How much longer do you think ...
Question: How much longer do you think
ER has? Or will it always pull just good enough ratings for NBC to keep it around long after it has worn out its welcome? I missed last week's show (but still taped it), and so far I have not felt inclined to watch it. That is a
bad sign for a diehard
ER watcher like me. At some point the cost of producing
ER (which I understand is quite expensive) will exceed ad revenues, right?
Answer: Yes, but that point is not yet. I was going to duck the topic of
ER for a while (just thinking about watching it makes me dozy these days), but I got so many letters with this exact tone that I'll remind everyone, as I noted a few weeks ago, that we and NBC are stuck with
ER for at least two more years, through the 2007-08 season. Maybe some of the new blood will help (I wrote this before watching
Kristen Johnston's debut), but so far the show has been beyond dreary. Even so, it still has a large enough loyal following, at least in first-run, to justify its existence. My hope is that something can be done to recharge its creative batteries so it doesn't just limp through what may be its final seasons. If NBC's fortunes improve in the interim, including launching at least one new dramatic hit, I'm thinking
ER may finish its life on a different night (kind of like
The West Wing is doing, disastrously, right now). All in all, a sad situation. And no, to answer
Nancy's question, I don't know why we don't see more of Kerry Weaver, either. Maybe she lapsed into a coma reading the next script.
