county general

(S14E15) So, Neela.

We all know her. She's cute. She's smart. She has that lovely English accent. She draws every single man and woman into her universe with her mutant ability to make people fall in love with her (Professor X, I hope you're aware of this). We just haven't seen much of her this season. Well, except for the season premiere, but even then she was unconscious for most of the episode. Perhaps the producers decided to give Ms. Rasgotra a break this season after the whole Dubenko/Gates/Ray love triangle took up a good portion of last season. That was corrected this episode as we finally had an episode that put some focus on the good doctor after a 24-hour shift.

Why focus on her after such a long session? To show her screwing up, of course.

(S14E14) Welcome back!

We haven't seen each other for awhile -- January 17th, to be exact -- so I thought I'd bring you up to speed about what's happening on ER. Apparently, all of the main characters that started on the show are gone and have been replaced by a younger, more horny group of doctors and nurses who tend to whine a lot. Oh, there's also blood, burns, life, death, sadness, joy, naked doctors, doctors having shock treatments, alcoholic doctors who have had extra-marital affairs, blah, blah, blah.

I kid, of course (except for the horny part). If you've read any of my reviews over the last two years you'd know that I'm pretty pleased with the way the show has re-energized itself with new characters and a focus back into the happenings of the emergency room. True, there are some things that still annoy me, like the never-ending curse over Abby Lockhart, but they can be managed because there are other good things about the show.

So, I guess the only question right now is if I enjoyed this week's episode. Well, read on to find out.

(S14E12) "Were you ever drunk at work?"-- Sam to Abby

Good evening, and thank you for flying TV Squad. We know you have many choices in which television reviews you read, and we appreciate your clickage. Our regularly scheduled attendant Rich Keller is unavailable this evening, so I will be serving up complimentary opinions and maybe even a little snark. Truthiness is $5. We appreciate correct change. So, sit right back and let's get started.

(S14E11) Welcome back Gloria Reuben as Jeanie Boulet.

For those of you who don't remember Jeanie, which would be those of you who jumped on the ER bandwagon from season 7 or later, Jeanie was a Physician's Assistant at County General waaaayyyy back at the beginning of the series run. Originally, she was the physical therapist for Dr. Peter Benton's mother. Eventually, she ended up sleeping with the good doctor while she was married. Then, it turned out that her husband had HIV and, lo and behold, she contracted the virus as well.

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Yeah, you read it right. This will be season 14 of NBC's ER, and probably its last. There were rumors that the show would be renewed for another two years, but they never came to fruition.

Last season brought a number of changes to the Emergency Room over at County General. We were introduced to John Stamos as Tony Gates and Busy Philips as Hope Bobeck and said good-bye to Laura Innes as she left the series and her role as Kerry Weaver. By the end of the season we saw Luka Kovac leave his role as ER chief to be replaced by the more intense Dr. Kevin Moretti (played by Stanley Tucci), Ray Barnett lose both legs to a car accident, and Neela (our favorite object of attention) being trampled upon during a peace rally gone bad

Want to know what will happen to your favorite docs during the (supposed) last season of ER? Well, you can find out after the jump. Oh, by the way . . . .SPOILER WARNING!!!! You have been duly alerted.

(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]

(S13E01) Denny Crane.

Whoops, sorry, wrong review. Let's try this name . . . Abby Lockhart. Ah, much better. Of course, if we are mentioning the perpetually unlucky Abby we must be talking about the veteran medical drama ER. Yes sir, the NBC drama is still on the air and about to start its 13th season. There have been plenty of ups and downs, and all of the original season one cast have gone on their merry way, but the show still gets the ratings.

Good lord, the producers of ER love to kill off their doctors so they won't come back again in highly paid guest-star roles! First, it was Lucy Knight (Kellie Martin) who died after being stabbed by a patient (David Krumholtz of Numb3rs). Next it was Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) who died of a brain tumor. Then Robert Romano (Paul McCrane) got his ticket punched after a helicopter fell on him (this is after a helicopter blade cut off his arm in an earlier episode).

Now, they have knocked off Doctor Michael Gallant (Sharif Atkins). In Thursday's episode, Gallant (who appeared as a regular from 2001-2004) died after his convoy truck struck a roadside bomb. Gallant, who left the confines of County General to go to Iraq as an Army doctor, had a recurring role this season as he returned home, married Dr. Neela Rasgotra (Parminder Nagra of Bend it Like Beckham) then decided to return to Iraq once again.

And now, as the season comes to an end next Thursday, there may be more death and destruction for the emergency room staff, as two prisoners start shooting up the hospital and the people, taking hostages in the meantime.

Gosh, I miss the good old days when Doctor Ross (George Clooney) would flirt with Nurse Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) or Doctor Carter (Noah Wyle) would bow under Doctor Benton's (Eriq La Salle) stare. Maybe we can have an episode where Dr. Greene returns from the dead and slaps some sense into all of them.