All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, debraran said:

Or any of his administrator buddies. There is "real" and being respectful. This was where they worked, not a funeral home. Was his mom still alive, his dog? He was just erased and it just didn't seem right as he rapid decline in character didn't. Not even exploring what he could learn with his arm etc. Who did he piss off?

It's funny Abby was on a lot of shows, but all I could remember is her pout and constantly running her hands through her hair. Maybe she didn't do it as much as i remember but enough to have it be my memory.

I hope if they do have another reunion they have Eriq and Sherry, Paul McCrane and George again. So many couldn't do it or fit. Like the show, for many it will be timeless. I just met a 30 year old who found it on Hulu and as Julianne said she is getting younger fans mention it instead of Good Wife.

 

It seemed like a lot of characters went through that rapid decline or were killed off when they had potential in the later years. I remember liking Neela at first but her character became unhinged too. Romano was crushed by the helicopter. Abby was Abby. Gallant was killed off (I did like him). Luka I liked at first before they made him miserable and paired him with miserable Abby. (Was there no happier, more stable woman in that hospital he could have been with? Even if it was just some nurse or doctor in another department they could have created?) Carter’s baby was stillborn. Susan 2.0 was turned into a total joke of what she was on her first run. I liked Susan because looking back on 1.0, she had problems at home but she acted professional at work. She didn’t show up drunk or let her relatives run screaming through the hospital or let them fall in open graves at her friends’ relative’s funeral. She talked about her problems but didn’t torture everyone with them. 

I remember I used to read other fans referencing how no one seemed happy in the later seasons. Now that I only have 11 episodes left, I understand why they thought that way. I felt miserable for watching some of those episodes.  

I would love another reunion too! I’d definitely watch it again. I understand not everyone could come due to space and time constraints but it would be great to see the people who didn’t make it the first time. I agree that it’s such a timeless show. I’m enjoying New Amsterdam but it’s no ER. I think ER falls into the category of “often imitated, never duplicated.” Every time I’ve seen a storyline on another medical show that was done on ER, the ER episode is always still on top for me. 

[Kel Varnsen]

14 hours ago, debraran said:

I don't like the music but this montage made me remember some encounters and someone once put all the good things Romano did or said (more than most think) Lost cause now, but one of the things I felt ER did wrong toward the end.

Speaking of music montages I had a weird moment last night. Watched the episode where Luka comes home to drunk Abby. At the end they play the Foo Fighters song Home from the Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace album. The weird thing is even though it ran for a long time I still associate ER as a 90's show. And even though that Foo Fighters album came out in 2007 I still kind of consider it kind of new (I still have the shirt I got from the tour for that album). It is also weird hearing Moretti's son talk about Obama's run for president for the same reason.

9 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I never got all the hype around Abby’s looks, or even Maura Tierney as an actress. IMO Maura isn’t that good. Maybe she has a role outside of ER where she’s a less irritating character and does a better job and I just have yet to see it. 

She was super cute in the first couple seasons of Newsradio when she had that totally dated 90's hairstyle. Plus she played really well off Dave Foley and Phil Hartman. As for ER there was an episode I watched a couple of weeks ago where Hope figures out she is engaged and calls her on it in the staff room. The way Abby reacts really reminded me of her Newsradio character vs how Abby would react. It was actually kind of fun.

Speaking of Hope I still can't believe that Busy Philipps and Linda Cardellini didn't really have any significant scenes together. Especially in Hope's last  season 14 episode where Sam had dark hair. It's like the writers were just messing with me all those years in the past.

[Cloud9Shopper]

3 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Speaking of music montages I had a weird moment last night. Watched the episode where Luka comes home to drunk Abby. At the end they play the Foo Fighters song Home from the Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace album. The weird thing is even though it ran for a long time I still associate ER as a 90's show. And even though that Foo Fighters album came out in 2007 I still kind of consider it kind of new (I still have the shirt I got from the tour for that album). It is also weird hearing Moretti's son talk about Obama's run for president for the same reason.

She was super cute in the first couple seasons of Newsradio when she had that totally dated 90's hairstyle. Plus she played really well off Dave Foley and Phil Hartman. As for ER there was an episode I watched a couple of weeks ago where Hope figures out she is engaged and calls her on it in the staff room. The way Abby reacts really reminded me of her Newsradio character vs how Abby would react. It was actually kind of fun.

Speaking of Hope I still can't believe that Busy Philipps and Linda Cardellini didn't really have any significant scenes together. Especially in Hope's last  season 14 episode where Sam had dark hair. It's like the writers were just messing with me all those years in the past.

I only vaguely know NewsRadio, so that probably has something to do with me not understanding the MT hype. I just looked up the dates it ran, and I was really young when it aired, so that kind of show would’ve never been on my radar. I never saw it much in syndication either, like when I could watch ER on TNT with regularity and get more hooked on the show that way. 

There is also a scene in S14 where Wexler and Sam are talking and Sam mentions Hillary Clinton! So weird to see that now. 
 

Busy Phillips is in the Peacock original Girls5Eva now. I just finished watching the first season (eight episodes) and it was pretty funny at parts. It’s going to get an S2! 

[Rootbeer]

13 hours ago, Bastet said:

I like that they kept it real and didn't have the characters suddenly talking nice about Romano just because he was dead; it's true no one but Elizabeth would miss him.  But Susan not attending the memorial is out of character.  They got along in this really odd way, so while I buy her not wanting to speak, I don't buy her not feeling - based on her personality and their interaction - like she needed to attend.

Romano was also a former Chief of Surgery and Chief of Staff who had been instrumental in bringing multiple new revenue streams into County via his own surgical skills and his hiring of innovative physicians to work there and bring new technology and procedures.

County was his workplace, and it was Susan's and everyone else' too.  In real life, everyone from Administration would  have attended, it would've been part of their schedule for the day.  All department heads would've been expected to attend and, if they didn't, would have had to have a solid excuse as to why they didn't pay their respects to this accomplished physician.  Every employee in the place would've gotten the info about the service; you would think that people like Shirley from the OR would've attended.  Romano was a PITA in the OR, but he let her snipe right back at him and everyone seemed to respect his surgical skills.

Any large corporate entity, including a County hospital, has a hierarchy and expectations of that hierarchy and, if for no other reason than they liked their jobs and wanted the bosses to see how much the corporate culture meant to them; every single doc with any sort of a tie to Romano should've been at the service.  And, presuming Romano's mother was still alive, she would've been an honored guest at the service with the hospital providing her with transportation if needed as well as some sort of  luncheon/reception so that Romano's coworkers could express their condolences directly to her.

[Cloud9Shopper]

6 minutes ago, Rootbeer said:

Romano was also a former Chief of Surgery and Chief of Staff who had been instrumental in bringing multiple new revenue streams into County via his own surgical skills and his hiring of innovative physicians to work there and bring new technology and procedures.

County was his workplace, and it was Susan's and everyone else' too.  In real life, everyone from Administration would  have attended, it would've been part of their schedule for the day.  All department heads would've been expected to attend and, if they didn't, would have had to have a solid excuse as to why they didn't pay their respects to this accomplished physician.  Every employee in the place would've gotten the info about the service; you would think that people like Shirley from the OR would've attended.  Romano was a PITA in the OR, but he let her snipe right back at him and everyone seemed to respect his surgical skills.

Any large corporate entity, including a County hospital, has a hierarchy and expectations of that hierarchy and, if for no other reason than they liked their jobs and wanted the bosses to see how much the corporate culture meant to them; every single doc with any sort of a tie to Romano should've been at the service.  And, presuming Romano's mother was still alive, she would've been an honored guest at the service with the hospital providing her with transportation if needed as well as some sort of  luncheon/reception so that Romano's coworkers could express their condolences directly to her.

This seems pretty accurate to real life.

I don’t work in medicine but a few years back, I worked for a well-known local company. The company had always been family owned and the ownership group very active in the community. Before I worked there, the company president’s wife died. One of my coworkers told me that everyone who worked there was required to attend the viewing. (I’d imagine they would not be able to make an excuse barring something solid, as you mentioned.) The viewing was so crowded they had food for people at the funeral home, but that’s how much this woman and her family did for the community. My grandmother also knew of that woman and remembers the long line of people present. 

[Rootbeer]

4 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

 

She was super cute in the first couple seasons of Newsradio when she had that totally dated 90's hairstyle. Plus she played really well off Dave Foley and Phil Hartman. As for ER there was an episode I watched a couple of weeks ago where Hope figures out she is engaged and calls her on it in the staff room. The way Abby reacts really reminded me of her Newsradio character vs how Abby would react. It was actually kind of fun.

 

I enjoyed MT on Newsradio, and liked the entire show.  However, she was definitely not front and center like she was on ER.  The show was Dave Foley's and Phil Hartmann's (RIP).  She was fine as one of the gang at the station and ultimately Foley's character's love interest.  Even there, though, she tended towards sarcasm and was somewhat morose.  Not nearly as bad as ER; but that does seem to be the way MT plays most characters; sullen, moody, at times nasty.  

Since ER, I've only seen a couple of her performances: the guest role on The Good Wife and the movie where she played Jim Carrey's ex (Liar, Liar, maybe?). In both cases, she played someone who was kind of chronically unhappy and quick to complain.  

Maybe MT is just a one-note actress, but she seems like she's playing the same character in everything she does.  Or as least, everything I've seen.

[Bastet]

Well, they weren't going to cast Romano's mother or department heads.  Of "our" characters who appear in the episode, Susan is the one (other than Elizabeth, obviously) who would have wanted to attend on her own, not purely out of professional obligation.

[ShortyMac]

21 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I never got all the hype around Abby’s looks, or even Maura Tierney as an actress. IMO Maura isn’t that good. Maybe she has a role outside of ER where she’s a less irritating character and does a better job and I just have yet to see it. But there were so many beautiful actresses/female characters on the show over the years that I don’t think Maura/Abby and her sourpuss acting are the cream of the crop. Carol, Neela, Elizabeth, Anna, Jeanie and more I’m not mentioning I’m sure are just as attractive and played by solid actresses. (I always thought Alex Kingston was gorgeous and she still looks great!) Laura Innes was great with Kerry’s emotions and had good facial expressions. MT could only do one thing and it got old after a while. 

She won a Golden Globe in 2015 for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries, or TV Film for her role as Helen Solloway in The Affair. Personally, I thought it was well-deserved, she was great.

[Cloud9Shopper]

53 minutes ago, ShortyMac said:

She won a Golden Globe in 2015 for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries, or TV Film for her role as Helen Solloway in The Affair. Personally, I thought it was well-deserved, she was great.

I just watched a trailer for it. I may have to check it out; seems I can get it with my Prime membership. :) 

[debraran]

On 7/2/2021 at 9:53 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

I just watched a trailer for it. I may have to check it out; seems I can get it with my Prime membership. :) 

I'll check out a trailer too, be nice to see her in something I like, just didn't like "Abby".

EDIT  I'm on episode 2, will keep watching but still don't like her character. I find her too close to Abby, but she's not the star so it's okay. I can't judge until the end fully.

Edited July 4, 2021 by debraran

[Cloud9Shopper]

54 minutes ago, debraran said:

I'll check out a trailer too, be nice to see her in something I like, just didn't like "Abby".

I think all the praise lapped on MT helped me dislike Abby at the time too. Not only was Abby the best friend, mother, wife and doctor ER had ever had (and apparently the best at sobriety, according to her fanbase), MT was the best actress on the whole entire show! No other female actress could possibly carry the show, MT was that amazing and that gorgeous. I was like enough already! 

Funny enough, my mom last night was talking about Chicago Med and how much the women characters on that show complain. Then she said that’s what she didn’t like about Carol* on ER. I said oh you stopped watching too early and didn’t see what was to come with Abby! 
 

*I remember Carol turned into a total “woe is me” parade when her twins were born, as if Doug were dead or terminally ill instead of in Seattle and perfectly fine yet she didn’t want him around. I also watched some clips of the twins’ delivery and she did carry on in labor and in the OR just as much as Abby did. I get you don’t want a hysterectomy and at least it didn’t come to that, but what is with her and Abby trying to refuse interventions that would benefit them and their babies? Although Carol overall is a way better mother than Abby at the end of the day (no one should ever have a child they don’t know if they want, TV or not), and seemed to at least want her twins, so I’ll give her that. 

I probably would have ended up liking Abby had she been written in some different ways. (Like as an alcoholic who actually listens to her sponsor and gets her act together. Or she decides she doesn’t want kids and gets her tubes tied. Being childfree is a respectable choice these days. Or maybe she stayed more as a supporting character/friend to Kerry.) 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Cloud9Shopper

[debraran]

32 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I think all the praise lapped on MT helped me dislike Abby at the time too. Not only was Abby the best friend, mother, wife and doctor ER had ever had (and apparently the best at sobriety, according to her fanbase), MT was the best actress on the whole entire show! No other female actress could possibly carry the show, MT was that amazing and that gorgeous. I was like enough already! 

Funny enough, my mom last night was talking about Chicago Med and how much the women characters on that show complain. Then she said that’s what she didn’t like about Carol* on ER. I said oh you stopped watching too early and didn’t see what was to come with Abby! 
 

*I remember Carol turned into a total “woe is me” parade when her twins were born, as if Doug were dead or terminally ill instead of in Seattle and perfectly fine yet she didn’t want him around. I also watched some clips of the twins’ delivery and she did carry on in labor and in the OR just as much as Abby did. I get you don’t want a hysterectomy and at least it didn’t come to that, but what is with her and Abby trying to refuse interventions that would benefit them and their babies? Although Carol overall is a way better mother than Abby at the end of the day (no one should ever have a child they don’t know if they want, TV or not), and seemed to at least want her twins, so I’ll give her that. 

I probably would have ended up liking Abby had she been written in some different ways. (Like as an alcoholic who actually listens to her sponsor and gets her act together. Or she decides she doesn’t want kids and gets her tubes tied. Being childfree is a respectable choice these days. Or maybe she stayed more as a supporting character/friend to Kerry.) 

i just can't watch Chicago Med anymore. It's too "soapy" for me, the angst, the extra long fluttering lashes on one nurse, the pretty but acting like an idiot woman doctor. I did like Dr Charles and he had some good episodes about suicide etc early on. Compared to ER, it's not even in the ballpark, at least the early episodes. . New Amsterdam I watch also but again not an ER but not supposed to be. If it doesn't get too corny I'll keep watching, I like the characters but it isn't a "have to watch it when on" type of show, I can wait a week or so.

Carol was written badly toward the end, but I feel writing one half off and not thinking of the many good ideas on this forum, made it worse.😉 Many of us said he should have done a Doctor without Borders type of thing, something to make it more believable he was away, the infrequent calls and then when home, she goes to him. As much as I liked the scene with her seeing him by the boat, later, when older, I kept thinking how unreal that was...would Doug really be alone in that house and not have someone getting ready inside? Not a close friend but Carol dated. It was a beautiful fantasy but realistic, I don't know.

Carol wanting to possibly hemorrhage when she had twins and never had anymore seemed odd but maybe it was more going into menopause. They all complained about their kids, Carol not as much but she made her bed, she could have had help. She knew Doug couldn't stay or was blackballed near by. Abby was awful and even Elizabeth was a poster child of how you can't be a doc and mom at first. I never knew a doctor who didn't have help, usually full time but many for before and after work. Between 2 doctor's they couldn't afford it?

Yes Doug and Carol were trying to have a baby and Carol wasn't too hot on marriage so it made it even more odd that she didn't want to be with him. She left her friends without even saying goodbye so how close were they? lol

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by debraran

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, debraran said:

i just can't watch Chicago Med anymore. It's too "soapy" for me, the angst, the extra long fluttering lashes on one nurse, the pretty but acting like an idiot woman doctor. I did like Dr Charles and he had some good episodes about suicide etc early on. Compared to ER, it's not even in the ballpark, at least the early episodes. . New Amsterdam I watch also but again not an ER but not supposed to be. If it doesn't get too corny I'll keep watching, I like the characters but it isn't a "have to watch it when on" type of show, I can wait a week or so.

Carol was written badly toward the end, but I feel writing one half off and not thinking of the many good ideas on this forum, made it worse.😉 Many of us said he should have done a Doctor without Borders type of thing, something to make it more believable he was away, the infrequent calls and then when home, she goes to him. As much as I liked the scene with her seeing him by the boat, later, when older, I kept thinking how unreal that was...would Doug really be alone in that house and not have someone getting ready inside? Not a close friend but Carol dated. It was a beautiful fantasy but realistic, I don't know.

Carol wanting to possibly hemorrhage when she had twins and never had anymore seemed odd but maybe it was more going into menopause. They all complained about their kids, Carol not as much but she made her bed, she could have had help. She knew Doug couldn't stay or was blackballed near by. Abby was awful and even Elizabeth was a poster child of how you can't be a doc and mom at first. I never knew a doctor who didn't have help, usually full time but many for before and after work. Between 2 doctor's they couldn't afford it?

Yes Doug and Carol were trying to have a baby and Carol wasn't too hot on marriage so it made it even more odd that she didn't want to be with him. She left her friends without even saying goodbye so how close were they? lol

 

I love New Amsterdam, and the writing in this third season that just finished was so ridiculous I wondered if they'd brought in the same writers who butchered late season ER. I'm hoping S4 is less frantic and more settled. I do think the romantic relationships on NA are pretty positive overall (except whatever the surgeon has going on with his OB girlfriend who's married; I mean, nobody cares). 

I couldn't appreciate all the possible nuances of the Doug and Carol reunion when I was 15, but many years later, I was just thinking, that would've never happened in a post-9/11 world because no way is Carol just hopping on a last-minute flight and blowing by security like that. I'm weird, though. As far as rewriting the show the way we want it, well that's why I got back into fanfic. :) Thank God for that, even though I'm sad the ER fanfic world is on life support, but I write New Amsterdam 'ships so I can balance what I really want to write with getting eyeballs on my fics for a current show. 

I know in Jeanie's return in S14 that Haleh said they got a picture of the twins and they're in third grade now. And now those kids would be in college, so we're all getting old! 

I've been thinking a bit about the goodbyes on this show (for the characters that didn't die, I mean) and the friendships. We still talk about how Carol and Doug weren't at Mark's funeral. Over on Reddit, there was a topic wondering why people like Coburn and the NICU chief, or Kerry and Susan, weren't at the Luby wedding. It didn't seem like a lot of characters kept in touch with Chicago regularly once they moved away, although in the series finale, I appreciated that the original crew seemed to have as much chemistry as ever. When I watched The Book of Abby, it seemed like very few of these people actually cared that she was leaving or expressed desire to stay in touch with her. (I already know she and Neela talk on the phone near the end of the series, but even those two...I wonder how long they actually stayed friends post-canon.) I know that with the practicalities of TV, you're not going to get cast members back (especially guest stars, and was Abby really that close the NICU chief after her rotation?) to have no lines and stand around for an impromptu, poorly planned wedding. As far as Coburn, the audience doesn't even know she is Abby's sponsor when the wedding happens. I didn't at all wonder why she wasn't there, but maybe it's just me. 

If County and its staff were real, I'd imagine there might be some small groups of coworkers who keep in touch and stay friends over the years, like the original cast. But I also feel that, more likely (especially now that we have social media and things), that they'd be like real-life ex-coworkers. They'd occasionally exchange Christmas cards or comment on Facebook posts about each others' kids, say happy birthday, etc. but they wouldn't be all that close. I worked at a small law firm (eight employees) where we all had great staff camaraderie, but once I left there, I stopped keeping in touch beyond some social media comments. I can see why people wondered what they did about Mark's funeral and the Luby wedding, but...that's just life sometimes in reality. Not everyone will be BFFs for life once they stop working together. 

And now I need a life. 

 

 

[ShortyMac]

6 hours ago, debraran said:

Carol wanting to possibly hemorrhage when she had twins and never had anymore seemed odd but maybe it was more going into menopause. They all complained about their kids, Carol not as much but she made her bed, she could have had help. She knew Doug couldn't stay or was blackballed near by. Abby was awful and even Elizabeth was a poster child of how you can't be a doc and mom at first. I never knew a doctor who didn't have help, usually full time but many for before and after work. Between 2 doctor's they couldn't afford it?

This is where ER flubbed things. They acting like all of these characters were making pennies, and living in dumpy apartments. Mark and Elizabeth made good money. Luka and Abby should have been fine financially, too. I find it hard to believe that Doug would not send Carol money. She supposedly made her house payments with only her salary for years. 
 

I happened to watch the deleted scene last night from “On the Beach” where Mark tells Elizabeth, “I made sure you are on all of the brokerage accounts, and IRAs.” That doesn’t sound like a couple struggling to afford childcare. Mark was a head of the ER, Elizabeth is a trauma surgeon. They had that nice house, not sure if Mark paid child support for Rachel. 

[Rootbeer]

43 minutes ago, ShortyMac said:

This is where ER flubbed things. They acting like all of these characters were making pennies, and living in dumpy apartments. Mark and Elizabeth made good money. Luka and Abby should have been fine financially, too. I find it hard to believe that Doug would not send Carol money. She supposedly made her house payments with only her salary for years. 
 

I happened to watch the deleted scene last night from “On the Beach” where Mark tells Elizabeth, “I made sure you are on all of the brokerage accounts, and IRAs.” That doesn’t sound like a couple struggling to afford childcare. Mark was a head of the ER, Elizabeth is a trauma surgeon. They had that nice house, not sure if Mark paid child support for Rachel. 

I think we heard that Doug wanted to send Carol money, but she refused.  Who does that? Based on the incredible multi-million dollar house he was living in in Seatlle, he was apparently doing quite well financially.  Even though, as nurse manager, Carol would've made a good salary, she wasn't anywhere in his ballpark.  Had she taken some money from him, perhaps Carol could've afforded a better car than the one she bought with Luka, and had a mother's helper or cleaning lady a couple times a week to help give her a break so she wouldn't have been so exhausted.  It made no sense whatsoever.

Mark and Elizabeth, together, would've been pulling in several hundred thousand a year at minimum.  Housing in Chicago is expensive, but there is no way they shouldn't have been able to get appropriate childcare for the baby instead of dragging her into the hospital when one's shift was ending and another beginning and passing her around like a box of cracker jack.

We were told when Mark divorced that Jen didn't receive alimony.  I'm sure he paid support when Rachel was living primarily with Jen, though, at the end, Rachel was living with him so he wouldn't have owed support to Jen.

It was also ridiculous that Mark, an attending, moved into the apartment that Susan had used as a resident. and, especially, that he didn't find a bigger place once his father moved in.  As an attending, he was probably making 10 times what Susan got as a resident, he had no alimony and his child support was probably very reasonable since Jen had a very good job, too.  What did he do with that money?  He should've been able to save a bundle while living there.  I guess that is what the savings and IRA were about before he died.

Edited July 3, 2021 by Rootbeer

[Hiyo]

Quote

When I watched The Book of Abby, it seemed like very few of these people actually cared that she was leaving or expressed desire to stay in touch with her.

To be fair, you could say that about almost pretty much everyone once their character left County General...even the one who stayed in Chicago, like Peter or Jeanie .

[Cloud9Shopper]

1 hour ago, ShortyMac said:

This is where ER flubbed things. They acting like all of these characters were making pennies, and living in dumpy apartments. Mark and Elizabeth made good money. Luka and Abby should have been fine financially, too. I find it hard to believe that Doug would not send Carol money. She supposedly made her house payments with only her salary for years. 
 

I happened to watch the deleted scene last night from “On the Beach” where Mark tells Elizabeth, “I made sure you are on all of the brokerage accounts, and IRAs.” That doesn’t sound like a couple struggling to afford childcare. Mark was a head of the ER, Elizabeth is a trauma surgeon. They had that nice house, not sure if Mark paid child support for Rachel. 

I found it unbelievable in 300 Patients (14x9) when Abby was fighting with Luka and said something about how she was only living off her salary and couldn’t provide for her and Joe while he was gone. I learned from this forum that residents do not make a lot of money, but I was just like, Abby you’re not on the verge of bankruptcy here. Even before she was with Luka, she always had booze lying around and had money to go after Maggie and Eric all the time. (I imagine as a nurse she probably would have still made good money, but this isn’t my line of work, so hell if I know.) She and Luka could afford a nanny. So I’m not sure where this thing of her trying to say how broke she was like she and Luka worked at McDonald’s was coming from. 

Carol said at one point the twins’ last name was Ross and told Mark that Doug’s been seeing them, so I’d imagine he’d be giving money too? 

 

*I love learning from you all real medical professionals here. Shoutout to all of you. Signed, a non-essential. :) 

Edited July 3, 2021 by Cloud9Shopper
Wrong gender :)

[Kel Varnsen]

On 7/2/2021 at 8:50 AM, Cloud9Shopper said:

I only vaguely know NewsRadio, so that probably has something to do with me not understanding the MT hype. I just looked up the dates it ran, and I was really young when it aired, so that kind of show would’ve never been on my radar. I never saw it much in syndication either, like when I could watch ER on TNT with regularity and get more hooked on the show that way. 

My friends and I watched a lot of Newsradio in syndication back when I was in university, so until rewatching the show with my wife since last year that was always the first thing I associated her with.

On 7/2/2021 at 8:50 AM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Busy Phillips is in the Peacock original Girls5Eva now. I just finished watching the first season (eight episodes) and it was pretty funny at parts. It’s going to get an S2! 

I will have to see if that show is available anywhere in Canada. I have always liked Busy Phillips. For awhile while it was on, Cougar Town was my favourite show. 

5 hours ago, ShortyMac said:

This is where ER flubbed things. They acting like all of these characters were making pennies, and living in dumpy apartments. Mark and Elizabeth made good money. Luka and Abby should have been fine financially, too. I find it hard to believe that Doug would not send Carol money. She supposedly made her house payments with only her salary for years. 

One thing I think they always did right was Luke's living situation and how it reflected his salary. He always had pretty awesome multi level apartments, except for at the start when he lived on a boat. He drove a Dodge Viper at one point. Seems to be in line with what I would expect and attending doctor in the US would make. Especially since I looked it up and post secondary education in Croatia is free (at least as per wikipedia) so if it was the same when it was part of Yugoslavia, he probably had no school debt.

[Rootbeer]

8 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I found it unbelievable in 300 Patients (14x9) when Abby was fighting with Luka and said something about how she was only living off her salary and couldn’t provide for her and Joe while he was gone. I learned from this forum that residents do not make a lot of money, but I was just like, Abby you’re not on the verge of bankruptcy here. Even before she was with Luka, she always had booze lying around and had money to go after Maggie and Eric all the time. (I imagine as a nurse she probably would have still made good money, but this isn’t my line of work, so hell if I know.) She and Luka could afford a nanny. So I’m not sure where this thing of her trying to say how broke she was like she and Luka worked at McDonald’s was coming from. 

Carol said at one point the twins’ last name was Ross and told Mark that Doug’s been seeing them, so I’d imagine he’d be giving money too? 

 

*I love learning from you all real medical professionals here. Shoutout to all of you. Signed, a non-essential. :) 

Yes, when Abby complained about having only her salary to support her and Joe while Luka was gone, I was wondering why they had no savings, why she didn't have a credit card.  It was just more lying and self pity from Abby.  Also, does anyone think if she'd really had money problems that she couldn't have gotten credit somewhere?

Also, with Abby working 80 hours a week as a resident and Luka working 3 or 4 12 hour shifts a week and both of them having to do weekends and nights and holidays at least part of the time; they would have had to have extensive childcare coverage in place long before Luka went to Croatia.

[Cloud9Shopper]

7 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

Yes, when Abby complained about having only her salary to support her and Joe while Luka was gone, I was wondering why they had no savings, why she didn't have a credit card.  It was just more lying and self pity from Abby.  Also, does anyone think if she'd really had money problems that she couldn't have gotten credit somewhere?

Also, with Abby working 80 hours a week as a resident and Luka working 3 or 4 12 hour shifts a week and both of them having to do weekends and nights and holidays at least part of the time; they would have had to have extensive childcare coverage in place long before Luka went to Croatia.

Depending on Abby’s financial situation (medical school debt, other credit card debt, maybe even financial damage from her divorce from Richard etc.), yeah she probably would’ve had a hard time getting another loan or a credit card. Or she’d be eligible but maybe wouldn’t get a good interest rate. I’m just basing this off my own experience when I was looking for a personal loan with iffy credit, not from a professional perspective, so don’t quote me.

When Joe gets hurt, a nanny brings him to the ER (if I remember correctly) and then there is a different babysitter in Blackout who ends up stuck at the apartment until the middle of the night (I want to say 2 am, maybe) or so while Abby is out getting plastered and making out with Moretti. So there was some kind of arrangement in place; Abby was just a terrible mother. Joe and Luka should have been motivation to keep herself sober and in control. If that couldn’t even do it, then nothing was going to. (And I hope to God Coburn quit on her for good as her sponsor at some point after 14-16, although based on some Googling, it seems that if Abby stayed in AA after going to Boston, it would be better for her to find someone there anyway and not have a long-distance sponsor.) 

[Kel Varnsen]

7 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

Yes, when Abby complained about having only her salary to support her and Joe while Luka was gone, I was wondering why they had no savings, why she didn't have a credit card.  It was just more lying and self pity from Abby.  Also, does anyone think if she'd really had money problems that she couldn't have gotten credit somewhere?

Yea I watched that episode last night and just took it as Abby making any excuses she could come up with, even if they were crap. Even if she herself was completely broke, Luka has always been super generous. He was basically supporting Sam and Alex when they were living together. Even if they didn't have some kind of joint account set up with a bunch of money in it, it would have taken what a couple of calls, one from Abby to Luka, and maybe on from Luka to his bank (since I can't remember what online banking was like in 2007) and she would have been set up to cover the bills. 

[Rootbeer]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Depending on Abby’s financial situation (medical school debt, other credit card debt, maybe even financial damage from her divorce from Richard etc.), yeah she probably would’ve had a hard time getting another loan or a credit card. Or she’d be eligible but maybe wouldn’t get a good interest rate. I’m just basing this off my own experience when I was looking for a personal loan with iffy credit, not from a professional perspective, so don’t quote me.

When Joe gets hurt, a nanny brings him to the ER (if I remember correctly) and then there is a different babysitter in Blackout who ends up stuck at the apartment until the middle of the night (I want to say 2 am, maybe) or so while Abby is out getting plastered and making out with Moretti. So there was some kind of arrangement in place; Abby was just a terrible mother. Joe and Luka should have been motivation to keep herself sober and in control. If that couldn’t even do it, then nothing was going to. (And I hope to God Coburn quit on her for good as her sponsor at some point after 14-16, although based on some Googling, it seems that if Abby stayed in AA after going to Boston, it would be better for her to find someone there anyway and not have a long-distance sponsor.) 

Abby did have money problems as a med student, remember that Richard didn't pay her tuition as agreed and she ended up dropping out of school briefly.  However, Carter stepped in and paid her tuition for her entire final year, so she got a pretty big gift at that point.  I can't remember exactly, but I seem to recall that her divorce agreement with Richard included him paying her med school tuition since she had put him through.  She also went to him for money at some point (new wife and baby in his big new house) and he helped her; so no reason she couldn't have gone to him again since  Luka was clearly good for the money.

 Abby's medical school debt was a lot less than many students accrue .  In addition, the loan companies are aware about stuff like residencies and most med school loans are structured so there is no repayment during medical school and then just interest starting usually the second year of residency.  At that point, still in her residency, Abby was not paying back very much on whatever med school loans she would've gotten.  The notion that Luka would swan off to Croatia without a backwards glance and forget about his wife and baby's needs is completely contrary to the character,  Abby, on the other hand, didn't seem to care much about anyone's needs other than her own, even when she was in town.

Someone also mentioned the money Abby blew on chasing her mother and brother all over the countryside, but it wasn't Abby's money, it was Carter's.  When her mom was out west in the motel, Carter got on the phone and arranged tickets with his travel agent.  I'm sure he rented the car, too, although that was a bad idea.  When Abby was helping Maggie at the motel, Carter made a point of saying he was going to go to the office to settle Maggie's bill.  He paid for their rooms when they stopped overnight.  Abby was very good at making sure others were covering her expenses.  

When Abby went to find her brother, we know she went to Carter fully expecting him to drop everything and go with her.  I do remember her sticking her grubby paw out and demanding he write prescriptions for Eric.  I wouldn't be surprised if she already had his credit card to take care of the bills.  Hell, she took some of Carter's clothes with her for Eric to wear.  Abby expected the shirt off Carter's back, I think it is very likely he paid for their flights and hotel.  After all, it was just his Gamma who died, nobody important.

Edited July 4, 2021 by Rootbeer

[Cloud9Shopper]

5 minutes ago, Rootbeer said:

Abby did have money problems as a med student, remember that Richard didn't pay her tuition as agreed and she ended up dropping out of school briefly.  However, Carter stepped in and paid her tuition for her entire final year, so she got a pretty big gift at that point.  I can't remember exactly, but I seem to recall that her divorce agreement with Richard included him paying her med school tuition since she had put him through.  She also went to him for money at some point (new wife and baby in his big new house) and he helped her; so no reason she couldn't have gone to him again since  Luka was clearly good for the money.

 Abby's medical school debt was a lot less than many students accrue .  In addition, the loan companies are aware about stuff like residencies and most med school loans are structured so there is no repayment during medical school and then just interest starting usually the second year of residency.  At that point, still in her residency, Abby was not paying back very much on whatever med school loans she would've gotten.  The notion that Luka would swan off to Croatia without a backwards glance and forget about his wife and baby's needs is completely contrary to the character,  Abby, on the other hand, didn't seem to care much about anyone's needs other than her own, even when she was in town.

Someone also mentioned the money Abby blew on chasing her mother and brother all over the countryside, but it wasn't Abby's money, it was Carter's.  When her mom was out west in the motel, Carter got on the phone and arranged tickets with his travel agent.  I'm sure he rented the car, too, although that was a bad idea.  When Abby was helping Maggie at the motel, Carter made a point of saying he was going to go to the office to settle Maggie's bill.  He paid for their rooms when they stopped overnight.  Abby was very good at making sure others were covering her expenses.  

When Abby went to find her brother, we know she went to Carter fully expecting him to drop everything and go with her.  I do remember her sticking her grubby paw out and demanding he write prescriptions for Eric.  I wouldn't be surprised if she already had his credit card to take care of the bills.  Hell, she took some of Carter's clothes with her for Eric to wear.  Abby expected the shirt off Carter's back, I think it is very likely he paid for their flights and hotel.  After all, it was just his Gamma who died, nobody important.

Thanks for the refresher explanation. I was the one who brought that up about the money for the trips. The earlier seasons are a bit far from my mind at this point since I’m on S15 of my rewatch, but I’ll be doing another one after I’m done! (Probably a more selective one now that I’ve seen for myself how brutal the later years are.) 

I do remember that Richard was supposed to pay for her med school tuition, and at the start of S7, I believe he missed a payment deadline or something and Kerry told Abby that she couldn’t be in the ER on rotation. Then Abby went and screamed at Richard at that golf course and threw his clubs all over the place and said she was hiring a lawyer to get her tuition paid. (I’m not sure I blamed her for that anger at the time.) Although she didn’t go to him to sign for a loan until a couple years after that, so I’m not sure what happened as far as the lawyer thing because it sounds like a good lawyer would’ve had Richard pay that tuition pretty quick, yet she doesn’t go back to him for a loan until S9 or S10. 
 

The first time I saw that fiasco at Gamma’s funeral, all I could do was facepalm. Just no words for that one. 

[debraran]

On 7/2/2021 at 8:59 PM, ShortyMac said:

She won a Golden Globe in 2015 for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries, or TV Film for her role as Helen Solloway in The Affair. Personally, I thought it was well-deserved, she was great.

Does MT have it in her contract that every guy has to say how pretty and desirable she is? So strange, in The Affair, they mention how she was the "hottest girl" at Williams College more than once, she tells her husband, without shame, she could have had ANY guy, her husband's best friend says he knew she was too good for him, when separating, hubby says "she'll be taken in 10 minutes" and she's the hottest thing in bed, tight and perky after 4 kids and being 40's I assume. It's almost strange.

I am enjoying The Affair but really? lol 

Edited July 6, 2021 by debraran

[Cloud9Shopper]

51 minutes ago, debraran said:

Does MT have it in her contract that every guy has to say how pretty and desirable she is? So strange, in The Affair, they mention how she was the "hottest girl" at Williams College more than once, she tells her husband, without shame, she could have had ANY guy, her husband's best friend says he knew she was too good for him, when separating, hubby says "she'll be taken in 10 minutes" and she's the hottest thing in bed, tight and perky after 4 kids and being 40's I assume. It's almost strange.

I am enjoying The Affair but really? lol 

I haven’t watched The Affair yet (I don’t really have room for another show right now but I do want to check it out), but I guess the “Abby is the best ever” trope really is going to haunt us forever. 

Random story. I’m rewatching Glee right now (don’t judge me...I know...) and I just started over. In the second episode we can see the guidance counselor has all these pamphlets in her office with crazy titles. One of them is called “My Mother is Bipolar and Won’t Stop Yelling” and I immediately thought of Abby and her mother. I watch Glee while I’m doing schoolwork (I’m in a grad certificate program and hate working in quiet so I wanted to have something with music), and I told my friend I couldn’t imagine watching ER while doing school things. That pamphlet gave me instant terror about what it would be like to be doing schoolwork with Maggie’s screeching as background noise. Yikes! 

Needless to say, I’ll be watching ER when I have free time. 

[Kel Varnsen]

About half way through season 14 and my issue with Abby is she seems to be a higher level of star than the rest of the cast, where as in the early days of the show it was way more an ensemble. Like she always has an ongoing serious storyline and in any episode she is in she is always dealing with it.  Neela and Morris don't seem to currently have that, and Pratt/Sam/Stamos do but they don't get dealt with every time. Plus Abby never seems to get stuck in those short single or few episode B-stories, like how Neela was playing hockey with the surgeon's last night or when Morris had the number of patients bet with Frank. Or how Neela's cousin was in town for 2 episodes.

Plus in true Poochie fashion, in the episode where she was in rehab, someone actually asked "Where's Abby".

[Cloud9Shopper]

45 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

About half way through season 14 and my issue with Abby is she seems to be a higher level of star than the rest of the cast, where as in the early days of the show it was way more an ensemble. Like she always has an ongoing serious storyline and in any episode she is in she is always dealing with it.  Neela and Morris don't seem to currently have that, and Pratt/Sam/Stamos do but they don't get dealt with every time. Plus Abby never seems to get stuck in those short single or few episode B-stories, like how Neela was playing hockey with the surgeon's last night or when Morris had the number of patients bet with Frank. Or how Neela's cousin was in town for 2 episodes.

Plus in true Poochie fashion, in the episode where she was in rehab, someone actually asked "Where's Abby".

The focus that was almost solely on Abby turned me off to S14. I’m not really sure I can ever watch most of it again. And of course along with it came the insistence from her fans that Abby is the picture of someone who took her sobriety and recovery seriously and also that Luka and Abby are the definition of true love. And that we should all just accept that Abby is an alcoholic no matter how badly she behaves. She shouldn’t have to change her life; everyone else just has to endure her! No matter if she lies to her sponsor or drives drunk with her kid or works drunk, we’re just supposed to suck it up and let her run roughshod over everyone. 

Abby fans like to argue that Abby needs compassion and support and alcoholism isn’t a moral failing. To an extent, I agree. But I also don’t believe that Abby should be treated saint-like for being an alcoholic either. Having an addiction doesn’t make you a bad person but it doesn’t mean you’re an angel and everyone else should just get over it either.

I just read a book about having recovering addicts in the family, and the stories family members and addicts told of needing to trust again and learn new habits seemed** much more true to life than Abby being redeemed five minutes after she returned from rehab. She got her marriage back. All her friendships were intact. Upscale hospitals were offering her jobs. I wish we had seen consequences for Abby’s behavior. Maybe Coburn quits on her for good and tells her to get another sponsor. Maybe Luka takes custody of the kid or Sam never trusts or likes her again. Maybe she gets fired or sued for malpractice because she was working while drunk. Abby’s bad behavior was blamed on everyone else but her and you can’t suggest she should maybe get her life together. That’s what bothered me the most. 

**I of course don’t believe one book makes me an expert on addiction, so curious what others think. 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Cloud9Shopper

[Hiyo]

I'm beginning to wonder if Abby should just have her own thread, since 95% of the discussion on here seems to center around her lol

[Cloud9Shopper]

I think it’s therapy for those of us who hate Abby LOL. I admit I’m here because it’s nice to share my dislike of the character with several other people instead of being constantly told that I’m wrong for not loving Luby or seeing Abby as the best at everything ever. I knew when I was 15 that I had bad vibes from Abby but got shouted down because I couldn’t possibly understand how hard her life was. I’m in my 30s now and yeah, still not relating to her or loving her. That, and a lot of us seem to be in the later seasons in rewatches and she devoured so much screen time that it makes sense that that’s who we’re discussing. I’m sure if Pratt, Morris or Neela got that much screen time we’d be discussing them for most of the thread too. 
 

I’m in S15 and plan on doing another, more selective rewatch once I’m done, so I’m of course excited to discuss the earlier years again when I get back to them. I’m not even sure if there’s still enough interest in this sub to have a thread for Abby and give the other characters their own thread too. :) 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Cloud9Shopper

[Rootbeer]

5 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

About half way through season 14 and my issue with Abby is she seems to be a higher level of star than the rest of the cast, where as in the early days of the show it was way more an ensemble. Like she always has an ongoing serious storyline and in any episode she is in she is always dealing with it.  Neela and Morris don't seem to currently have that, and Pratt/Sam/Stamos do but they don't get dealt with every time. Plus Abby never seems to get stuck in those short single or few episode B-stories, like how Neela was playing hockey with the surgeon's last night or when Morris had the number of patients bet with Frank. Or how Neela's cousin was in town for 2 episodes.

Plus in true Poochie fashion, in the episode where she was in rehab, someone actually asked "Where's Abby".

You hit the nail on the head.  Really almost from the moment she became a full time cast member, Abby was featured in a major story arc at all times.  There was no episode where we just got a glimpse of her as she came in or left at the beginning or end.  Abby never got the minor comic relief 'B' story, she was never just a bit player in someone else's story, either.  Remember when Gallant was killed and the writing had Neela run away from the chaplain, leaving Abby to handle things?  Then, we got scene after scene of Abby reacting to Neela's husband's death.  Because nobody cared what Neela thought about Gallant being KIA.?   Virtually every storyline was handled that way.  No story had meaning unless we knew what Abby thought about it, how it affected her.  She was first among equals.  TPTB really overestimated how interesting the character was, IMO.  

Edited July 9, 2021 by Rootbeer

[Cloud9Shopper]

I actually started out liking Abby. I remember not feeling anything in particular towards her when she first came in S6 as a med student. In S7 I remember loving it when she initiated the kiss on Luka and then when she asked him out. (And I liked Luka back then too.) I didn’t really understand alcoholism when S7 was first airing, so I don’t have any grand thoughts on her discussions with Carter when she revealed she was an alcoholic or his slip. 

It was in The Visit when she said “That’s not my mother” that the switch just flipped and I couldn’t stand her after that.

Had the show kept the Abby who was Carol’s pleasant nurse and who had the guts to ask Luka out and initiate the first kiss, I would’ve probably liked the character a bit more. But even when I grew up and rewatched, I just cannot cheer for her. I’m sure MT is a fine person but I don’t think another rewatch will help me like Abby considering I’ve given her two tries and I still can’t. 

 

Edited July 9, 2021 by Cloud9Shopper

[debraran]

On 7/9/2021 at 4:59 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

I actually started out liking Abby. I remember not feeling anything in particular towards her when she first came in S6 as a med student. In S7 I remember loving it when she initiated the kiss on Luka and then when she asked him out. (And I liked Luka back then too.) I didn’t really understand alcoholism when S7 was first airing, so I don’t have any grand thoughts on her discussions with Carter when she revealed she was an alcoholic or his slip. 

It was in The Visit when she said “That’s not my mother” that the switch just flipped and I couldn’t stand her after that.

Had the show kept the Abby who was Carol’s pleasant nurse and who had the guts to ask Luka out and initiate the first kiss, I would’ve probably liked the character a bit more. But even when I grew up and rewatched, I just cannot cheer for her. I’m sure MT is a fine person but I don’t think another rewatch will help me like Abby considering I’ve given her two tries and I still can’t. 

 

I agree, when she did the "not my mom" thing but then dragged everyone down her rabbit hole about her mom and finding her and dealing with her, etc.  It made no sense.

I swear as I said in another post, when she did The Affair it had to have one writer from ER. I am only on the end of Season 4 beginning of 5 but if I hear one more time how desirable she is, wanted by all, great figure etc. I'll puke. She wasn't even t he pretty girlfriend, but the jilted wife. It's almost comical after watching ER because nothing against Maura but she's not the usual type of pretty that gets that much attention on TV. I don't think Julianne got it on ER as Doug's girlfriend or even Good Wife. Sure she was sexy but not complimented constantly. Very odd. My daughter and I joked we should take a drink every time she is pumped up but I had too low of a tolerance ; ) She is wanted by every man she meets.

Edited July 16, 2021 by debraran

[Cloud9Shopper]

14 hours ago, debraran said:

I agree, when she did the "not my mom" thing but then dragged everyone down her rabbit hole about her mom and finding her and dealing with her, etc.  It made no sense.

I swear as I said in another post, when she did The Affair it had to have one writer from ER. I am only on the end of Season 2, beginning of 3, but if I hear one more time how desirable she is, wanted by all, great figure etc. I'll puke. She wasn't even t he pretty girlfriend, but the jilted wife. It's almost comical after watching ER because nothing against Maura but she's not the usual type of pretty that gets that much attention on TV. I don't think Julianne got it on ER as Doug's girlfriend or even Good Wife. Sure she was sexy but not complimented constantly. Very odd. My daughter and I joked we should take a drink every time she is pumped up but I had too low of a tolerance ; )

I always thought it was odd that the show shoved MT/Abby so front and center on the insistence that MT had the talent to handle all of Abby’s misery storylines. But by the time the later seasons were on, ER had certainly had plenty of talented and attractive actresses in the main cast and as guest stars over the years. And I’m sure there were others available. I never bought the belief that MT was the only one who could have possibly been the female lead. 
 

To refer back to @Kel Varnsen being on S14, I feel like the best part of Owner of a Broken Heart wasn’t Abby herself. It was all the faces Coburn was pulling at her that basically said “over it” the entire episode. And yet again, Maura/Abby sucked up all the praise for that episode too for being so in loveeee with Luka to go to Croatia and her amazing acting even though there were others who did a great job too. I’d rewatch the episode just for Coburn’s annoyance alone because I totally bought her faces about how aggravated she looked. (Well, that and Frank’s quote about “Morris isn’t going to have anymore kids as a service to mankind.” That was pretty good too.) 

Everyone has a different opinion of course, and I understand the show couldn’t cover everything about everyone, but I feel like there were so many interesting potential storylines and chances for further character exploration that the show could have done. And instead all the screen time went to Abby’s miserable life. I don’t remember Mark, Carter, or Carol getting as much time as her back in the early generation, although maybe I’ll be proven wrong when I restart. (And even when there were stories like Mark’s tumor or Carter post-stabbing we got to see enough of other characters too.) 

 

Edited July 10, 2021 by Cloud9Shopper

[Cloud9Shopper]

Just did a Saturday afternoon/early evening binge of a few S15 episodes:

15-12, Dream Runner: I didn’t really like this one. I don’t care about watching Neela live her day four different times while she sleeps. I was most interested in Elizabeth’s cameo here. Neela doesn’t seem like she’s very good at job interviews.

15-13, Love is a Battlefield: I did enjoy this one! I liked the dynamics between Morris and Claudia and Cate and Russell. I felt so bad for Cate when the IVF didn’t work even though I knew from the previouslies that she had almost no chance. I still do not care about Tony and Sam, or Tony sleeping with the intern whose hair is always a mess. And I laughed when Banfield’s husband said he needed the Valium to relax. I’m a legit baby about medical things so I could definitely relate. (I turned away from the needles while getting blood work and my COVID vaccine, and the only reason I handle the dentist is because they have TVs on the ceiling that play cute animal clips and Pandora radio.) I did like Chuny and Sam’s conversation about Gates but I have always loved the background nurses. 

15-14, A Long Strange Trip: This was a cool episode. I loved seeing Morgenstern again and how well he interacted with the current staff. The flashbacks with the staff in 60s hairstyles and uniforms were interesting too. 

Any medical types still here who know what the long tubes were that one of Gates’ patients was in and why? I think the one patient said he had polio back in the day. 

15-15, The Family Man: This one was just OK, although Morris as the superhero in front of Claudia’s family was cute. I loved when Morris went into the trauma room to attend to his patient, and the patient went “What the hell?” when he saw the superhero costume. Me too, dude. 

I only have seven episodes left, and The Beginning of the End is next for me. I’m getting melancholy now, guys. 

[Kel Varnsen]

15 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

To refer back to @Kel Varnsen being on S14, I feel like the best part of Owner of a Broken Heart wasn’t Abby herself. It was all the faces Coburn was pulling at her that basically said “over it” the entire episode

Hey I just want watched that one tonight. The funny thing is Abby's plot lines aren't that bad, they are at least no worse than anyone else's this late in the game. It is just like I said she always has an ongoing storyline and it always moves forward every episode she is in. Why doesn't she get an episode where she just deals with patients or has a single episode story where she is trying to finish up some research. If they did that a bit more her depressing plotlines might not be so much.

Also on this episode, looking back, Stamos and Sam having sex in the exam room totally seems like it was probably a response to Grey's Anatomy becoming a big hit.

And lastly on this episode, how do you cast Deborah Ann Woll as a nurse and only have her in what Wikipedia tells me is one episode? She was easily the best thing about those stupid seasons of True Blood I watched.

Edited July 11, 2021 by Kel Varnsen

[Cloud9Shopper]

5 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Hey I just want watched that one tonight. The funny thing is Abby's plot lines aren't that bad, they are at least no worse than anyone else's this late in the game. It is just like I said she always has an ongoing storyline and it always moves forward every episode she is in. Why doesn't she get an episode where she just deals with patients or has a single episode story where she is trying to finish up some research. If they did that a bit more her depressing plotlines might not be so much.

Also on this episode, looking back, Stamos and Sam having sex in the exam room totally seems like it was probably a response to Grey's Anatomy becoming a big hit.

And lastly on this episode, how do you cast Deborah Ann Woll as a nurse and only have her in what Wikipedia tells me is one episode?

Gates and Sam...two characters I could not care less about. It was so awkward watching them have sex and/or argue all over the hospital. (Although it was funny in one of the S14 episodes where their sex escapades ended up in Brenner’s CD for a conference and the whole room was rather amused.) 

[Rootbeer]

13 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Just did a Saturday afternoon/early evening binge of a few S15 episodes:

15-12, Dream Runner: I didn’t really like this one. I don’t care about watching Neela live her day four different times while she sleeps. I was most interested in Elizabeth’s cameo here. Neela doesn’t seem like she’s very good at job interviews.

15-13, Love is a Battlefield: I did enjoy this one! I liked the dynamics between Morris and Claudia and Cate and Russell. I felt so bad for Cate when the IVF didn’t work even though I knew from the previouslies that she had almost no chance. I still do not care about Tony and Sam, or Tony sleeping with the intern whose hair is always a mess. And I laughed when Banfield’s husband said he needed the Valium to relax. I’m a legit baby about medical things so I could definitely relate. (I turned away from the needles while getting blood work and my COVID vaccine, and the only reason I handle the dentist is because they have TVs on the ceiling that play cute animal clips and Pandora radio.) I did like Chuny and Sam’s conversation about Gates but I have always loved the background nurses. 

15-14, A Long Strange Trip: This was a cool episode. I loved seeing Morgenstern again and how well he interacted with the current staff. The flashbacks with the staff in 60s hairstyles and uniforms were interesting too. 

Any medical types still here who know what the long tubes were that one of Gates’ patients was in and why? I think the one patient said he had polio back in the day. 

15-15, The Family Man: This one was just OK, although Morris as the superhero in front of Claudia’s family was cute. I loved when Morris went into the trauma room to attend to his patient, and the patient went “What the hell?” when he saw the superhero costume. Me too, dude. 

I only have seven episodes left, and The Beginning of the End is next for me. I’m getting melancholy now, guys. 

The last few episodes are excellent, though, by far the best of the last few seasons.

I don't remember the specific episode, but, from your description, I think Gates' patient was in an iron lung.  Back when polio was around, some victims were left with permanent muscle weakness, including the muscles needed to breathe.  That meant that they would suffocate without help.  This was an era before tracheostomies and portable ventilators.

So, the patient was put in the iron lung, a huge metal tube that went from their neck to below their feet and there was a rubber collar that went around their neck to keep it airtight.  The iron lung worked mechanically with a compressor which would suck the air in the tube out and then push it back in.  This created a vacuum which would cause the patient's chest to rise and fall and force air into and out of their lungs.  Some only needed this temporarily as they recovered, some needed it only while they slept, but there were some people who stayed in the iron lung the rest of their lives and needed 24 hour care.  The compressor could be turned off briefly for bathing or other tasks, but many could only breathe on their own for a matter of minutes before their muscles tired and they needed to go back in.

Iron lungs were obsolete by the late 70's-early 80's when I went to med school, but there were a very few survivors still using them,  I never saw a patient in one and don't know anyone who did, but we certainly heard about them.  By the time Gates came to the ER in the late 90's, it is unlikely that anyone in an iron lung was still living, but I figure the writers probably heard the stories about them and decided to use it on the show,

[CrazyInAlabama]

If you are near Warm Springs GA, home of FDR's Little White House, they have a second location that was the actual warm pool (if you're tempted to put your hand in the water pool, it's barely warm) .  It has a Polio museum with an actual iron lung, and a great little museum showing a lot of relics about polio, and other information about the treatments, and the polio epidemic.    As of 2014, there were still 10 people confined to iron lungs in the U.S. and 3 by 2018.   One attorney in Texas is still alive, he's been using one since 1952.  

[Cloud9Shopper]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

If you are near Warm Springs GA, home of FDR's Little White House, they have a second location that was the actual warm pool (if you're tempted to put your hand in the water pool, it's barely warm) .  It has a Polio museum with an actual iron lung, and a great little museum showing a lot of relics about polio, and other information about the treatments, and the polio epidemic.    As of 2014, there were still 10 people confined to iron lungs in the U.S. and 3 by 2018.   One attorney in Texas is still alive, he's been using one since 1952.  

Ahhh I actually live in PA, so nowhere near that, but cool tidbit of info. :)

I am in a Rotary club, and Rotaries do a lot of fundraisers to help get polio vaccines to underdeveloped countries and cure the disease. So I’ve seen some presentations about it and such but I didn’t actually have any familiarity with the iron lung until I saw that episode yesterday. 

[Rootbeer]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Ahhh I actually live in PA, so nowhere near that, but cool tidbit of info. :)

I am in a Rotary club, and Rotaries do a lot of fundraisers to help get polio vaccines to underdeveloped countries and cure the disease. So I’ve seen some presentations about it and such but I didn’t actually have any familiarity with the iron lung until I saw that episode yesterday. 

Good for you!  I know Bill and Melinda Gates' foundation has set universal vaccination against polio as a goal and there have been great strides in bringing vaccines to the developing world.  If you recall, when Carter went to Africa the first time, he saw a little boy with polio with Gillian who was likely going to die.

[Cloud9Shopper]

I forgot to mention that one of the things I like about S15 so far is seeing actual functioning, happy couples (well, except Sam and Gates, and no one cares about them anyway). I love the Banfields (I’m sure it helps that Russ is played by Angela Bassett’s real husband) as well as Archie and his new girlfriend Claudia. After watching Luka and Abby misery for almost all of S14, Dubenko and Wexler’s soulless hookup and seeing the blandness of Neela and Ray (and Neela hooking up with Brenner), I love when Archie/Claudia and Cate/Russell are on screen. I wish the relationships and characters had been developed a season or two earlier.

  

[ESS]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I forgot to mention that one of the things I like about S15 so far is seeing actual functioning, happy couples (well, except Sam and Gates, and no one cares about them anyway). I love the Banfields (I’m sure it helps that Russ is played by Angela Bassett’s real husband) as well as Archie and his new girlfriend Claudia. After watching Luka and Abby misery for almost all of S14, Dubenko and Wexler’s soulless hookup and seeing the blandness of Neela and Ray (and Neela hooking up with Brenner), I love when Archie/Claudia and Cate/Russell are on screen. I wish the relationships and characters had been developed a season or two earlier.

  

I totally agree with you those two couples are also my favorites from season 15.

[Heathen]

On 7/11/2021 at 10:06 AM, Rootbeer said:

The last few episodes are excellent, though, by far the best of the last few seasons.

I don't remember the specific episode, but, from your description, I think Gates' patient was in an iron lung.  Back when polio was around, some victims were left with permanent muscle weakness, including the muscles needed to breathe.  That meant that they would suffocate without help.  This was an era before tracheostomies and portable ventilators.

So, the patient was put in the iron lung, a huge metal tube that went from their neck to below their feet and there was a rubber collar that went around their neck to keep it airtight.  The iron lung worked mechanically with a compressor which would suck the air in the tube out and then push it back in.  This created a vacuum which would cause the patient's chest to rise and fall and force air into and out of their lungs.  Some only needed this temporarily as they recovered, some needed it only while they slept, but there were some people who stayed in the iron lung the rest of their lives and needed 24 hour care.  The compressor could be turned off briefly for bathing or other tasks, but many could only breathe on their own for a matter of minutes before their muscles tired and they needed to go back in.

Iron lungs were obsolete by the late 70's-early 80's when I went to med school, but there were a very few survivors still using them,  I never saw a patient in one and don't know anyone who did, but we certainly heard about them.  By the time Gates came to the ER in the late 90's, it is unlikely that anyone in an iron lung was still living, but I figure the writers probably heard the stories about them and decided to use it on the show,

There are still people living in iron lungs today, in 2021. Every year or two, I see an article about iron lung repair or the very few people who still rely on them. Mainstream article, not in some obscure journal. 

https://www.timesnownews.com/the-buzz/article/this-man-has-been-using-iron-lung-machine-for-nearly-70-years/756458

Interesting article from 2017 that touches on the work needed to actually keep the iron lungs running. https://gizmodo.com/the-last-of-the-iron-lungs-1819079169

 

[Cloud9Shopper]

I’m listening to Spotify at work this morning (as I do everyday) and Taking You Home just came on, and I’m totally reliving Carol running to the airport to reunite with Doug.

Then I told my friend that the Doug and Carol reunion song came on, and she was like “What?” (She has seen the show.) I will always associate certain songs with iconic scenes of ER. (I can’t watch Coyote Ugly—yes, I know—without getting bothered that they used Battleflag in one of the bar scenes because I’ll always associate it with Be Still My Heart.) 

[ch1]

Season 6 had some great songs.  

There are a few songs I downloaded because of ER.  One that always makes me think of ER is If You Want Me to Stay.  I always hear Malik singing it. Lol.

[Cloud9Shopper]

42 minutes ago, ch1 said:

Season 6 had some great songs.  

There are a few songs I downloaded because of ER.  One that always makes me think of ER is If You Want Me to Stay.  I always hear Malik singing it. Lol.

Season 6 is one of my favorite seasons. It had two iconic moments (the stabbing, the Doug and Carol reunion) and normal good episode type of things (Carol giving birth, Carter’s intervention). Plus seeing Luka stroll into the ambulance bay and talk to the little girl from the car crash into the donut shop was my first memory of watching the show regularly. It felt like one of the last seasons where people aren’t in constant misery. I even liked Abby then too! 

[Heathen]

12 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Season 6 is one of my favorite seasons. It had two iconic moments (the stabbing, the Doug and Carol reunion) and normal good episode type of things (Carol giving birth, Carter’s intervention). Plus seeing Luka stroll into the ambulance bay and talk to the little girl from the car crash into the donut shop was my first memory of watching the show regularly. It felt like one of the last seasons where people aren’t in constant misery. I even liked Abby then too! 

Abby's first few episodes were good. So were season 6 and season 7. Then everything went to shit along with Abby's personality. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

5 hours ago, Heathen said:

Abby's first few episodes were good. So were season 6 and season 7. Then everything went to shit along with Abby's personality. 

When I was rewatching Carol and Doug’s reunion yesterday, the YouTube channel I was on left in the part where Carol gives her big weepy speech to Luka and she assured him he’d find someone. All these years later and I thought, “Yeah and he got stuck with Abby.” Although Luka made that choice and seemed to enjoy being in a relationship of misery in which his wife had to be dragged to the altar, so I can’t feel too bad for him.

I liked Luka too before he spiraled in S9, and I sort of wished they gave him a better girlfriend/wife. They couldn’t create a more pleasant female character elsewhere in the County universe like Pratt’s girlfriend, or give him a nice woman from outside the hospital like they did for Morris? 

S7 seemed to be when the trauma crises got bigger too. Massive train derailments, exploding ER, football game riots. It only got worse from there (army tanks, 747 crashes in the middle of Chicago, Romano and the doomed helicopter, my personal jump the shark moment). 

[Rootbeer]

2 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

When I was rewatching Carol and Doug’s reunion yesterday, the YouTube channel I was on left in the part where Carol gives her big weepy speech to Luka and she assured him he’d find someone. All these years later and I thought, “Yeah and he got stuck with Abby.” Although Luka made that choice and seemed to enjoy being in a relationship of misery in which his wife had to be dragged to the altar, so I can’t feel too bad for him.

I liked Luka too before he spiraled in S9, and I sort of wished they gave him a better girlfriend/wife. They couldn’t create a more pleasant female character elsewhere in the County universe like Pratt’s girlfriend, or give him a nice woman from outside the hospital like they did for Morris? 

There were plenty of female minor characters who could've been fun for Luka.  I think Chuny/Luka could've been hilarious.  Or Luka and the nice social worker, Adele, I think.  Of course, she ended up getting shot and confined to a wheelchair when the maniac was stalking Mark.  It seemed like Luka had a good marriage to a woman he loved and who loved him back in Croatia, and it would've been nice if he could've come full circle and found that again in Chicago,  instead of the turmoil and unhappiness that was Abby.

Edited July 16, 2021 by Rootbeer

[Cloud9Shopper]

6 minutes ago, Rootbeer said:

There were plenty of female minor characters who could've been fun for Luka.  I think Chuny/Luka could've been hilarious.  Or Luka and the nice social worker, Adele, I think.  Of course, she ended up getting shot and confined to a wheelchair when the maniac was stalking Mark.  It seemed like Luka had a good marriage to a woman he loved and who loved him, too, back in Croatia, and it would've been nice if he could've come full circle and found that in Chicago, too, instead of the turmoil and unhappiness that was Abby.

It was Adele. :) I loved her character much more than the social worker who Carter dated in S11. Actually that’s part why I do love ER despite its flaws in the later years. So many of the recurring characters are awesome too and help make the show. 
 

Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I believe Luka and Chuny did have a brief fling in S9 maybe? I remember watching a YouTube clip of Haleh explaining to Abby that she signed some petition the nurses had going about Luka’s behavior but I saw S9 a while ago at this point. I don’t remember the details. 

Edited July 16, 2021 by Cloud9Shopper
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