The Genius That Is..."ER"

 In my life, I've watched three series that centered around the medical field (I'm not counting Marcus Welby M.D, or Quincy M.E. here...). I watched M*A*S*H, St. Elsewhere, and ER. Of the three, M*A*S*H is not like the other two, and it's been so long since I've seen St. Elsewhere, I've forgotten much of it. But, of the three, ER is in a class by itself.

My wife and I used to watch the show back when we were first married. It seemed like everyone else watched it, too. Because we live in amazing times, yesterday, my wife decided to play the pilot episode and I sat down and watched with her, and I was instantly reminded how wonderful the show was. Now, because I have not watched a lot of hospital shows, maybe I'm not the best judge of hospital shows. What does ER do that other shows do not do, or what does ER do that other shows do not do as well?

It's highly possible I enjoyed watching the first episode so much because it reminded me of the characters that we fell in love almost thirty years ago. The stories may not reflect true life and the characters may not reflect real people, but it felt real. We felt the fatigue of the doctors and nurses. We understood when the intern sat outside and wondered if he could continue. We cheered as the arrogant resident was praised after performing an insanely risky surgery. 

I have no direct connection to that world of medicine, especially the world of an emergency room worker. The show made me respect and admire the doctors, nurses, administrators, and everyone who does work in that world.

We watched for several seasons, but as the show continued, we lost interest. At some point, we stopped watching--the characters and the stories no longer held us captive as did those early shows. Watching the pilot episode yesterday reminded us of just how great the series was. It didn't preach with a heavy hand, but it taught by showing the weaknesses and strengths of humanity. It wasn't "woke" (at least, at first...), but it showed the inequalities that exist and now society confronted them and tried to overcome the challenges. I watched the show in awe...the writing, the acting, the situations. It was, in a word, genius.