Your constant bashing of ER ...
Question: Your constant bashing of
ER and its "mediocrity" gives me the impression that you really haven't even given yourself the possibility of liking the show this season, maybe due to disillusionment with the last couple of seasons.
John Leguizamo's Doctor Clemente has been one of the best (or at least most enjoyable) new characters on TV this season, bringing comedic relief to a cast clearly in need of it. You can cynically brush off
Cynthia Nixon's and
James Woods's guest roles as stunt casting, but the respective episodes have been high-quality drama, especially last week's ALS-themed outing. I agree that the show is very different from its first seasons (I've been rewatching Seasons 1 through 4 on DVD), but in my mind it still delivers the goods drama-wise. So what do you say, Matt? Give
ER one more chance?
Answer: I tuned in to the beginning of the season with an open mind. But from the torpor of the opening episode, with Luka and Sam going in search of her brat, to the numbing story line of Pratt and his father, to being subjected to Morris as a full-time character and
Kristen Johnston's obnoxiously officious nurse, there's little for me to like. John Leguizamo does bring some energy to the show — what I've seen of him — but each time I check into
ER these days, it's like I've taken a tranquilizer and it's all I can do to stay conscious. And by the way, I'm not cynical about those Cynthia Nixon/James Woods/
Ray Liotta casting stunts. They tend to represent
ER at its infrequent best. I just wish the core cast had as much vitality and human interest as the occasional star patient.
