After 15 Years....E.R. Says Good-Bye

ChaosTitan · Apr 2, 2009

The series finale of "E.R." airs tonight at 8pm Eastern. Fifteen years is a loooong run, and while I can't say I've watched every season faithfully, I've kept up. And when it was announced this was its final season, I started tuning back in. It has always been able to rend tears and leave an emotion mark with an image, or a few lines of dialogue. So many of those moments remain, but a few of them left indelible impressions on me.

So to other fans who loved it once, or still love it, what are your favorite ER moments/episodes?

Here are mine:

10. Dr. Ray Barnett is hit by a car, and later, the camera pulls back to show he's lost both of his legs at the knee.

9. Carter is stabbed by a crazy patient; he and Lucy Knight are left bleeding on the floor of an exam room.

8. A pager goes off in the trauma room, and the doctors realize that the mangled patient who threw himself in front of a train is one of their own, Dr. Gant.

7. Dr. Romano and his helicopters: first his arm gets cut off by a roter; a season later, he gets crushed by one.

6. Dr. Benton flies with Carter to a substance abuse rehab center.

5. Good-bye to Mark Greene, via a tear-jerking "Over the Rainbow" montage.

And my top four episodes:

4. Dr. Susan Lewis goes to New York City in search of her missing sister, and the show crosses over with "Third Watch."

3. "Ambush" - the episode aired live. They filmed it twice, two hours apart. I've seen both, and they are both amazing.

2. "The Lost" - Dr. Carter travels to Africa when it's announced Luka is missing and feared dead. In a moment that had me in tears, Luka is mistaken for a priest and not killed with the rest of his companions.

1. "Love's Labour Lost" - Best. Episode. Ever. Gripping, draining, and full of awesome performances by both regular cast and guest stars.

ChunkyC · Apr 2, 2009

All excellent. One that will always stick with me is the episode where George Clooney is in the storm drain with that stuck kid and the water keeps rising and rising....

I bit all my fingernails to the quick during that one and the cats ran and hid when I started eyeing their claws.

rugcat · Apr 2, 2009

It was a great show for a number of years, but I really think it passed its sell by date more than a few years ago.

Delhomeboy · Apr 2, 2009

ChunkyC said:
All excellent. One that will always stick with me is the episode where George Clooney is in the storm drain with that stuck kid and the water keeps rising and rising....

I bit all my fingernails to the quick during that one and the cats ran and hid when I started eyeing their claws.

FTW. I saw this episode, accidentally, when I was six or seven, and it stuck with me, for some weird reason.

I was never a huge fan (was too young, really, to understand it when it started) but my mother was obsessed with it until a couple years after George Clooney left. Now, this may not sound like a big deal, until you realize the show came on at 9 or 10 at night, and this was a woman who was usually in bed by 8.

K. Taylor · Apr 2, 2009

This season has really stepped up a notch. I don't know what I'll do on Thursday nights.......there will be a hole.

Don't forget the Kleenex.

ER stage dedication: http://www.nbc.com/ER/video/clips/the-er-stage-dedication/1078631/

Bittersweet moments: http://www.nbc.com/ER/video/clips/bitter-sweet-moments/1077668/

Going out on top: http://www.nbc.com/ER/video/clips/going-out-on-top/1077669/

Cast answers questions: http://www.nbc.com/ER/video/clips/your-er-questions-answered/1071621/

firedrake · Apr 2, 2009

I watched it, faithfully, until a couple of years ago when the main story line was about Kovac and Abby being stalked by a pissed off former patient. I got a bit cheesed off and I was also fed up of Neela's constant whining so I gave up.
I will, however, watch the last episode. I saw the first episode and I want to see it out. It was a brilliant programme in its prime with some wonderful characters.
There are too many moments to count but I think you've nailed most of them,Chaos. Plus:
The very premature baby that Abby fought to keep alive. They took it onto the roof at sunset and it died to the tune of "Sand and Water" by Beth Neilsen Chapman;
The one where Chip (the firefighter) dies;

rhymegirl · Apr 2, 2009

ChaosTitan said:
7. Dr. Romano and his helicopters: first his arm gets cut off by a roter; a season later, he gets crushed by one.

5. Good-bye to Mark Greene, via a tear-jerking "Over the Rainbow" montage.

Yeah, these were 2 of my favorites. I just saw a clip from the goodbye to Dr. Greene. It still makes me cry. Anthony Edwards did a great job.

And Romano losing that arm. Man, I never saw that coming and I think I screamed.

sheadakota · Apr 2, 2009

My husband and I watched it faithfully until a few years ago- we are both in medicine and would watch to see how real they would get- allowing for TV- it was the best thing going, but in recent years it seems to have veered away from being a medical drama and ( IMHO) has turned into more of a late night soap opera. I won't be watching the finale.

Delhomeboy · Apr 2, 2009

Aw, yay, they actually used the full opening! They've just been doing the blinking ER for like the past five seasons to open the show...

It's silly, I know, but I'm a sap for little things like that.

ChaosTitan · Apr 2, 2009

ChunkyC said:
All excellent. One that will always stick with me is the episode where George Clooney is in the storm drain with that stuck kid and the water keeps rising and rising....

Definitely a classic.

Another that didn't fit on my list of ten (I may have to expand to 15, heh), was the episode (third season?) in which paramedic Shep's partner died of third-degree burns. I've always been a fan of Ron Eldard, but that episode was just WOW for me.

firedrake · Apr 2, 2009

ChaosTitan said:
Definitely a classic.

Another that didn't fit on my list of ten (I may have to expand to 15, heh), was the episode (third season?) in which paramedic Shep's partner died of third-degree burns. I've always been a fan of Ron Eldard, but that episode was just WOW for me.

Dang, that's the one I meant. Memory's going.

kristie911 · Apr 2, 2009

I don't know what I'm going to do, I've watched it for 15 years! That's nearly half my life!

There have been so many wonderful moments I wouldn't even know where to begin...

Enzo · Apr 2, 2009

I've never been a fan of hospital series.
And hasn't Grey's Anatomy taken over as the 'hospital series to watch' for the past few years?

maestrowork · Apr 2, 2009

It had a great run, but in recent years it turned really melodramatic. I think it was past its prime right after about the time when Greene died. A few original cast members tried to hold on, but one by one they, too, left the show. You just can't really duplicate the original chemistry. For a few seasons Abby became the focal point of the show, but she, too, left eventually.

Call me a sap, but I cried really hard when Greene died. It wasn't just death or saying goodbye to my favorite ER character, but the death episode simply was poetic. It was perfectly rendered and a wonderful tribute to his character.

After that, I kind of didn't want to watch it because I hated to have my heartstrings tugged like that.

My mom was a nurse, so she watched the show religiously, too. But she also quit watching it a few years ago... something just wasn't the same anymore for her.

I think ER should have quit about 5 years ago. I haven't watched it for at least 7 or 8 years. Still, it's sad to see it go. It was a ground-breaking show, and set the bar really high. It deserves its place in TV history.

firedrake · Apr 2, 2009

maestrowork said:
I

Call me a sap, but I cried really hard when Greene died. It wasn't just death or saying goodbye to my favorite ER character, but the death episode simply was poetic. It was perfectly rendered and a wonderful tribute to his character.

After that, I kind of didn't want to watch it because I hated to have my heartstrings tugged like that.

They've just shown a clip of that episode on the 'highlights' programme, I just teared up again.

Jersey Chick · Apr 2, 2009

I've watched it since the pilot and though I agree it should have been pulled shortly after Greene's death, I watched out of habit and have never missed an episode. I went into labor with my oldest on a Thursday and at the hospital, I made sure the tv had NBC on.

However, I hated when they dropped the helicopter on Romano - that was kind of a Jump the Shark moment and Romano was my favorite character...

Thursday nights have always been my tv night - I'm going to be lost at 10pm (I have no interest in the cop show replacing ER.)

The finale was pretty good - I was also one of those dorks who was glad to see them use the original opening theme. And the way it ended was good. No cheese. No melodrama. No falling helicopters.

I'll miss it, but it's still on in syndication...

ChaosTitan · Apr 2, 2009

kristie911 said:
I don't know what I'm going to do, I've watched it for 15 years! That's nearly half my life!

OMG.

I just realized it's been on more than half my life (I'm 29 this year). Wow.

maestrowork said:
Call me a sap, but I cried really hard when Greene died.

I bawled my eyes out.

Funny thing is, I think I cried harder in the episode they aired the week before. I knew they were doing the Hawaii episode the following week, and I'd reassured my mom that this episode wasn't the one where Mark dies. So what happens? The teaser in which Carter reads a letter from Elizabeth, with a final page that says "Mark died this morning."

I just lost it. The way Noah Wyle played that scene....

Jersey Chick said:
The finale was pretty good - I was also one of those dorks who was glad to see them use the original opening theme. And the way it ended was good. No cheese. No melodrama. No falling helicopters.

Agreed.

SPOILERS!!!

I half-expected some sort of dramatic death, and was pleasantly surprised at the bittersweet feeling of "life goes on" that the ep left us with. I also loved the mirrors to the premiere, and ending on a reversal ("Dr. Greene, you coming?"). A solid end.

K. Taylor · Apr 3, 2009

The latter half of last season (the original last one before the writers' strike happened) and this one really energized the show again. It was always better than most of the rest on TV, but I'm so happy it went out on a top note. Thursdays at 10 have been such a staple for me.....it's going to feel very weird.

I love that they echoed the pilot. I expected more things to cry over, and I'm glad it wasn't too sad......just would have been too much if something awful happened to one of the regulars. Since it's a story set in "real life", it made sense to have these characters continuing with their work.

Definitely a series I'll have to own one day.

kristie911 · Apr 3, 2009

I did love the ending. Rather than some grand finale or horrible "everyone dies" scenario, it just seemed to go on...without us watching. I teared up a bit but just because I'm going to miss it every week.

maestrowork · Apr 3, 2009

I am a bit pissed they didn't invite Ming-Na back. I don't know what's going on, but I really did think they didn't like her or something. When she was on the show, they hardly gave her anything to do. She's starring in Stargate Universe -- so I guess I'll see her on SyFy!

ChaosTitan · Apr 3, 2009

There were a lot of regulars they didn't invite back. Too many, honestly, would have been overkill. I like Ming-Na as an actress, but I never really liked her character on ER. *shrug*

ChunkyC · Apr 3, 2009

Like a lot of you, I stopped watching a few years ago as well. It just lost something as the original cast members left. But overall, like Ray said, it deserves its place in TV history as one of the best medical dramas ever to hit the small screen.

maestrowork · Apr 3, 2009

ChaosTitan said:
There were a lot of regulars they didn't invite back. Too many, honestly, would have been overkill. I like Ming-Na as an actress, but I never really liked her character on ER. *shrug*

Me either. And they really didn't give her anything to do or any real stories. I remember visiting her on the set (and I got to meet Alex Kingston and Romano), and she only had one line in that episode.

As for the other regulars, yeah, I guess... But most of the headliners were back, though, even the dead ones. Greene, Corday, Ross, Carter, Abby, even Susan... the fact that Ming-Na headlined the show for more than 5 years and was one of the early cast members... I'm still surprised that she wasn't even asked to be back for a cameo. I'm wondering if she had a falling out with the producers...

firedrake · Apr 3, 2009

this is embarrassing...I need to ask, because of the years I missed.

What happened to Abby and Kovac?

Jersey Chick · Apr 3, 2009

Abby and Kovac got married, then he went to Croatia (Goran Visjnic left the cast as a regular, but did a few shows like Noah Wyle). While he was gone, Abby began drinking again and had a one-night stand with the temp ER chief (Stanley Tucci). After that, she went into rehab and she and Luka reconciled. At the beginning of this season, she left to join him in Boston. Happy ending. Sigh.

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