them fall into stereotypical gender roles? The last part really bugged me because instead of showing two women being together they have to have one woman "wearing the pants" in a really stereotypical gender role that so many people believe in. Why not trying to show a relationship with those? The whole Carter and Abby relationship just gets weirder but I think I see where they want to go but somehow I doubt they will have the guts to do it (turn it into a trainwreak). I do like how they are handling the Pratt/Ming relationship because they are both insanely stubborn and probably a perfect match but it will be interesting to see how she deals with her parents racism towards interracial relationships.
ER: No Strings Attached, 02/06/03
Sunday 02.16.2003
MattM || 08:15 AM
A very good episode that had a lot ot like. The only problem is the Carrie story line. We have been through her denials and then acceptence of what she is. Now she is going to be thrust into the spotlight and once again deny and be found out. My bet is on Romano outing her. Its a been there done that. Still that being said it would be in her nature to instinctively hide it. The Abby plot line finally shows her falling off the wagon which means Carter will rescue her or try to at least I didn't like that story line as much. The best plot line was probably the one least played up and thats race relations in the relationship between Ming and Pratt. We know why she gave up that baby (parents wouldn't like a half black baby) but she side stepped that with Pratt and her denials that things are serious between Pratt and her will be interesting to see how it plays out.
ER: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, 01/30/03
Friday 02.07.2003
MattM || 10:24 PM
Well this episode was very interesting in many ways. First starting with Romano thinking about suicede. I think thats a very realistic picture of him as a man. His whole life and self worth is tied to his being surgeon and he is starting to realize he will never be what he was again so something has to give. I really like his character. As wrong as they have gotten Carey recently they sure have gotten him dead on right. Then there was special fluid on Dr Chen sweater. Um ok she really is quite the slut but why do I get the feeling there is something more here? That will be something to watch. Dr Kovac saga continues to be a mess and still not sure what is really going on here but there is much left to be done. Then there was Pratt's close friend and him finally accepting he has to let him go that was done so well but I doubt thats the last we'll see of him. I liked the stuff about Abby's brother coming back to earth finally and the cycle of apologies and re connections she has had with her mother begins with her brother but still the best was saved for last. Just when Carter was beginning to accept his money he gets burned BADLY. It will be interesting to see what happens now.
ER: A Saint in the City, 01/16/03
Wednesday 01.29.2003
MattM || 04:46 PM
A pretty decent episode and they finally seem to be getting away from that horrific Carrie baby crap. Pratt is becoming the most interesting doctor to watch but I really think they need to do something more with the story they seem to be getting a little stagnet. I liked Carter being forced by Abby to confront his wealth something he has long avoided and pretended it wasn't there. I think that older doctor might be good for him to learn a few things about. The rest of it was typical ER but again they keep hinting at larger problems so we shall see how that plays out.
ER: A Little Help from My Friends, 01/09/03
Tuesday 01.21.2003
MattM || 03:55 PM
Thank god that whole god awful Carrie has a baby episode plot arc is done. As usual it was handle with just the most god awful thing they have ever done on this series. They do not need to humanize her she was perfect the way she was that whole plot line was just idiotic and dumb. On the flip side the job they have done with Pratt has been outstanding and was great once again as we finally learned the whole story. I am unsure what they are doing with Kovac or where they are headed with him. Lastly the one thing I didn't need to know about electrical ejaculation but Carter line of your parents must be proud was classic.
ER: Hindsight, 12/12/02
Saturday 12.21.2002
MattM || 11:33 PM
I just really don't know what they are doing with Kovac. I liked how they wind up not sleeping together but what now? He's responsible for her condition or her death. He also basically killed a patient and he's still running around sleeping with anything that moves. On top of that they went through this whole episode without really explaining what is going on with him. I had hoped they would do something to explain why this change in him. The only hint seems to be burnout but what brought this on? The biggest thing to me in this whole episode that I liked the most was that one point where if he had just gone home none of this would have happened but by choosing to stay because he wants to help people he may have wrecked his career.
I am not sure I totally agree with my sister because I don't believe his motive is some void left by his family but instead what he said about wanting to help people. He suffers from severe Sir Gahlad complex where he tries to rescue everyone. I believe that is why he is suffering burnout because he is learning he can't save everyone.
ER: Hindsight, 12/12/02
Tuesday 12.17.2002
alice ttlg || 08:44 PM
This show, otoh, is getting better. This episode was similar in format to one they'd done a few seasons ago, they'd shown an event and then backtracked to show it from everyone's viewpoint (like Boomtown). This show started at the end and then backtracked to the beginning and it, like the earlier ep, was very effective.
It also highlighted what's been happening with Luka since the beginning of the year, which really goes even further back, to Carol leaving him three seasons ago and Abby last year. Luka's a romantic at heart and he lost his wife and kids young, so they're frozen in time, always perfect, never aging, only the good things remembered about them. He sought to recapture them with Carol and her babies, a ready-made replacement. Abby was a kindred soul with her own family tragedies, someone he could save and take care of, like Carol and her babies. He's still looking to recapture the past and wounding himself and others in the process. The rest of the season will tell if the events in this ep will be a turning point or just one more mess on the way down. Great episode, captured much of what made this show so good in the beginning, lives revolving around and playing out against medical events while they struggle to put people back together both physically and emotionally.
And the actor, Goran Visnjic, does brooding melancholy so well! :) The ER TPTB has also nicely taken advantage of his real life background as well, when he's supposed to be speaking Croatian, he really is! I also recommend watching him in The Deep End, an art house movie that did well at Cannes and Sundance, he stars with Tilda Swinton, an oddly twisted blackmail plot that turns the blackmailer/victim relationship on his head.
ER: Next of Kin, 12/05/02
Saturday 12.14.2002
MattM || 03:22 PM
From so-so to really good. This is one of those ERs that you know whats coming but then they throw in an issue that makes you really uncomfortable. Is the mother right is the father right? I also like how they are slowly revealing Pratt's character bit by bit and making much deeper then his first glance of being arrogant and cocky. Also no baby storyline THANK GOD. I wish they would get the miscarriage over with already. Its also nice to see Paul McCrane who has been MIA take the helm as director. Lastly, Although I doubt its the end of her family drama I like how they are showing Abby being the only sane person in a literally insane family.
2002-2003 Season, Birds of Prey, CSI, Dinotopia, ER, Enterprise, Fastlane, Friends, Law & Order, Presidio Med, Push, Nevada, Without a Trace: Holiday Meanderings Part III, Wednesday and Thursday
Monday 12.09.2002
alice ttlg || 10:36 PM
Wednesday
This has been the most disappointing night of the week for me, several new shows and all of them bad! Presidio Med, MDs: Presidio Med, another one that my brother and I disagreed on, MDs, pretty darn bad. Fastlane, Twilight Zone, Birds of Prey: The Fast and Furious ripoff is just that, fluff, but it's degenerated into fairly boring fluff. Twilight Zone was so uneven, every time I watched, at least half of it was bad so I gave up watching. Birds of Prey, just never could get into this one, for a variety of reasons, and the ep from last Wednesday (12/4) was bad, the familar old friend comes to town and baddie shows up at the same time and gee, duh, our superheros never connect the two until the baddie pulls off the mask to reveal the old friend, yuck. West Wing, still the best thing on Wednesdays, slightly slow start but picked up nicely and perking right along. My Wife and Kids, this was good over the summer but since the season started, it's gotten bad, using tired old gimmicks and celeb stars to make boring eps. Enterprise, I said this was missing something but it's found it this year! :) Great beginning and some terrific stuff this fall, I hope it keeps going like this all season. (I still hate the theme song tho but I'm really quick at hitting the fast forward button.) Law & Order, no improvement over last year as far as I can see, still pretty awful, badly done versions of the page 1 headlines.Thursday
Friends, Good Morning, Miami, ER: Friends is jumping the shark, GM Miami was atrocious and still is from what I saw last week. ER has been pretty good, nothing spectacular, just good decent shows every week. Family Affair: This was so awful, I couldn't stand to watch it even tho Gary Cole's in it. Dinotopia, Push, Nevada: I found Push Nevada terribly cliched, a badly done mish mash of a variety of other shows. Dinotopia, eh, so-so, not great, not terrible, but the talking dinos annoy me, special effects are a bit blurry too, I have a feeling this will drop off my radar simply because it's so bland. CSI, and still a great show, there's been a few boring eps but overall, it's still a really good show. Without a Trace: This one, well, in the beginning I complained about the two dimensional nature of the investigators but then they threw in some really awful soap opera dreck and the cases got more interesting so now I'm happiest when they leave the investigators in a two dimensional state.[MattM adds] Presidio Med is another show that you didn't give a chance and wrote off to early. (December 10, 2002 08:29 AM)
[alice ttlg adds] But I've read all your reviews of it (and Haunted) and we've talked about and it still doesn't interest me, I'm not interested in a suburban ER, the plot lines are not interesting to me. To each his or her own, just like you don't like Judging Amy and Guardian... :) (December 10, 2002 11:13 AM)
[marizon adds] csi 4th season is very boring. still a great show. but i was hoping they would ccontinue with the romance between grissom and sara. but in a little doses. coz it will be a disaster if its going to be full blown romance. csi is about crime solving. i like it that way. (May 8, 2004 07:14 AM)
ER: First Snowfall, 11/21/02
Thursday 12.05.2002
MattM || 01:35 AM
A really solid episode that showed flashed off the first season ER and flashes of later classic road ERs. I liked the story of Abby struggling with her brother's disorder and the fact that it has two great actors as both her brother and mother really help. The stuff about the father losing his son and wife reminded me of the first season second episode in how powerful it was. What made it best is no baby crap from Carrie even though I know what happens to the baby.
ER: Tell Me Where It Hurts, 11/14/02
Monday 11.25.2002
MattM || 03:04 PM
Ok what the hell is going on in this show? Kerry is having a baby? For the love of god WHY? Oh cause after years of making her the steady anchor we are going to go out our way to make her a lovey dovey sweet mommie. Screw this. This is stupid this is dumb and this show is going to kill itself pulling this kind of happy crap. They did a great job of turning her into a lesbian but this is way way way way way way over board for her character. Making matters worse is turning Kovac into this man-slut thing hoping into bed with everything that moves and acting like a total jerk. Kovac is NOT Dr. Ross and lets please stop trying to force him to be. Also this whole thing with Abby's brother we could all see coming from a mile away. Finally the Dr. Lewis aka the Death Angel was way out of character for a doctor that has been doing this for years and is normally pretty steady and strong. I do not know what the hell is going on with this show but it clearly lost its green standing and now teeters on yellow but I will leave it at light green for now.
ER: One Can Only Hope, 11/07/02
Thursday 11.14.2002
MattM || 03:58 PM
I liked this episode even though I it didn't really delve into anything just skimmed the surface. The one thing I do not like is this Abby protecting Kovac thing going. Whatever his problems is its clear he's lost his mind and her protecting is just dumb. Also what a departure for Tom Everett Scott from his normally fairly clean characters he plays they seem to be taking her brother into darker areas perhaps he himself will have the same mental problems as their mother. Overall a very solid episode for this venerable show.
ER: A Hopeless Wound, 10/31/02
Thursday 11.07.2002
MattM || 10:41 PM
First let's address the name debate. I think the title was a direct reference to the burn victims and the leg wound person and an indirect reference to a slew of things, Cheadle's sickness, the loss of Mark, the loss of an arm, but I also think it was a reference and a prelude to something with Luka, either the loss of his family is coming back or jealously over Abby and Carter's relationship. I think I see where they are taking Abby's character and I like it. On the other hand, this "change of life" crap with Kerry is just garbage and can't end soon enough. She does not need to soften up or change, she needs to be herself, she is the rock steady part of the show, even if at times that part is bad, she's the rock while everyone else changes. You change her and it will hurt the show. Still overall, this episode was ok, not great, pretty typical from what I've seen from ER the last few years.
ER: A Hopeless Wound, 10/31/02
Tuesday 11.05.2002
alice ttlg || 04:12 PM
Wow, I didn't even notice that ep title till I looked it up to type this review in! "A Hopeless Wound", I wonder what they were aiming this at, Cheadle's character with Parkinson's? And yet to me, he seems the most hopeful, the one going on with his life, doing what matters most to him, when everyone is saying stop, sit down, take it easy, see the world before you die. Or at Romano? With the obvious hopeless wound of his arm and wounding of his surgical abilities, relegating him to a desk job. His frustration at his inability to operate shown thru so well in this ep, so typical of him, venting it all around on everyone and not giving a damn if people got pissed off. The one thing I love about Elizabeth is that she gives it back to him as good as he dishes it out, she's always done that and she's also had a marvelous intution for when she should step back and get him to see reason as he strides heedlessly down the corridors of the hospital.
Or perhaps the title is aimed at his hopeless wound of his love for Elizabeth? Back when he asked her out when she first came to the hospital and she rebuffed him, it was just his ego and an interest in her but it's grown over the years, I think, into something real for him and it's shown thru in moments like when she faced Mark being terminally ill and asked if she was supposed to drop everything and take care of him and Romano answered yes quietly. (One of the best moments on the show, imho, while they do big dramatic scenes well on ER, the best ones are the quiet ones, Kerry in the lounge calling a woman who might be her birth mother, that moment with Romano and Elizabeth, Doug, Mark and Carol toasting Doug's dad with tequila shots in the desert, Mark's father passing away quietly, Lucy dealing with losing an elderly patient for the first time, John and Abby sharing stories in the car driving to Oklahoma to pick up her mom...)
But all that aside, the ep was slightly off, I don't know what they're doing with Luka, are they going to have him crack up or something? What's the deal with making him so cold and angry all of a sudden? And Kerry was hardly in it except for a superb vintage moment of yelling to turn on the A/C because she was sweating from a fever and pissed off at having to come in when she was sick. Abby was good tho, she's stepping into Carol's shoes nicely.
ER: Walk like a Man, 10/17/02
Tuesday 10.22.2002
MattM || 05:53 PM
This show is also lagging much like Friends but I think they can pull this out. That being said, I really hate this Kerry crying and taking hormones crap. I think that's a terrible angle and they are ruining a very good character. Yes, she needed to be loosened up a bit but not anywhere close to that much. I also am not sure about how they are going to handle the Abby/Carter relationship. That being said, some the best stuff is about the two young black doctors. It's about time they got some stronger minority representation on the show.
ER: Insurrection, 10/10/02
Friday 10.18.2002
MattM || 01:59 PM
This episode had a lot of great stuff in it but the episode overall was just sort of blah. I mean is that walk out not against their hippocratic oath? If it isn't it, sure is boderline. I think that being said, two key things were brought out in that episode besides how gross bed sores can be. One is how unsafe a lot of ERs are. The other is forcing Carter to fire three nurses. Still, this episode just was not that good and I hope this is not a sliding back for them as they have done before.
ER: Dead Again, 10/03/02
Saturday 10.12.2002
MattM || 01:00 AM
I thought overall it was sort of a down episode for them and I really hated Kerry crying, I think that's a real betrayal to her character and I am not sure that I like the direction they are taking Abby's character. That being said, they finally took Dr. Pratt's character to another level and I liked what they did there. The whole ER is busy thing, yes, we have been there and done that. I think it was far more interesting to watch the characters this time and I think that was done purposely. I liked the new med student too. Overall a decent but not quite up to standard episode for ER.
ER: Chaos Theory, 09/26/02
Monday 10.07.2002
MattM || 11:15 PM
Ok this show has earned its green status again and maybe moving back into elite status with the next few shows. I was totally unprepared for the helicopter scene with Rocket Romano although I think they could ruin this season if they turn this into a touchy feely thing. I love the Abby/Carter relationship even though I think they are probably doomed or at least in for a very serious pitfall. I think that they played Corday perfectly in not overdoing the widow angle but still having it there. This show has definately found its way after losing it for a couple seasons.
ER: Chaos Theory, 09/26/02
Friday 09.27.2002
alice ttlg || 10:08 PM
What can I say? This show just keeps on chugging! It hit a bit of dry spell a couple years ago, but last year was really good and this year looks to be just as good or better. I can't say much since my brother hasn't watched it yet and the main thing I'd talk about is something I don't want to spoil for him! This ep moved fast, spanned quite a bit of time, weeks instead of the usual day or two that they normally cover but that was good, it got us thru some important stuff to move us on to the new season without boring us by dragging it out over several eps. My brother thinks this season or the next will be the last, but if they can get Noah Wyle to stay, I hope they keep going, the cast is all changed out except for him and so there's plenty of room for new stuff, with new staff coming in each year. If they bring in someone this year or next to build up into a possible lead, they could even do like Law & Order and keep going.
2002-2003 Season, CSI, Dinotopia, ER, Friends, Push, Nevada, Without a Trace: Thursday Nights
Wednesday 09.11.2002
MattM || 11:28 PM
On Thursday night 3 dramas and 3 sitcoms premiere. The sitcoms are as most are this year, nothing truly special. Family Affair, a remake of a late 60's sitcom has a solid cast but an old concept, it could work, it might not and I really do not care either way. Do Over is the half hour version of That Was Then so I will be writing about this show tomorrow as well as today. Two sitcoms back to back on WB and not one is an orginal idea, what a shock. This "ultimate wish" fulfillment of going back and reliving and redoing your high school years is just like during the 80's when I swear they made about 7 or 8 movies with this same concept all in a row. This one is bad bad bad bad bad. The last sitcom is Good Morning Miami and only one thing can be said about this, a nun giving weather, NEXT. The dramas start with Dinotopia and you have to wonder who pissed off who here. Putting Dinotopia against Friends and Survivor is a death knell for this series which I have high hopes for after a solid late season three part miniseries. I hope they move this to another night like, say, Fridays at 8 where it can actually compete. Push, Nevada is going to bomb. The concept is revamp of Twin Peaks but this whole give away a million dollars thing is just trying to push the reality show concept way too far. Bad idea, worse concept, gone in 5 shows tops. Lastly is probably going to be the best show of this night: Without a Trace. A solid concept following the FBI's Missing Kids unit and a good cast, this show should thrive even against stiff competion from ER.
Of the returning shows I watch, Friends had best not marry Rachel off to Joey because, like Spuffy love, if that happens, the show is dead to me and good riddance. For the 10 MILLIONTH time, Rachel belongs with Ross, you do not spend 8 years building to that and then do a 180. When Matt LeBlanc goes public against the idea of Joey plus Rachel, you know you're doing something wrong. CSI should have a very interesting season, they have a real chance to humanize the characters, something they have lacked for a couple of seasons now. I think if they work something in about Sara Sidle's growth as a person, Grissom's impending deafness and maybe Catherine and her kids or Warrick relapsing, they can take this series to a whole new level. Finally ER, which had a very uneven year last year but this should be a whole new ballgame now. Gone are old cast members and finally Noah Wyle gets a chance to shine. I really believe this year could be one of their best and perhaps their last or next to last. I surely hope not though. I think they could make this series last another 5 to 8 years if done right.
2002-2003 Season, Birds of Prey, CSI, Dinotopia, ER, Enterprise, Fastlane, Friends, Law & Order, Presidio Med, Push, Nevada, Will & Grace, Without a Trace: Whining Part IV, Wednesday and Thursday
Friday 09.06.2002
alice ttlg || 07:44 PM
Wednesday
Presidio Med, MDs: We're big on medical shows this year (and cop/firefighter dramas). Presidio Med looks like it'll be awful show, although it has some good actors in it, Dana Delany, Blythe Danner and Oded Fehr who was marvelous in the short lived UC: Undercover last year. MDs also has some great actors, William Fichtner and John Hannah but it doesn't look much better. Fastlane, Twilight Zone, Birds of Prey: A Fast and Furious ripoff, a remake and a superhero show....my brother is excited about Birds of Prey but it just doesn't interest me. I will watch it tho, give it a chance but the storyline is beyond my familiarity with Batman (from back in the 60's and early 70's). West Wing, best thing on Wednesdays, one of the top shows, great cast, well written, nuff said. My Wife and Kids, I can't remember why I watched this show one night but I did and it was pretty good, so I started taping it during the summer, some of it has been painfully bad but overall, pretty decent and since there's not much else to watch at 7pm except... Enterprise, which I like but....it's just missing something, doesn't have the same punch that Star Trek TNG had and that theme song has got to go! Law & Order, oh yeah, another L&O that I always forget about, they seem to have lost the point of throwing in some personal touches so that we know who these detectives and lawyers are. Green has been a black hole since he came on the show. But Fred Thompson may liven up the last half hour so it might be worth watching again.Thursday
For *maybe* one season, I could sit down at 7 on Thursday and watch NBC for three hours.[Sean adds] How can you diss on fastlane? Fastlane is the best show on tv right now better than all that other garbage. (December 24, 2002 12:07 AM)
[alice ttlg adds] Well, actually what you commented on was written before the show aired and when it did start airing, I liked it fairly well, but lately, the last three or four eps have been pretty boring, they started off well but lost their edge somewhere so I quit watching. But I didn't like Fast and the Furious either, I thought that was a wretched movie. And now it's taking the time slot of one of my favorite new shows, Firefly, stupid Fox! (December 24, 2002 10:05 AM)
ER: Lockdown (Air Date 5/16/02)
Wednesday 05.22.2002
MattM || 01:20 PM
Finally, a good season finale on Thursday. This is what makes ER the great series that it is. If they keep on this track they might regain the green light that I felt they had lost the last couple of seasons. This was one of their finest episodes to date, not to mention the scariest. This country has no idea how ill prepared we are for such an outbreak. People think we have a vaccine and it's all cool when anyone who knows anything about biological warfare knows that the vaccine is a fifty fifty shot at best. Not to mention how lethal and deadly smallpox is. Think of us as Native Americans and you can get the idea of what this country would be like if a real smallpox epidemic broke out. One half to two thirds of our country could very easily be wiped out. Scary scary stuff. As someone who knows this seeing this episode just sends chills down your spine. Unlike the rapid detox from a few years ago when they overplayed it, this time if anything ER underplayed how bad this could be. I hope they keep this trend, I think new blood will help and I hope this series goes back to its green status next season. Overall a great finale.
ER: Season Finale (Air Date 5/16/02)
Thursday 05.16.2002
alice ttlg || 10:02 PM
And that's also the way to do a really good season finale. ER went back to the basics, back to what makes this show good year after year, medical emergencies and the people handling them. This show was all about the ER, about what rolls in the door, about how to save the guy or the woman or the kid and deal with the families of the patients and in between, deal with their own personal lives. I kind of missed Kerry being actually in the ER but this was Carter's episode and if she'd been there, it would have detracted from that. And Carter did a great job, did what he learned from Greene all these years, did what he's good at, taking care of the people, not the illness or the wounds, the people, the reason he left surgery to go back to ER medicine.
ER: On the Beach (Air Date 5/9/02)
Monday 05.13.2002
MattM || 11:25 PM
And now for something completely different. I hated this episode. This was exactly the trite emotional ratings driven episode I did NOT want to see. This did not resolve the Rachel story line and it did not add anything to Mark Greene's death. Benton was there at the funeral, by the way, but where the hell was Dr. Ross and Hathaway? You can't tell me those two couldn't afford 5 minutes or did the network execs even bother to pick up the phone? That cheapened the funeral that they weren't there. Not this episode could get any cheaper. I was having Jimmy Smits flashbacks in it and yes, it will win every Emmy award in sight because that's how the idiots at the Emmy vote. I hope for the love of god, this stops here but this is not giving me positive vibes so far. Last week was the fitting goodbye, this was just garbage.
ER: On the Beach (Air Date 5/9/02)
Monday 05.13.2002
alice ttlg || 06:12 PM
This is such a deeply personal episode for me that I'm not sure I can write anything with the slightest objectivity. Mark Greene and his father and his daughter have always been mirrors of myself, my mother, my grandfather, at various times. My grandfather was in the Navy like Mark's father was, fought in WWII, mostly in the Pacific on an aircraft carrier and he died a year or two before Mark's father did, those episodes were so hard to watch, portraying real stuff that I recognized about growing old and dying. Mark's age is in between my mother and me, we both listened to rock music and smoked some pot and I identify with his daughter too, being the rebellious teen, hanging with other kids and staying out late.
So here I sit, barely 15 minutes into this episode and crying already. It's good, it's really good, Greene is the heart of this show and Carter has very big shoes to fill. I like that they gave us two endings, one with Greene leaving the ER and the letter from him, showing everyone there dealing with his death and then this episode, separate from all that, dealing with his personal life. TV Guide moaned about why couldn't Clooney made just one more appearance and why wasn't Benton there? But that wouldn't have been right, this is about Mark, the person, the father, the husband, the son, not his job and his co-workers, no matter how close he was to them. Some of the best episodes on this show have been about his personal life, his relationships with his father and with his mother and all that history of them makes this episode so much more than just him and his daughter.
And his daughter...you want to reach into the TV and shake her, to say he's dying, you need to listen to him, talk to him, be there with him and yet, she's dealing with idea that her father is dying and that's not easy, so she's her obnoxious teen self and she avoids it and refuses to be drawn in by him. Parents and children, the toughest thing in the world.
In the end, it's a daughter losing a father, that too strikes a chord, Rachel is older than I was and my father died suddenly so there was no chance for talks or goodbyes so it's all the things I never got to say or hear from him.
So I cried my way thru just about the whole episode and if Anthony Edwards and this episode don't win Emmys, well, I'll just have to fly out there to La-La Land and tell those idiots off!
ER: The Letter (Air Date 5/2/02)
Tuesday 05.07.2002
MattM || 03:15 AM
I watched this episode and thought, "Thank God, no Jimmy Smits marathon farewell," then about 3/4 through, it flashes that his last episode is next week, ugh! Why can't they just leave it alone, it was perfect the way they did it, why drag it out more? Oh yeah, stupid me, have to milk the ratings, screw quality. Over all, it was a good episode, although I wish they would leave the Chloe/Suzie thing behind, it's butchered beyond any saving. I thought the way Kerry handled it was very realistic, she wouldn't really realize just how much Dr. Greene meant to her until it was way too late. Also, I think it's absolutely amazing how good an actress Maura Tierny is, to be so good in a sitcom, then to be so good in a drama is an amazing transition. I also really like the part about the passing of the stethescope. This is probably one of the best episodes of the year, almost enough to make me put it back to a green rating but then there's next week, when undoubtedly we'll ruin the whole thing. I stopped watching NYPD Blue after the marathon death watch of Jimmy Smits, I truly hope we don't have this season and next to have watch the flashbacks and grieving widow. It's Carter's world now, time for him to shine.
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