ER

Welcome to TV Squad Lists (formerly 'The Five'), a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.

I'm honestly not even sure how I came up with this, but there are a ton of medical dramas and comedies on TV. That means there's a lot of TV doctors, both past and present. So why not have some of them do battle? I think it seems incredibly logical. Peanut butter and jelly. Hot dogs and beans. TV doctors and cage-matches. So there... because I said so.

Now, with so many shows out there, some people may be wondering why I didn't choose doctors from some of the programs you'd expect. For instance, I stayed away from pitting any of the members of Grey's Anatomy in a battle royale because I figured if any of them got into a fight with someone, it'd just turn into an unexpected sex romp. By the same token, I didn't pick anyone from St. Elsewhere figuring that any fight involving someone from that show would just evolve into an inside joke that only a few people understood. Additionally, not every character I picked is from a straight up "medical" show and in one instance, I'm not sure they're actually even a doctor. Whatever... it sounds fun doesn't it?

I guess some people don't think that NBC is "doing comedy right," and that the days of "Must-See TV" are long gone.

On April 12, NBC's Thursday night lineup of My Name Is Earl, The Office, 30 Rock, Scrubs, and ER got the lowest ratings since the 1987 season. (NBC always finishes third, behind number one CBS and number two ABC.)

I guess I can understand ER not doing that well, since it has been on for quite some time (though the success of Shark surprises me), but I wonder why more viewers - beyond the loyal fans - aren't latching on to The Office and 30 Rock. They're both smart, funny shows, and you'd think more people would watch them, and Scrubs is still good even though it's been on for several seasons. Damn Grey's Anatomy and CSI!

Warning! This article contains small spoilers about the show's upcoming episodes and next season.

No ER fan will be surprised to hear that Goran Visnjic, who plays Luka Kovac on the show, confirmed to TV Guide that he will soon leave the series since this is rather old news. Visnjic's departure was confirmed in February when TV Guide's Michael Ausiello broke the news.

Since then, fans have been speculating on what would happen to the Luka/Abby couple. They wondered why was the show having them wed during May Sweeps if Luka was to leave the ER.

Goran Visnjic and Maura Tierney spoke to TV Guide and somewhat answered the questions fans have been asking.

(S13E18) Now, where were we? I think the last time we visited County General Dr. Carter was just returning to the emergency room after a near-fatal stabbing from a patient, while Carol Hathaway was fighting growing feelings for new doc Luka Kovac. Meanwhile, Dr. Greene was dealing with his father, who was dying of terminal cancer.

What? Those things happened seven seasons ago? Well, its just been so long since we've seen a new episode of ER that I just plum forgot what happened on the last new episode (even though I wrote a review on it and could've gone back to re-read it. I'm so silly!). Good news here is that ER is back with all new episodes for the rest of the season, which will probably culminate somewhere along the way with the marriage of Kovac and Abby Lockhart. In the meantime there's plenty of story to tell.

So, let's stop jibber-jabbering and get on with it.

Casting news from ER: Stanley Tucci, star of the very short-lived CBS drama 3 Lbs last year, will join the show later this year for a multi-episode stint.

He's going to play "a brilliant ICU turned ER chief," in just one of many big changes that are coming to the show. TV Guide wonders if this means that Goran Visnjic will be replaced, since it has been reported that Visnjic might not return next season (though producers are trying to get him to agree to star in a few episodes here and there).

This is interesting casting, going for an older guy instead of a resident hunk (sorry, nothing against Tucci's hunkiness). This guy deserves a weekly show. I remember a TV movie from years ago, a pilot for a series produced by Tom Selleck, that had Tucci as a detective. The show never made it, so I hope this works out.

[via TV Tattle]

(S13E17) What is it with the doctors of County General and their fathers? Other than maybe Dr. Lewis' dad all of the other fathers introduced on this show have had something wrong with them. Dr. Greene's father was a hard-ass, Dr. Carter's was cold and, possibly, an alcoholic. Pratt had an issue with his dad and Abby's father abandoned her. Now, we are introduced to another troubled patriarch . . . Mike, father to Tony Gates. I know it's hard to raise kids (I have four myself and routinely roll up into a fetal position and cry my eyes out), but the fathers on ER are downright losers.

By the way, the theme of this week's show . . . Fathers (and one mother). Pretty ironic, don't you think?

(S13E15 / S13E16) Since I was away last Thursday and ER wasn't covered I decided to review both this and the previous week's shows. And, as there's much to cover let's get started right away.

If you were to sum up last week's episode I would have to say it was all about living life and taking chances. There were two main stories: one about a comedian whose chance at stardom is shot down by cancer, and another about Greg Pratt's survival as a doctor while appearing before the medical board. The comedian's plight really got to me, more than the usual patient that comes into the Emergency Room. Here was a guy who struggled to get to Chicago, home to some of the best comedy clubs in the nation, only to get side-tracked by a life-ending illness. I thought about myself when I watched that. Here I am, husband, father of four, TV Squad poster extraordinaire, currently embarking on an Improv career that will one day, hopefully, get me out of my little cubicle world. Like that patient my world could be turned upside-down just like that (insert snapping finger noise here).

What surprised me the most about this story line was the reactions of the doctors that treated him. Abby, who has been known to stay the course when making a diagnosis, was trying everything to get her patient to the comedy club. Archie Morris, who you would think would be propping the guy up on a stretcher to get him to the gig, was extremely conservative to the point that he was actually at odds with Abby's decision. I was a bit shocked at Morris' reaction . . . our little red-headed boy is growing up right before our eyes.

In this roundup of all the latest casting and pilot news, it says that ER star Shane West has been added to the cast of Supreme Courtships, a new FOX comedy that really has to get a new title before it hits the air.

Hmmm...does that mean he's leaving the NBC drama? Not that all pilots get picked up of course, but just the fact that he's starring in the pilot is interesting. I think when he joined ER it wasn't supposed to be a long term role. But now it seems like he's smack dab in the middle of all the action at the hospital: concentrating on his medical career instead of his music, being in a possible triangle with Gates and Neela, etc.

In other casting news, The Nine's Daybreak's Adam Baldwin has joined the cast of NBC's Chuck, and LL Cool J will play a cop in CBS' Anthony Zuiker (CSI) drama The Man.

[via TV Tattle]

(S13E14) Lots of cliffhangers to resolve this week. Let's get right to it!

Luka, Abby and Curtis Ames -- Remember Forrest Whitaker in Good Morning, Vietnam? Gosh, he was so sweet and innocent as Private Garlick. Just think back to that, because Curtis Ames is in no way sweet in his final appearance on ER (and I'm not going to tell you why it's his last episode). In fact, I would have to say he is down right crazed, even more so than Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh, the role Whittaker plays on The Shield.

At the NBC party for the TCA press tour earlier this month, there was a small contingent of ER cast members floating around, but two of them happened to be my favorites: Linda Cardellini and Parminder Nagra (what, you think I was going to say Shane West?). Both actresses seem to be more prominently involved in the veteran show's storylines this year: Cardellini's Samantha Taggart has already had to deal with killing her fugitive ex-husband and now is trying to figure out how to control a son whose behavior is going south, and Nagra's Neela Rasgotra has been in a torrid affair with John Stamos' character, Tony Gates.

I caught up with both of them and asked them about how they think the year's been going so far and what's in store for each of their characters during the remainder of the season.

(S13E13) I think ER may have reached a record here. I've lost count, but this could be the five millionth time that the staff at County General have encountered a pair of step-brothers whose father only loves one and not the other. And, the six millionth time that the father seemed to be a bastard. Also, unless I'm mistaken, this is the infinity plus one time that a doctor has confronted that parent and told them, in no uncertain terms, that he was an a**hole. It goes back to the very first days of the show when Dr. Ross (the dashing and dapper George Clooney) would berate a parent at least once an episode.

Man, I've been watching this show too long! This week, the Ray-Neela-Gates love triangle continues, Pratt is in trouble with the law, Abby discovers why Eddie is really in Chicago, and Laura Innes says good-bye to ER.

So, what are you dawdling around for? Let's get going!

For those of you who watched last week's ER and thought, "Whoa! Weaver got fired?!", you're not alone. But if you also thought that there might be an opening for Laura Innes' character to stick around, you'd be wrong. Innes tells TVGuide.com that she's definitely leaving the show after tonight's episode; she may come back for an episode or two next year, but that's about it.

(S13E12) Well, that was unexpected.

Laura Innes' character, Doctor Kerry Weaver, wasn't in many episodes over the last few years, but it looked like she was coming back into the normal ER fold. It started late last season when the issues with her degenerative hip condition were resolved, allowing her to walk freely without the need of a crutch. Then, after preventing Kovac from getting fired, she was demoted back down to the ER as a mere attending. She became a medical reporter for a local Chicago news broadcast, and she began dating her segment producer. Things were looking up for Kerry.

Now, it looks like she's leaving for good.

My first Festivus wish list for the upcoming year. Well, I did type up a Festivus wish list last year, but the only people who heard it were my wife and kids, who had no idea what I was talking about. In fact, I could swear my wife mumbled something like 'You need professional help' under her breath while I was expressing my wish that Barney the dinosaur be run over by a semi-truck. I ignored the statement, of course. I mean, I've been going to therapy for years. Five days a week. Twice a day. Plus, there are the drugs that curb my rage everytime I see that Mac-PC commercial. Sure, the drugs make me see visions of Rush Limbaugh in a thong, but they even my emotions out. For some reason, Rush in a thong seems to sooth me. It's either that or the sleeping pills, not too sure.

Anyway, I'm overwhelmed with emotion, yet highly medicated, as I type this up. So, if you see tear marks on this post please forgive me. Then again, if you see tear marks on this post you may want to talk to my therapist.

When people who have met John Stamos say that he's a nice, charming, down-to-earth guy, they're not kidding. He's so damned charming that twice during my phone conversation with him last week, I told him that since he already had my number, he should call me to talk about TV off-the record. (Hey, the guy said to me both times that he enjoyed the conversation. And we talked about New Jersey -- he did a movie in Freehold once. So I caved.)

It's that likability that has carried his career for the last twenty-five years, from General Hospital to Full House to ER. It's also what he hopes will draw people to Wedding Wars, an A&E original movie that will air Monday at 9 PM. In the comedy, he plays Shel, a gay party planner who sparks a national pro-gay-marriage movement when he goes on strike while planning the wedding of his brother Ben (Eric Dana).,The strike happens after he finds out Ben wrote an anti-gay marriage speech for his boss, the governor of Maine.

I spoke to Stamos about the movie for The New York Post, but while I had him on the phone, I couldn't resist asking him about ER, his Uncle Jesse mullet, and his friendship with Howard Stern. The interview is after the jump.