ER: The End of another Era

OK, so it's just a TV show but how many TV shows last 15 years in prime?

It's been on so long that I've watched it "regularly" at least 3 non-contiguous times. One of the great draws was the frenetic pace with tracking shots of the fast-paced Emergency. Dr. Michael Chrichton envisioned the revolutionary approach to showing the reality of an E.R. many years before they were technically prepared to tackle it.

They wanted to show the ensemble with real relationships and faults, but struggled with the balance of medical drama and soapy drama. I think they got carried away with drama lines and ebbed and flowed in a pendulum of this balance.

As most things are, it was its best when the balance was more even.

Many writers haven't discovered what these guys have in making strong characters, not flat but with some duality, and enough story to build on genuine emotion. The writing made the performances better, and maybe that cycled continued into better writing.

I haven't been following ER recently but it has been interesting how they have worked in bringing back the biggest characters during the last few episodes.

ER and Chrichton (who recently passed) will both be missed, but the show will go on, DVD and possibly further syndication, but mostly in episodes available online, as we move to new media.

I was fortunate enough to be an extra on episode 11.14 (season 11, episode 14) "Just as I Am." Laura Innes and guest star Frances Fisher were on set on-location in a church. I was only there briefly (would rather have been singing in the choir) and was barely seen. It's cool to (almost) be a part of something that big that touched people in such a way. The episode I worked dealed somewhat subtly with a hypocritical notion of churches' welcoming all without judgement, when there is actually more judgement even from family members. In a very natural way it showed a touch of the real pain in emotion beside the physical pain of the patients.

I am watching the clip/interview show and then the final 2-hour episode, that is said to be a closing (denoument) mirroring the introduction (exposition) of the first 2-hour episode.

No spoilers for the west coast people who will get to have their final (all-new) ER experience later tonight.

I'm hoping severe weather doen'st interfere too much with the show tonight.