ER - Should they think about the end of this series?

[GusMan]

With all the talk about different shows, and after searching to make sure I wasnt bringing up a total duplicate topic, I was pondering some thoughts about one of my (one time) favorite shows - ER.

Over the past season or two, it seems to just not have the plotline as it had in the past. On top of that, it seems like they are making more pollitical statements with Carter's storyline than anything else. (No, not trivalizing the horrid situation in Darfur .)

I mean, over this past season, the previews have been better than the actual show. You would see what appeared to be something really dramatic only for it to take up only 15 seconds of the show.

As much as I hate to say it, I think they should consider retiring this program while it is ahead. As far as I know from the ads, it will return next season.

What do you think?

[5thcrewman]

How to end the series?
Option 1) A whole bunch of helicopters?
Option 2) One GREAT BIG helicopter?

[markymark_ctown]

it has outlived its usefulness.

i stopped watching it after the first couple of episodes this year - just no longer interested in the characters.

[pcguru83]

IMO, this show has LONG been dead

[Chapper1]

ER has become one of those shows that I am waiting for them to end it because that is the only way I can bring myself to stop watching. After watching since its first season, I feel some unexplainable need to keep watching.

But the show has gotten very tired and the only characters I like on the show are Abby and Pratt...

[thwart]

This show took a header a long time ago. If you want to watch a show where people walk down hallways spitting out witty banter there are plenty of shows to choose from. But they stink as well.

Blech!

[jsmeeker]

I bailed on this show two, maybe three seasons ago. Just stopped doing it for me. When they end it, will I watch the last show? I dunno. Maybe. Guess it depends on how they wind up doing it.

[BeanMeScot]

I stopped watching after Carter's first trip to Africa. What was that, 2 seasons ago? I used to LOVE this show. It just wasn't the same after Green died.

[jschuur]

I still enjoy the show (but only started watching for the past 3-4 seasons). There's plenty of opportunities to add new doctors every season and shake things up. I say keep it around for a while.

I found it funny that Sara Gilbert was back. I guess Twins didn't survive? I was half expecting her to say 'I was on a failed sitcom for a few months, and this is my fall back job' when Clemente ran into her in the hallway this week and didn't recognize her ;)

[Jeeters]

I stopped watching a few episodes ago. The one with the return of Carter in Africa. Not his 20 second cameo at the end of the episode, but the episode after that.

[Neenahboy]

It just wasn't the same after Green died.

Agreed. I think his death would've made a great finale; lots of closure.

[FireMen2003]

How to end the series?
Option 1) A whole bunch of helicopters?
Option 2) One GREAT BIG helicopter?
:p

I can't remember when I stopped watching ER. It was about 2 or 3 years ago. I used to watch faithfully every Thursday but it has steadily gone downhill and NBC refuses to cancel it. I prefer to watch ER onTNT then the new one's....

[AstroDad]

It just wasn't the same after Green died.

yep, that's when i stopped watching. However, if I had had TiVo at the time, I am pretty confident I would still be watching. It just got to the point it wasn't worth making time to watch.

[bicker]

The nine million of us who love ER are fine with the show continuing.

[SullyND]

How to end the series?
Option 1) A whole bunch of helicopters?
Option 2) One GREAT BIG helicopter?

They've jumped the shark so many times that I fully expect

Option 3) It was all in Tommy Westfall's mind.

[aaronw]

I am definitely ER for life. I don't really see any problems with the show the way it is.

[canoebuildah]

Not to repeat anyone but this show has been LONG, LONG DEAD.

Chris

[JYoung]

The nine million of us who love ER are fine with the show continuing.


That's not that good for an expensive network drama.
Although with the high case turnover that does help keep the costs down.

Dramatically, I do think the show has slid since Mark Greene died and they are not subtle with the whole Africa bit.
If this was the last season, I wouldn't shed a tear though.

[jurysch]

I guess I'd say it's time to end the show gracefully. I agree with those that said that it could have been a good time when Greene died, although I think that was a whole ago now.

I'm in the same boat as those who have watched it since the beginning and almost feel like traitors if they stopped. It's really a mere shadow of what it used to be. I have fond memories of watching Friends | semi-temporary show | Seinfeld | really temporary show | ER on Thursdays for a number of years, long before TiVo gave us the ability to watch when we want.

None of the storylines are really that interesting anymore, there's no huge compelling reason to tune in for the most part. I can't stand the episodes that occur outside the hospital, such as the African episodes of the past few years. Characters in the past (and ER has quite the selection at this point) are far more interesting than those now, even the 'veterans' like Abby and Luka.

The flipside is that if they kill it off, it's like a 90% chance NBC is going to fill that void with some terrible rehashed drama. I'd rather have a stale ER than a rip-off unsuccessful show that lasts 4 episodes.

[sonnik]

Speaking of Helicopters, I stopped watching the show when Dr. Romano was killed.

According to jumptheshark.com - that's the second most voted episode for "jumping the shark"

The primary one is when George Clooney left.

[bicker]

That's not that good for an expensive network drama.Better than most of the crap out there.

[betts4]

For the last two years I have been watching ER on and off. Before that it was consistently every Thu night, don't call or bother me when it was on. Now...eh.
What I have found is that I really really enjoy the reruns and will tivo them during the day and watch them in the evening.

I have also found that many many of the same plots or storylines were used in season 1 -5 that pop up again now. It is kind of sad that they can't have new stories for the new characters. Yes, the new actors are good, but not with the same romance (what do we do? give in or not?) stories. They just rehash stuff.

So, I think like the poster up a few, I will probably watch ER till it ends.

[Langree]

I still watch, but could do w/o the trips to Carter like the last episode, the conditions are miserable, the fighters are nasty, vicious, brutal people... we get it, we got it after the first time they showed someone getting beat down and shot.

Go back to County and stay there!

[justapixel]

Not to repeat anyone but this show has been LONG, LONG DEAD.



And, I don't want to be repetitive either, but this show is long, long, LONG dead.

I keep watching it, but only because I'm fascinated with how a show once so good can now be so bad.

It's like all the writers and producers have become government workers or something. When the best they can come up with is multiple helicopter drops, amputations and pregnancies, and weak, boring storylines involving Hollywood's latest political flirtation, you know they are phoning it in.

After a few years lot of shows end up being far weaker than when they started. The Gilmore Girls is a good example at the moment. It's the lifecycle of a show, and it's why I get sad, but admire when the people involved with a show realize it and end it while we still care. The Gilmore Girls is about at that point. And, I guess it's going to end soon, and while it'll be sad, it's time. The show is played out.

ER should have ended years ago, but it has gone on so long, and so poorly, that it's like a study in decay. This show is like an unrefrigerated body which was left in County General morgue for years. It's so bad, that it has some interest for me. I want to see just how much more it can decay. Will that last piece of flesh fall off? Will the bones separate? Will another helicopter drop?

That's why I still watch. I have no interest in the charactors or the subject. I watch it for the same reasons I watch a disaster movie - to laugh at it.

I remember when I took English 1A, I had to write a paper on the subject of entropy. I think this show would have been a very good subject. :)

[The Spud]

I stopped watching years ago, but I have been rewatching the series from the beginning on TNT. I just watched the season 8 episode where Dr. Benton leaves. I am starting to lose interest.

[spartanstew]

I still watch, but it's no longer a priority (I think I currently have 3 or 4 episodes not watched). There are occasionaly episodes that are extremely good and that keeps me tuning in. There was an episode earlier this season (don't remember which one) when I actually said to my wife "this shows been on forever and it still has episodes like this which are among the best on TV".
Those eps are few and far between, but they're enough to keep me watching sporadically.

[coolpenguin]

I'm in the middle. I've missed a few episodes this season, which used to be unheard of. I find myself fast forwarding through a lot of the episdoes, especially the Africa bits. It's still enjoyable, but I don't go out of my way to watch it. Heck, I even missed an episode last week because I was watching The Ultimate Fighter

[EchoBravo]

I stopped watching after Dr. Green left. I did get suckered in by their stunt episode last season... The one where the woman had a stroke and was actually aware of everything going on around her, though she could not communicate.

Lots of times I think writers forget that it's supposed to be entertainment first. If you're at an art house theatre for a documentary, you know what you're in for. If you're sitting down on a Thursday night, still have one more day of work to go before the weekend and just want some entertainment, rape and pillage on a forgotten continent is probably not gonna do it for you. Great "cause," if you will. Wrong forum.

[DougF]

I still watch, though I admit it's not close to as good as it used to be. The change in our house is we no longer watch it live, or close. We usually watch on Friday or Saturday, instead of starting it about 15 minutes in to catch up with live.

The highlight for me this year has been Vic Clemente. I thought that would be the reason I would hate it this year, but his story and performance have been the best.

[Jesda]

I watched it five years ago for about three or four episodes, then forgot about it. I never understood the appeal. My family is in medicine I guess I cant suspend reality for it.

[SullyND]

Question: Wasn't Clooney a peds doc? Who is the peds doc in the ER now?

[FireMen2003]

Question: Wasn't Clooney a peds doc? Who is the peds doc in the ER now?


Yea, he was. I believe at one time, he was the chief of the pediatric department. I have no idea about teh show now...

[anom]

Yea, he was. I believe at one time, he was the chief of the pediatric department. I have no idea about teh show now...
If I remember right, he was with emergency not pediatrics, but created some sort of pediatric emergency ward as part of the ER.

They seem to have abandoned that whole concept when Clooney left.

[Snapperdude]

It's like all the writers and producers have become government workers or something.

Self-loathing from a low-level government employee?

[justapixel]

Self-loathing from a low-level government employee?


Oh, I don't loathe myself, trust me on that one. :)

My husband is the Director of a large, state agency, so I know whereof I speak. There is not a lot of creativity, and a whole lot of laziness within the government. D

[TiVo'Brien]

ER has to be put out of its misery before they run out of helicopters!

[Deekeryu]

I've missed the last 2 episodes. This used to be a much watch show for me. It's still not bad a show, but maybe I've grown tired and moved on to new shows.

[DevdogAZ]

Where's the poll option for "It was time to end the series about five years ago when Noah Wyle was the only member of the original cast still clinging to this clunker?"

[ayrton911]

In my opinion, this show should be like a daytime soap and carry on for 20-30+ years! Seriously. :)

[mykittykat88]

It's so unfair that this show continues on....and they don't even seem to be trying, and the West Wing was cancelled - and shows great potential for an exciting next season......

[rockislandmike]

This show was done four years ago, which is about when I stopped watching it.

[Bradc314]

This show has not jumped the shark. The shark was smashed to death with a helicopter. I should have stopped watching then, or when when the robotic Dr. showed up.

The season pass is still there, and if nothing else interests me, and all the dust bunnies are clear from under the bed, I'll watch it.

I keep praying for an abrupt cancellation to free me from this time-wasting snare.