greg pratt

(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.

(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.

(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.

(S13E08) Greetings, all you ER-heads! Just a quick note of clarification. Last week's review was mislabeled as episode six. It was actually number seven of the 13th season of ER. We are now back on track with the numbering.

Now that business is out of the way, let's bound ahead with this week's review. I would label this as a standard episode. Nothing earth-shattering occurred, no huge character developments. Just another episode to move the season along. Not to say it wasn't good, because it was. I guess you could say it was a placeholder episode, taking a breath before something bigger occurs.

Let's highlight a few important points, shall we? First, the plot with the homeless boy who comes in with rabies. Maybe I'm wrong, but it felt very mythical. Almost Lord of the Rings-like. There was the 'Blue Lady' with the secret name who was the heroine, and the 'Blood-Face Lady' who was the villain. Heck, with all of his curly hair the boy named Teller looked like a young Frodo Baggins. I wonder if we'll see those kids again in a future episode.

(S13E04) Could we have finally turned the corner here? After so many mediocre seasons of ER with rotating doctors, uncompleted storylines, and the constant moping of Abby and Sam, is the series back on track? Well, after watching this week's episode, which I thought was the best of this season so far, I would say yes.

Okay, NBC says yes as well, because they decided not to interrupt the show's run for three months in order to air The Black Donnellys. Sure, you can contribute the show's resurgence to weaker competition (Shark on CBS and Six Degrees on ABC), but I also think it's due to the gelling of the cast after last season's adjustment period. Oh, and of course the addition of John Stamos as the new Dr. Ross probably didn't hurt either. I just hope they stay on track this season and not veer too far off into personal stories. The name of the show is ER and it should take place in the ER.

Okay, my rant is done. Let's get going with this week's review.

(S13E03) Okay all of you people out there who said last week's episode of ER was full of dour mopers. We have now moved past the whole Abby 'will the boy live, or will he die' storyline and have returned back to what made the show the long-standing hit it has been . . . the day-to-day workings at County General. Sure, the people have changed, but the concept stays the same.

If I wanted to get technical I would say that this episode was the official start of the 13th season because it was such a change of pace from the first two episodes. Not only did we get to see John Stamos in his first full appearance as Doctor Tony Gates, but we also got to see the new hierarchy of the emergency room, were introduced to a slew of new interns and residents, and welcomed back someone who was on the show a loooonnnggg time ago.

So, let's charge those paddles to 250 and get going with this week's review.