All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[Bastet]

Oh, man - I wonder if I never saw it the first time around, because I had no memory of Peter trying to save his nephew, and I just can't imagine that not sticking in my brain.  The way he finally gives up, and goes out to see Jackie covered in blood.  Khandi Alexander does a great job not just with Jackie's breakdown upon seeing Peter and realizing her son is gone, but before that, with the way her entire face changes in an instant when she sees the girlfriend and her homies.  A little moment like that is an even more impressive piece of acting.

[jjj]

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

Wasn't there an earlier episode that did the same storyline about a young gang banger coming into the trauma room to finish off their victim?

I did not see this later episode, but yes, there was an episode a few seasons back where a kid (10-year-old?) comes into the ER, pulls out a revolver, and prowls the hall looking for the victim; the staff in several hallways dive for cover.  He does not shoot, but goes back down the halls with his gun drawn and everyone still cowering in the same place.  (I said here that if I had been in the hallway when he first came through, no way would I be in the same hallway when he came back.) 

[voiceover]

I didn't see a media thread, so here it goes:

Vanessa Marquez (Nurse Wendy) has made some claims about trouble on the set.  Sexual & racial harassment sort of claims.  She also accused George Clooney of blacklisting her, which he denied earlier today.

[starri]

Random question, but did they ever establish what year of residency Benton was in when the show started?  Because I'm sitting here doing the math and I think he got the trauma surgery fellowship in late S5 or early S6.  The early seasons all tended to follow a residency program's academic year, which run July to June.  General Surgery is a five-year residency, and he was definitely not acting like a first-year in S1.

[doodlebug]

19 minutes ago, starri said:

Random question, but did they ever establish what year of residency Benton was in when the show started?  Because I'm sitting here doing the math and I think he got the trauma surgery fellowship in late S5 or early S6.  The early seasons all tended to follow a residency program's academic year, which run July to June.  General Surgery is a five-year residency, and he was definitely not acting like a first-year in S1.

At some point in the first season, he was said to be a second year surgical resident.       He applied for the Starzyl Fellowship in the second season and several people said that as a third year resident, he probably wouldn't get it.  So, sometime after that, they blurred the lines and kept him a resident for an extra year.

[Bastet]

Yeah, he's a second-year resident in season one; it comes up in the context of that fellowship, which goes to the resident played by Ricky's mom from Boyz n the Hood -- they talk about how she's a year ahead of him.

[voiceover]

What's going on with Elizabeth?  Anyone catch why she has the surgical yips?  Was it about the surfer character?

Aaaaand a reminder of why I'd tune this in and tune back out: Carter's slip-up.  

[doodlebug]

5 minutes ago, voiceover said:

What's going on with Elizabeth?  Anyone catch why she has the surgical yips?  Was it about the surfer character?

Aaaaand a reminder of why I'd tune this in and tune back out: Carter's slip-up.  

I just fast forwarded over all of Mark's brain surgery stuff, do not care.  I also lost a good friend to GBM (also a doctor, ironically) and I remember being very pissed when the storyline was first shown because of all of the medical inaccuracies and the notion that nobody in Chicago could possibly know about the curative brain surgery that Mark got in NYC.  It was really infuriating when Mark's surgeon bragged that not only had all of his patients outlived their 6 month prognosis, but they were alive and well more than 2 years later.  The particular surgery Mark had was real at the time, and it did show some benefit; people who got it lived 2 MONTHS longer, not two years.  A real disservice to families facing this horrible disease, IMO. 

[voiceover]

I'm sorry about your friend.

Strange that this series started out based on "reality", IIRC via Michael Crichton's background.  Then over time it was all questionable procedure/diagnosis/treatment, all for drama's sake.

[voiceover]

Guest star Bingo: David Naughton (American Werewolf in London, Dr Pepper commercials) as father of heart-transplant boy.

[starri]

26 minutes ago, voiceover said:

Strange that this series started out based on "reality", IIRC via Michael Crichton's background.

I always thought his "background" was kind of a crock.  He had an MD, but he never actually practiced medicine.  Obviously a very smart guy (well, aside from being a climate change denier), but it's not really the same.

Contrast with Neal Baer, who was working in television while he was in medical school, and completed his residency while working on ER.  I can't imagine doing that.

[slasherboy]

They eat SO. MANY. HOT. DOGS. on this show!  The latest ..... Elizabeth and her attorney when she's deposed for a malpractice suit.  Makes me wanna weenie sammich (as my neighbor used to call them ... a hot dog on white bread smashed so that you could see her finger imprints.  Then she'd freeze them and offer them to me.  I graciously declined the offer.) and I haven't eaten a hot dog in years.  Still, the ones they had today looked delish.

Am, so far, enjoying season 7 because I don't remember a single thing about it.  Maybe I didn't watch it the first time around and that's why I don't remember it.

[justduckey]

That’s how I feel...I don’t remember a darn thing about season 7.

[Automne]

I wonder how many of these doctors get burned by the wayward teens they bring home. Charlie from the earlier seasons and the kid Dr. Benton keeps trying to protect who only vandalizes and destroys Cleo's home.

[voiceover]

Sadly, a lot of it is coming back to me.  I stopped being a regular watcher after Hathaway left, but I'd check in & out for a few years afterwards.  And the "checking out" would happen in a temper, usually brought on by dumbass subplots like Kynesha (Benton's nephew' girlfriend).  It felt a little like Kirsten Dunst's Charlie (down to the attempted seduction), but at least Charlie had her moments of decency and even (Christmas at Carol's) sweetness.

Unless I missed it, Kynesha was a troublemaking destructive mess, and Peter's lucky Cleo didn't toss him out on his ass after she walked in to see her place trashed.  AAARRGHHH!!!!  That was almost more than I could stand.

Notice that the ER staff had very few family/friends who weren't nuts.  As if the hours & low pay weren't enough. 

But I notice I'm posting here again!  For whatever that's worth

[Stuffy]

I will always think Maura deserved the Emmy for their storyline more than Sally. Maura lost to Allison Janney, so she probably never had a chance. 

[slasherboy]

This is a stupid question, but here it is: Mark is about to get his brain surgery and Elizabeth is shaving his head.  All of a sudden he does something and gets something on her sweater.  He apologizes and she goes to clean up.

Did he puke on her or what?

I told you it was a stupid question.

[rcc]

I always thought the reason the characters always ate hot dogs was because Chicago is well known for them and their fixings like tomatoes, etc.

Crichton always had the characters discussing other patients' maladies in front of other patients. Also when a patient asked a question about another patient they answered them. Didn't he know about HIPPA. Except for Sgt. Weaver, of course.

[voiceover]

9 hours ago, slasherboy said:

This is a stupid question, but here it is: Mark is about to get his brain surgery and Elizabeth is shaving his head.  All of a sudden he does something and gets something on her sweater.  He apologizes and she goes to clean up.

Did he puke on her or what?

I told you it was a stupid question.

You know, that was a blink & you missed it moment for me, too.  Seriously: I don't even think I looked away from the TV as it was happening, and I wasn't sure.

I *thought* he'd knocked the basin of water she was using, on to her.  The good news is,  all Saturdays eps are repeating this week.

[Zoe]

Yeah, just watched that scene off the DVR. She knocked over the basin of water onto herself because they were talking.

[voiceover]

Whew!  Thanks for the update.  Proof that I'm paying closer attention than I thought.

[slasherboy]

6 hours ago, rcc said:

I always thought the reason the characters always ate hot dogs was because Chicago is well known for them and their fixings like tomatoes, etc.

Ok, this hot dog explanation makes sense.  And when Mark & Elizabeth were eating one in New York, that makes sense too since they probably got it from a street vendor.  I love watching food scenes on TV, especially when the actors actually eat.  It really takes me out of a scene when everybody is sitting around the dinner table with full plates and nobody touches a bite.  They really fed their faces on "The Waltons".  I read something once from one of the cast members of that show and they said the food was really, really good.  It looked good!

5 hours ago, voiceover said:

You know, that was a blink & you missed it moment for me, too.  Seriously: I don't even think I looked away from the TV as it was happening, and I wasn't sure.

I *thought* he'd knocked the basin of water she was using, on to her.  The good news is,  all Saturdays eps are repeating this week.

Thank you, Voiceover.  When Mark apologized and the way she looked down at her sweater, I thought it was something gross.

4 hours ago, Zoe said:

Yeah, just watched that scene off the DVR. She knocked over the basin of water onto herself because they were talking.

Well, there ya go.  Thank you too, Zoe.

[justduckey]

Oh season 7 you’re really are hard to like. I’m trying but other than Mark’s story (and Carter a little bit) everything is grating. I’ve heard Sally Field shriek enough for a lifetime.  Benton and the kid couldn’t interest me less. 

 

I am seeing now with my non-youth eyes how I probably gave up on this show around this season in 2001.

Edited October 16, 2017 by justduckey

[Mountainair]

I agree. I think 2001 is when I quit watching. I'd check in every now and then but it wasn't ever must watch after that. I remember certain episodes but not all of them. For example, I had no clue that Elizabeth Mitchell played Dr. Weavers first same gender love interest! 

I noticed the food as well but I also like how the character dress according to the weather. Big Sweaters, heavy coats, etc.

What season is the Romano/Helicopter episode? 

[doodlebug]

37 minutes ago, Mountainair said:

I agree. I think 2001 is when I quit watching. I'd check in every now and then but it wasn't ever must watch after that. I remember certain episodes but not all of them. For example, I had no clue that Elizabeth Mitchell played Dr. Weavers first same gender love interest! 

I noticed the food as well but I also like how the character dress according to the weather. Big Sweaters, heavy coats, etc.

What season is the Romano/Helicopter episode? 

There are two Romano vs helicopter episodes.  The first is 'When Night Meets Day' Season 9, Episode 21.  Romano's final encounter with a helicopter occurs in Season 10, Episode 9, 'Freefall'.  In Romano's last scene prior to that, he's in an elevator with Neela and Tom Petty's 'Free falling' is the Muzak.  Quite a sense of humor, those ER writers.

[absnow54]

I can't say that season 7 is any good, but it's definitely gotten me back into catching episodes on Pop. I was really getting burnt out on season 1-6, although I'm sure in a few weeks, I'll be begging for the days. There's a major shift in production, not just in the set and the way scenes are lit, but in the soundtrack too. The earlier seasons relied more on scored music, I feel, while season 7 feels more like a WB drama of the time, where some overly literal pop song plays over the end scene to let us really know what a character is thinking or feeling in a not at all subtle way.

[doodlebug]

4 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

I can't say that season 7 is any good, but it's definitely gotten me back into catching episodes on Pop. I was really getting burnt out on season 1-6, although I'm sure in a few weeks, I'll be begging for the days. There's a major shift in production, not just in the set and the way scenes are lit, but in the soundtrack too. The earlier seasons relied more on scored music, I feel, while season 7 feels more like a WB drama of the time, where some overly literal pop song plays over the end scene to let us really know what a character is thinking or feeling in a not at all subtle way.

I think the show in later seasons is good, sometimes very good.  It suffers in comparison to the early days, especially seasons 1-4, because the show was absolutely stellar, top notch entertainment  at that time.  They went from groundbreaking, riveting tv to 'pretty good'.  The quality just wasn't sustainable over time.

[cpcathy]

3 hours ago, absnow54 said:

I can't say that season 7 is any good, but it's definitely gotten me back into catching episodes on Pop. I was really getting burnt out on season 1-6, although I'm sure in a few weeks, I'll be begging for the days. There's a major shift in production, not just in the set and the way scenes are lit, but in the soundtrack too. The earlier seasons relied more on scored music, I feel, while season 7 feels more like a WB drama of the time, where some overly literal pop song plays over the end scene to let us really know what a character is thinking or feeling in a not at all subtle way.

Oh wow, good observation.

Some shows really do have a shelf life. If money wasn't the main goal, shows would tell their stories, and then end when they needed to.

[justduckey]

I agree

3 hours ago, absnow54 said:

I can't say that season 7 is any good, but it's definitely gotten me back into catching episodes on Pop. I was really getting burnt out on season 1-6, although I'm sure in a few weeks, I'll be begging for the days. There's a major shift in production, not just in the set and the way scenes are lit, but in the soundtrack too. The earlier seasons relied more on scored music, I feel, while season 7 feels more like a WB drama of the time, where some overly literal pop song plays over the end scene to let us really know what a character is thinking or feeling in a not at all subtle way.

I agree! The first thing I noticed during the first episode of season 7 was the soundtrack. The music is totally different and I don’t like it.

[RedbirdNelly]

On ‎10‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 3:07 PM, Bastet said:

Corday continues to be my favorite; I like the way she initially does the whole, "I meant to you call you, I've just been incredibly busy" thing when Peter asks if she got his messages, but then - even though he wouldn't have called her on the lie - she immediately confesses that's not true, she's been avoiding him because she doesn't know what to say.  (I love his big grin and hug when she gets him the job in Philadelphia.)  I also like the way she rolls with finding out Mark signed up to play hockey when they'd already had plans for the night.

 

I loved this part, too. They had Corday be that honest a few different times and I really liked that part of her character.

On ‎10‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 5:24 PM, Bastet said:

Oh, man - I wonder if I never saw it the first time around, because I had no memory of Peter trying to save his nephew, and I just can't imagine that not sticking in my brain.  The way he finally gives up, and goes out to see Jackie covered in blood.  Khandi Alexander does a great job not just with Jackie's breakdown upon seeing Peter and realizing her son is gone, but before that, with the way her entire face changes in an instant when she sees the girlfriend and her homies.  A little moment like that is an even more impressive piece of acting.

I agree completely on this. Khandi Alexander was amazing.

[Bastet]

40 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

They had Corday be that honest a few different times and I really liked that part of her character.

She's always straightforward, at least as I recall.  I love the scene where she meets for the first time a surgeon she's only known by reputation, and he has to stand up on a stool to scrub in because of his height.  She remarks to Peter, "I knew he was old, but I didn't realize he was so short."  The surgeon asks what she said, and she - loudly, to accommodate his hearing loss - repeats, "I said I knew you were old, but I didn't know you were so short."  Ha!

I also like how, when new in town, she just walked up to a bunch of colleagues - especially her female co-workers, whether they be doctors or nurses - and asked them if they wanted to go do something.  

She's quite direct, in a way that reminds me of several British friends.  And I'm glad it played that way, rather than as social awkwardness.

[RedbirdNelly]

35 minutes ago, Bastet said:

She's always straightforward, at least as I recall.  I love the scene where she meets for the first time a surgeon she's only known by reputation, and he has to stand up on a stool to scrub in because of his height.  She remarks to Peter, "I knew he was old, but I didn't realize he was so short."  The surgeon asks what she said, and she - loudly, to accommodate his hearing loss - repeats, "I said I knew you were old, but I didn't know you were so short."  Ha!

I also like how, when new in town, she just walked up to a bunch of colleagues - especially her female co-workers, whether they be doctors or nurses - and asked them if they wanted to go do something.  

She's quite direct, in a way that reminds me of several British friends.  And I'm glad it played that way, rather than as social awkwardness.

me, too. It was well done and nice they were consistent about it.

[Bastet]

Yet another doctor with an unintended pregnancy; one of the things I hate about hospital dramas.  I don't think we heard how Chen wound up pregnant, but Elizabeth's "I can't be pregnant" protest is "I had a period last month," not "I'm a doctor, engaged to another doctor, and thus know how to use birth control properly and consistently."  TV birth control's failure rate is not just annoying, it's actually a dangerous message to send.

It's also such a cheap storytelling tactic in Corday's case, to write the pregnancy solely for the "oh no, she's pregnant at the same time Mark is diagnosed with cancer" drama factor. 

[Barb1959]

I feel like this question has been asked and answered so forgive me.  I am recovering from back surgery so don't feel like going all the way back.  Why does Weaver walk with a cane?  What was her problem?  Thanks in advance....

[Bastet]

Um, Corday's lawyer, "the answer to 'do you know what time it is?' is yes, not the time" is what you tell the client before deposition, not after you've had to call a break because she just tanked her case.

I'm not remotely an advocate of tort reform, but even I got a good chuckle out of Elizabeth's response to the plaintiff's attorney saying it was impressive she'd practiced for ten years before finding herself giving a deposition: Only three of them in America. 

It's interesting we just had the conversation about her honesty this morning, and now we're at the deposition episode and she lies to save her ass.  Mark has an, um, interesting theory of ethics - she's entitled to avoid responsibility for paralyzing a man because he's unlucky enough to have a horrible form of cancer?

I loved Carter's rant to Mark, and it was kind of a shame it got interrupted by Mark's seizure.  Nice conversation between them when Mark revealed his diagnosis, though, and Noah Wyle did a great job with Carter's initial reaction - he laughs a little, because it's news he can't wrap his mind around; he thinks Mark is messing with him or something.  Then the change in his face when he realizes it's true.

The fact a cable station in 2017 is blurring things (in this case, Peter getting flipped off) that aired on network TV in 2000 continues to jump out at me.

Also, on only day two of season seven, I am officially sick of Abby's mom.  Two things are simultaneously true: she's sick, and she's emotionally manipulative, which creates a situation that's extremely difficult for both her and Abby.  Okay, on paper, that makes for a good storyline.  But in execution it is just not working for me.

[Bastet]

30 minutes ago, Barb1959 said:

I feel like this question has been asked and answered so forgive me.  I am recovering from back surgery so don't feel like going all the way back.  Why does Weaver walk with a cane?  What was her problem?  Thanks in advance....

It wasn't said for a long time, but Wiki says it eventually gets mentioned that she has a congenital issue with her hips.  Dysplasia, I think; I already got distracted by this great interview with Laura Innes in Ability Magazine about TV's portrayal of people with disabilities, characters with disabilities being played by able-bodied actors, etc.

[Barb1959]

Thank you Bastet...I appreciate that answer and also the link!

[Gigi43]

I love they didn't  address  Kerry's limp right away. I know people who get so mad every time an "able body" plays disabled. I have a disability and I think  the best actor should  be hired. There was  lot more to Kerry, she was brought in as an antagonist  of sorts there wasn't  a very special  episode  about hiring  a disbled doctor. I get annoyed  that  usually  on TV any character  with a condition usually  ends up finding  some miracle cure or it becomes  the defining part of their life. But Kerry was a doctor who happened to have a limp.

 

Abby's mom is getting on my nerves too. Aside from the original  cast where the show started with family issues  Susan and her sister,  Benton and his mom etc, no other character came on and got a separate/personal storyline after being on the show for a half of a season. We didn't even see Carter'stories family the first seasons. It was too much too soon shoving Abby and her mom front and center. 

Edited October 16, 2017 by Gigi43

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

It wasn't said for a long time, but Wiki says it eventually gets mentioned that she has a congenital issue with her hips.  Dysplasia, I think; I already got distracted by this great interview with Laura Innes in Ability Magazine about TV's portrayal of people with disabilities, characters with disabilities being played by able-bodied actors, etc.

Weirdly enough, we later find out that Weaver's hip problem could easily be handled with a hip replacement, a surgery which she eventually has and recovers completely, no longer having a crutch or a limp.  This, of course, begs the question as to why anyone, let alone a physician, would spend decades in pain and with significant disability when a relatively common surgery could've corrected the problem completely.  

BTW, I may be prejudiced because I have actually had a hip replacement myself, but, in a young healthy patient, the surgery is not difficult.  I was back to work, as a doctor, in about 4 weeks.  Of course, on ER, Weaver acted like death was imminent and then named Abby, of all people, to be guardian for her son if she died.

Laura Innes did say in interviews that using the crutch and walking with a limp was taking its toll on her physically and she had recurrent back and leg pain from it.  She was very happy when Weaver was cured.

[dargosmydaddy]

56 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

This, of course, begs the question as to why anyone, let alone a physician, would spend decades in pain and with significant disability when a relatively common surgery could've corrected the problem completely.  ...

Laura Innes did say in interviews that using the crutch and walking with a limp was taking its toll on her physically and she had recurrent back and leg pain from it.  She was very happy when Weaver was cured.

I would imagine that's why they did it-- not because it was realistic, but because they wanted to help Innes.

[justduckey]

Abby’s Mom, Benton and the girl, Luca and the bishop...this weekend’s marathon was tough to digest.  Spread out over the course of 7 weeks it probably didn’t seem annoying.

 

Also, I agree about the blurring of the finger. I was like “really”??

[jjj]

I noticed a lot of blurring in the first few seasons this summer, when they reran on POP -- and I too was amazed [this summer] about the amount of almost-nudity that was on the show back in the late 1990s.  I just did not recall it much, back then.  Of course, I did not have HD then, which really makes everything so clear! 

4 hours ago, Bastet said:

The fact a cable station in 2017 is blurring things (in this case, Peter getting flipped off) that aired on network TV in 2000 continues to jump out at me.

Also, on only day two of season seven, I am officially sick of Abby's mom.  Two things are simultaneously true: she's sick, and she's emotionally manipulative, which creates a situation that's extremely difficult for both her and Abby.  Okay, on paper, that makes for a good storyline.  But in execution it is just not working for me.

      Oy, I love Sally Fields, but this turgid storyline is too distant from the actual hospital stories.  I never felt that way with Benton's mother or Susan's sister.  They were filtered into other stories in a very different way.  Many smaller scenes, not long ones like with Sally Fields.  I caught a few episodes on the weekend, and went, yup, this is why I stopped watching back then. 

Edited October 17, 2017 by jjj

[absnow54]

The fact a cable station in 2017 is blurring things (in this case, Peter getting flipped off) that aired on network TV in 2000 continues to jump out at me.

To be fair, these episodes were edited for syndication in the year 2000, so I don't think it reflects 2017 censorship. I can't say that I've watched many current shows in syndication, but I don't think they're nearly as heavily edited for daytime as they were in the 90's-early 00's.

[justduckey]

I wish they would start from the beginning again while simultaneously airing the later seasons.

[RedbirdNelly]

in defense of Abby's mom. . . it does eat up the screen and is annoying but I do appreciate them showing it--because I have some appreciation of how hard it would be to be in Abby's position. It would be so hard to try to pursue her life and have that pop up from time to time--and so frustrating not to have an easy fix for it. I agree it's hard to watch.

[absnow54]

I wish they would start from the beginning again while simultaneously airing the later seasons.

They should have cycled the Saturday episodes back to the start one more time and let the weekday episodes continue on to season 7, that way they would counterbalance one another so in any given week you'd be guaranteed to catch a beginning/middle or middle/end episode. I don't like that they're double cycling Saturday episodes now, because not it will take twice as long for them to cycle, and it makes it confusing if you start watching episodes mid-day, only to jump back 7 episodes.

[rcc]

Sally Field has both won and been nominated for many awards. But when I saw her I felt "oh no, she hasn't left yet." The show gave her character too much air time on the episodes and too many episodes. She won an Emmy for her performance and well deserved but it was overkill.

[ktwo]

Quote

It's also such a cheap storytelling tactic in Corday's case, to write the pregnancy solely for the "oh no, she's pregnant at the same time Mark is diagnosed with cancer" drama factor. 

Wow, I watched this faithfully every week until the bitter end, but I haven't seen these in more than a decade and forgot how rough that Thanksgiving episode is. With the glioblastoma diagnosis, the malpractice suit and the unplanned pregnancy all in the same show. And I think it's like a week after he/they? bought the house. 

And I have a new theory that the writers hated LaSalle for insisting that Benton break up with Corday, so they saddled him with this horrible romance with robot Michael Michele. Their scene when she flounces off of the subway and the one later when he says "I love you" are close to unwatchable. 

On Abby's mom/Sally Field - I think this round was great, and I remember loving the episode called "Where the Heart Is," which she's in and is coming up soon. But the Carter-and-Abby rescue her storyline is way too much, and the Abby's brother storyline is AWFUL. 

[rcc]

10 minutes ago, ktwo said:

Wow, I watched this faithfully every week until the bitter end, but I haven't seen these in more than a decade and forgot how rough that Thanksgiving episode is. With the glioblastoma diagnosis, the malpractice suit and the unplanned pregnancy all in the same show. And I think it's like a week after he/they? bought the house. 

And I have a new theory that the writers hated LaSalle for insisting that Benton break up with Corday, so they saddled him with this horrible romance with robot Michael Michele. Their scene when she flounces off of the subway and the one later when he says "I love you" are close to unwatchable. 

On Abby's mom/Sally Field - I think this round was great, and I remember loving the episode called "Where the Heart Is," which she's in and is coming up soon. But the Carter-and-Abby rescue her storyline is way too much, and the Abby's brother storyline is AWFUL. 

"robot Michael Michele" that's so right. I have never seen her in anything else but in this show she is just awful. Benton is only relatable when he is with his son and when he brought Carter to rehab. Otherwise his character is cold. Two robotic actors trying to get some chemistry going. Big fail.

Did LaSalle really ask the writers to break up his character with Corday? She could act rings around him and she had a much better acting partner with Anthony or even Romano.

[ktwo]

44 minutes ago, rcc said:

"robot Michael Michele" that's so right. I have never seen her in anything else but in this show she is just awful. Benton is only relatable when he is with his son and when he brought Carter to rehab. Otherwise his character is cold. Two robotic actors trying to get some chemistry going. Big fail.

Did LaSalle really ask the writers to break up his character with Corday? She could act rings around him and she had a much better acting partner with Anthony or even Romano.

Yes, I can't find a link now, but I remember it was discussed extensively at TWOP at the time. LaSalle didn't like that his character was involved with a white woman, so when they expanded the cast after Clooney left and needed a new pediatrician, they cast Michele to also be LaSalle's love interest. I also remember that Edwards thought his character deserved a romance with someone in the main cast so that's how Greene ended up with Corday. It's too bad because IMO both these relationships combined didn't have half the chemistry of Benton-Corday.

Also, while searching in vain for a confirming link, I found this - a where are they now on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the premiere. http://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/tv/article/ER-Then-and-now-5767627.php