All Episodes Talk: What's Up Doc?

[RedbirdNelly]

I'm behind--just watched Season 2 Episode 1 (Welcome Back Carter). This is the first Carrie Weaver episode --kind of fun to see her for the first time and Mark adjusting to being an attending. I guess Michael Ironside is just gone---they do a good job of balancing things going on off screen. You just don't get to know everything about everybody because its a busy ER with different people coming and going. Better than other medical shows I watch where the surgical department is also the oncology department and every other department.

[RedbirdNelly]

Just watched Season 2, Episode 2 and Episode 3. In Episode 2, we finally get to see Bob again. She's still around but has apparently been working other shifts. Also I had forgotten about Doug's hair in season 2--went with the Caesar haircut. Carrie is being annoying as she always is. Susan started out being viewed as non competent then Michael Ironside's character thought she was great--now apparently, she is back to having to get approval on all her stuff. Poor Susan. And Chloe flakes out on her again. Tough life. I agree with others who have contrasted her with Abby. Susan maintains a certain cheerfulness through it all. I had forgotten about Shep.

[BooksRule]

I live in a a mid-1960s ranch-style home that needs cosmetic work.  I sometimes get discouraged over all of the things I need to do to the house (update the bathrooms, the kitchen, either paint the outside or get siding, etc.), but I now cheer myself up when I compare it to the house that Carol bought.  Mine doesn't seem so bad.  I know that her house probably had character (and she and Shep found the boarded up fireplace in the latest episode I watched), and she said she got a good deal, but I would never want to have to go through what you would have to go through to fix up that house to make it a really attractive sound safe home.  And to live so close to the train that you can wave to the passengers from the kitchen window would be terrible IMO.  (Although I did laugh at Carol coming home to hear Shep on the roof shouting 'dammit! dammit! dammit! as he gradually destroyed it.) 

[RedbirdNelly]

I just finished watching the episode where she buys the house and I was just overwhelmed with the amount of work that house would need, not to mention the train.

[chitowngirl]

It doesn't seem like it, but you do get used to the train!

[RedbirdNelly]

it just seems so very close to the train! :) my sister lives near it but just not that near it!

I watched Hell or High Water tonight. Such a great episode though was sad about the girl. I loved the part where Jerry is hooking them via modem to another hospital (and he mentions a CD rom). Would have been cool if we could have heard the dial up hissing sound. .  .

[desertflower]

I've been sick the past few days so I binge watched a few eps I had on the DVR. Random thoughts:

As someone above noted, I too temporarily forgot all about Shep. He was a cutie. I remember that actor popping up in a lot of stuff in the 90s.

I'm always really moved by Lucy Liu's performance as the mother of the little 4 year old with AIDS. Such a cute little boy, too. 

I liked Harper. Can't remember why she left but I guess we'll get to that. 

It's funny how many  characters show up that I had forgotten about, until I see them, then they come rushing back. Shep, Randi, the hippie nurse trainee.

In the episode where Wendy is doing interviews about Mark for a newsletter, it's really cute how Haleah says when she met Mark  he had beautiful blond hair. Definitely a nod to Anthony Edwards in real life. Remember his surfer hair in Fast Times at Ridgemont High? Heehee. 

[Bastet]

I could not stand Jeannie during the first season, but she's growing on me now.  I vaguely remember the HIV storyline that's coming up, but not much more than that.

I like the actor playing the prostitute who Mark keeps taking care of.  Former prostitute now; she has a job and things are finally turning around for her.  Which, of course, means she finds out she has cervical cancer.  Mark assures her how high the five-year survival rate is with treatment and she just looks out the door towards her kids and softly says, "Five years.  My kids won't even be teenagers."  Very well done.

[BooksRule]

Quote

Would have been cool if we could have heard the dial up hissing sound.

I thought I heard that dial-up sound.  It brought back memories.

I just saw the episode where they all thought that Dr. Morgenstern had come into the ER dressed like a Catholic schoolgirl (including pleated skirt and knee socks), only to find out that he was dressed for the local Highland Games.  

Mark (walking towards the exam room as we hear loud screeching):  'Is someone poking out a cat's eye in there?' (enters to find Morgenstern practicing the bagpipes--badly).

[Bastet]

I don't like Shep, but, oh man, he just killed me in Raoul's last episode.

[BigBeagle]

34 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I don't like Shep, but, oh man, he just killed me in Raoul's last episode.

Oh, "The Healers" ... I love that episode so very much, especially Benton's pep talk to Carter.

[RedbirdNelly]

Watched Home and the previous episode last night. Felt bad for Mark when he finds out about his wife moving on.

Also puzzled me that they had previously said we're done with peach nurse scrubs and winning color wins. And now they are wearing this rose/pink color--I'm surprised that was the winning color or the one that Carol picked by veto. I increasingly love how this show mentions things and let's things play out off screen without telling you everything. You get to see what you really need but it acknowledges that life goes on 24 hours and this is a snapshot. Other shows should learn from this method.

[Revlonred]

I am loving these episodes. It's been a long time since I've seen them.  I cannot believe how good this show was in the early seasons.  In the later years, the hubby and I watched for laughs and all the wrong reasons.  But wow, these early seasons.  

I have not seen Carter and Lucy get stabbed since it originally aired and I can't wait for that one. 

[Mama No Life]

This show was amazing the first few seasons.  Trying to remember when I stopped watching. Probably when Carter left...he was my main guy.  Seemed like it became a revolving door of loser guys there after a while.

re: today's ep: Carrie's jealousy over Peter being named Resident of the year was awesome.  Even though I grew to like her very much I hated her that first year she was on.  

And yes, the Carter/Lucy stabbing and resulting storylines were so good. My favorite moment is still when Peter comes running down the hall after he hears about Carter.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Mama No Life

[Revlonred]

2 hours ago, Mama No Life said:

My favorite moment is still when Peter comes running down the hall after he hears about Carter.

And when he's operating and the other surgeon has to tell him to CALM DOWN because he is just losing his mind trying to save him. Good stuff. 

[WendyCR72]

7 minutes ago, Revlonred said:

And when he's operating and the other surgeon has to tell him to CALM DOWN

Anspaugh. I liked Anspaugh. He was the doc Carter screamed at when Anspaugh was riding Carter about missing surgical rounds while Carter tried to find nursing home placement for an elderly couple. That was when Carter decided he wanted to go into emergency medicine and he cornered Anspaugh in the parking garage to make his case. Anspaugh relented and agreed to see what he could do. IIRC, he was on the hospital board.

So his character had history with Carter, too. It was a nice touch.

John Aylward was a good actor. Although, as an aside, I recall the story with Jeannie and his young son that died, and - not to be mean - Anspaugh looked more like his grandfather than his father. I know that sounded mean, but that was my takeaway there with Scottie (his son).

[Mama No Life]

Wendy, how many shows are we going to end up having in common?  Days, Bones....did I imagine Xfiles too?   :)

 

Yes, Anspaugh! He was the one.  That was when Carter had to go without pay for a year to get the emergency internship, right?

[WendyCR72]

5 minutes ago, Mama No Life said:

Wendy, how many shows are we going to end up having in common?  Days, Bones....did I imagine Xfiles too?   :)

 

Yes, Anspaugh! He was the one.  That was when Carter had to go without pay for a year to get the emergency internship, right?

Yes, and lived in that crappy building as an RA or something. All I remember is, Eileen Brennan's character was the landlady and she ended up in the ER when the place burnt down.  :-P (He was cut off from the family fortune after he left surgery if I remember right. So it was indeed Carter's first time truly on his own in every way.)

As for The X-Files, would you believe I have never seen one episode? It's true!

But we have the rest, @Mama No Life.  :-)

[Mama No Life]

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. lol  Carter only really had Gamma.  Didn't he date a family member's ex once?  Rebecca De Mornay? 

[WendyCR72]

3 minutes ago, Mama No Life said:

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. lol  Carter only really had Gamma.  Didn't he date a family member's ex once?  Rebecca De Mornay? 

Right. I think she was the ex-wife of a cousin or something. Oh, those wealthy folks!

[Mama No Life]

22 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Yes, and lived in that crappy building as an RA or something. All I remember is, Eileen Brennan's character was the landlady and she ended up in the ER when the place burnt down.  :-P (He was cut off from the family fortune after he left surgery if I remember right. So it was indeed Carter's first time truly on his own in every way.)

As for The X-Files, would you believe I have never seen one episode? It's true!

But we have the rest, @Mama No Life.  :-)

Yes we do, lol. But there's one more. I can't remember it.  Friends? CSI? Gah. I watch too much tv. lol

[WendyCR72]

Just now, Mama No Life said:

Yes we do, lol. But there's one more. I can't remember it.  Friends? CSI? Gah. I watch too much tv. lol

Could be Friends! I did/do watch that.  :-)

[Mama No Life]

15 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

Could be Friends! I did/do watch that.  :-)

Yay!

[Bastet]

Aw, Dr. Carter.

I love Benton giving him his white coat, but not giving it to him personally, just shoving it in a cardboard box and having Jerry say, "Dr. Benton left this here for you."  That's so perfectly them. 

[Mama No Life]

Yeah, I loved that.  And then sweet gullible Carter switching teams just to be with him, lol.

One of my favorite relationships of the show, however, was Mark and Carter.  Mark had a great way of knowing when someone was struggling, and just like he did tonight with the sparklers, he steps in.  Set the tone indeed.

[RedbirdNelly]

still making my way through Season 2. The baby shower episode where all the moms end up delivering in the ER is one I had not forgotten. The part with the internal medicine doctor dying of cancer who is able to give birth to her daughter but knows she will not make it long--still made me tear up. Losing Raul was also sad.

Other episodes--it was so Carrie to tell Susan they are considering her for chief resident while still insulting her.

Sad to see Chloe come back. I know where this is going and I should have more sympathy for her, but so hard to. I would have preferred for Chloe not to have returned and Susan to stay on the show.

[WendyCR72]

Kerry (that's how TV Guide always spelled it, so I'll go with it!) was always a bitch. Laura Innes played her to perfection, though. She was such a 180 from the sitcom, Wings, where she played Lowell's over-sexed ex-wife, Bunny! LOL!

I, too, was sorry to see Susan leave in S3. I get that Sherry Stringfield was burnt out, but I really did like her character. And while I was glad to see her return, the later writers had no idea who she was (she would have NEVER just called Abby "nurse" in her first episode back and would have asked her name, for one thing!) and just seemed to make her either a party gal or bitch in charge (I doubt Susan of Old would have wanted to be ER head).

[AndySmith]

I loved Sherry Stringfield from her days on Guiding Light. She played a character so different from Susan, and played her extremely well.

I didn't mind the party girl part. I remember there was a scene once of her, Deb, and maybe Abby going out to a club and having a nice time (Deb even jumped off the DJ booth onto the audience). It was kind of nice seeing some of the characters just going out and having fun. A nice counter to the depressing drama they faced at work.

Hell, I liked it better than what we saw on Grey's Anatomy, where they all only seemed to hang out at The Only Bar in All Seattle.

[RedbirdNelly]

I'm sure it is Kerry. I'm horrible at spelling! I agree Laura played her perfectly. I bet it was fun to play her. I used to watch Wings but I don't think I watched it when she was on.

I agree when Sherry comes back it's like they didn't know what to do with her. I wish she would have stayed and continued to develop as a character/doctor. Maybe she could have opted to be more of a part-time person on the show like CCH Pounder but with more screen time. I was also thinking how there are so many likeable characters on the show, even though they have flaws--Susan, Mark, Doug, Benton, and Carol are all likeable to me and they but heads at times but basically get along ok. 

I watched Guiding Light when Stringfield played Blake. Very different from Susan.

I started watching Chicago Med because I missed ER and was hoping for something similar. It's a pale imitation and now that I've found ER reruns on Pop, I'm having trouble getting around to watching new episodes of Chicago Med.

[BooksRule]

Quote

Also puzzled me that they had previously said we're done with peach nurse scrubs and winning color wins. And now they are wearing this rose/pink color--I'm surprised that was the winning color or the one that Carol picked by veto.

I know!  I hated those peach scrubs (although I appreciated the fact that they didn't 'Hollywood-ize' Carol or the other nurses on the show.  Those were some ugly outfits (ill-fitting sometimes high-water hems, bulky shoes, etc.).  Then they switched to pink, which seem just as bad to me.  I thought I remember seeing Carol wearing scrubs that were a dark maroon color in at least one episode, but I don't remember which one. 

[RedbirdNelly]

23 minutes ago, BooksRule said:

I know!  I hated those peach scrubs (although I appreciated the fact that they didn't 'Hollywood-ize' Carol or the other nurses on the show.  Those were some ugly outfits (ill-fitting sometimes high-water hems, bulky shoes, etc.).  Then they switched to pink, which seem just as bad to me.  I thought I remember seeing Carol wearing scrubs that were a dark maroon color in at least one episode, but I don't remember which one. 

they do wear some darker colored ones in some episodes but still a rose-ish color that you would think would have not been the winner. I've been thinking the same thing re the clothes--the nurses wear clothes you'd expect real nurses to wear even when they look a bit frumpy.

Still loving the continuity. In the episode with Doug having whiplash, we see the same radiologist who was doing the slow, long reports at the beginning of season 1. I don't think he'd been on screen since then. This show does not suffer from "never to be seen again" syndrome, that's for sure. You never know when some bit player will pop up again.

[voiceover]

I'd forgotten what a patronizing twerp Kerry could be.  I'm waiting for the ep that shows *her* blowing it big time (since it happens to everyone else), but I can't remember if it ever happens.

[CarolMK]

I'm taping all of the episodes to watch in order, a little tough because they're showing them 3 times a day. But anyway, I was wondering how, at the end of season 2, Carol Hathaway announces she's quitting her job at the hospital. Yet in the season 3 opener, she's back again and it wasn't even mentioned. This is when Carter officially is now a doctor and watching the episode where he's on call all night long and barely getting any sleep seemed very real. Looks like Carol is also having financial problems between trying to sell her house and her car getting repossessed. Not sure why she's broke all of a sudden if she's been working consistently as a nurse all this time, unless her house truly was a money pit.l

[Mama No Life]

They do poke fun at her in that episode though.  When they need coverage for 4th of July night, and she is supposed to play softball the picnic, she complains about being boss and Haleh tells her, "You can always quit again" and they all laugh.  

[SoapDoc]

Carol has been talking about how they have been cutting down on her shifts. I suspect that had something to do with it.

Edited April 25, 2017 by SoapDoc
ipad keypad issues

[desertflower]

15 hours ago, voiceover said:

I'd forgotten what a patronizing twerp Kerry could be.  I'm waiting for the ep that shows *her* blowing it big time (since it happens to everyone else), but I can't remember if it ever happens.

The biggest mistake I remember her making was not a medical one, but it was when she left her pager in the bathroom and Chen and Malucci couldn't get a hold of her. The patient went bad and it caused a big thing. 

[WendyCR72]

48 minutes ago, desertflower said:

The biggest mistake I remember her making was not a medical one, but it was when she left her pager in the bathroom and Chen and Malucci couldn't get a hold of her. The patient went bad and it caused a big thing. 

Yeah, the Marfan's patient. I remember that. And Kerry was such a bitch, trying to foist all of the blame on Chen and Malucci there. I believe this was also the beginning of the end for the latter, as Malucci was fired not long after [being caught having sex in an ambulance, if I recall, and...no], and I still recall he said some sort of gay slur to Kerry as he was cleaning out his locker. That whole thing...yikes.

[RedbirdNelly]

19 hours ago, CarolMK said:

I'm taping all of the episodes to watch in order, a little tough because they're showing them 3 times a day. But anyway, I was wondering how, at the end of season 2, Carol Hathaway announces she's quitting her job at the hospital. Yet in the season 3 opener, she's back again and it wasn't even mentioned. This is when Carter officially is now a doctor and watching the episode where he's on call all night long and barely getting any sleep seemed very real. Looks like Carol is also having financial problems between trying to sell her house and her car getting repossessed. Not sure why she's broke all of a sudden if she's been working consistently as a nurse all this time, unless her house truly was a money pit.l

I'm doing the same and it is blowing up my dvr. I managed to catch up this weekend. I agree they do not explain how she decided to come back but there is that reference another poster mentioned re "you could quit again". It's possible in a later show there may be some bit of conversation to explain what happened somewhat.

11 hours ago, WendyCR72 said:

Yeah, the Marfan's patient. I remember that. And Kerry was such a bitch, trying to foist all of the blame on Chen and Malucci there. I believe this was also the beginning of the end for the latter, as Malucci was fired not long after [being caught having sex in an ambulance, if I recall, and...no], and I still recall he said some sort of gay slur to Kerry as he was cleaning out his locker. That whole thing...yikes.

I remember it that way too. Malucci had issues but he got over-blamed on that one because Kerry did not own up to not having her pager and being unavailable.

[Shannon L.]

Jumping in to say that what I'm really enjoying is seeing the minor characters that come and go that are played by actors who, at the time, were not yet really popular.  In just two seasons we already saw 4 regulars from The West Wing alone!

[Bastet]

46 minutes ago, Shannon L. said:

In just two seasons we already saw 4 regulars from The West Wing alone!

Ugh, my brain fart is bugging me -- Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, and who's the fourth?

I, too, am loving the game of spot the guest actor I've been playing.

I know if I record them, I'll never actually sit down and catch up, so I have them on every day (I work out of my home office).  I take the time to properly sit and watch one while eating, but the other two are on as background noise.  I'm missing a lot that way, but at least keeping up with the general arc of the characters.

[desertflower]

Speaking of spot the guest actor, I realized Loretta's (Mark's patient who was a prostitute then got cervical cancer) son was played by Jake Lloyd, who went on to play young Anakin Skywalker in the first Star Wars prequel. He's probably wishing he quit acting after his ER stint, since I've heard he developed serious problems after all the attention and criticism he faced doing Star Wars. 

I am constantly checking IMDB while I watch these old ER episodes. So many familiar faces. 

[voiceover]

After whingeing about Kerry, she goes & does something big-hearted: gets Jeanie to confess her HIV status, and says she's glad that J didn't stop working.

"Last Call" also had the nurses dancing in the lobby with Cute Guy.  I loved those moments in the series, when in the midst of all that intense misery, there was...dancing!

[RedbirdNelly]

1 hour ago, desertflower said:

Speaking of spot the guest actor, I realized Loretta's (Mark's patient who was a prostitute then got cervical cancer) son was played by Jake Lloyd, who went on to play young Anakin Skywalker in the first Star Wars prequel. He's probably wishing he quit acting after his ER stint, since I've heard he developed serious problems after all the attention and criticism he faced doing Star Wars. 

I am constantly checking IMDB while I watch these old ER episodes. So many familiar faces. 

thank you!  I saw that kid, thought he looked familiar and decided it would take too much brain work to figure out who he was.

48 minutes ago, voiceover said:

After whingeing about Kerry, she goes & does something big-hearted: gets Jeanie to confess her HIV status, and says she's glad that J didn't stop working.

"Last Call" also had the nurses dancing in the lobby with Cute Guy.  I loved those moments in the series, when in the midst of all that intense misery, there was...dancing!

later on Jenie treats Kerry like a jerk (not sure what season--but she threatens to sue about something) and that always bugged me since Kerry deserved some loyalty after the supportive way she was about J's status. In that situation I was in Kerry's corner. I've also found Jenie more annoying than I remembered while watching this time through.

[BooksRule]

Quote

Bradley Whitford, Richard Schiff, Janel Moloney, and who's the fourth?

Kathryn Joosten (who played Mrs. Landingham on 'The West Wing') was the patient who thought she had gone blind in the episode where they had the marathon treatment session in the waiting room (the episode was 'A shift in the night'). 

[RedbirdNelly]

I recognized Mrs. Landingham. Always Iiked her on West Wing.

I'm on early Season 3. I had totally forgotten about Maggie Doyle and the pediatric surgeon doctor. Unfortunately, I've now remembered the Dr. Carter/pediatric surgeon love story arc that happens later and was pretty stupid as I remember it.

[CarolMK]

I've been wondering about the story with Jeannie being HIV positive and working with patients directly. Not sure what the law was back in 1995 but what about today? Can a person who is HIV positive work in healthcare that involves using needles to draw blood and give shots?

[starri]

11 hours ago, CarolMK said:

I've been wondering about the story with Jeannie being HIV positive and working with patients directly. Not sure what the law was back in 1995 but what about today? Can a person who is HIV positive work in healthcare that involves using needles to draw blood and give shots?

Yes.  You are also not require to disclose your HIV status to a patient so long as you exercise universal precautions.

[Bastet]

19 hours ago, BooksRule said:

Kathryn Joosten (who played Mrs. Landingham on 'The West Wing') was the patient who thought she had gone blind in the episode where they had the marathon treatment session in the waiting room

I was only (half-)listening to that one rather than watching, but you'd think I'd have recognized her voice and turned around; it's pretty distinctive.

15 hours ago, CarolMK said:

I've been wondering about the story with Jeannie being HIV positive and working with patients directly. Not sure what the law was back in 1995 but what about today? Can a person who is HIV positive work in healthcare that involves using needles to draw blood and give shots?

Sure, they just have to - like everyone else - use universal precautions.  That was the law then, too, but like the other patient at the clinic told her, they'd transfer her, look for other reasons to fire her, etc. in order to get rid of her despite the law.

16 hours ago, RedbirdNelly said:

Unfortunately, I've now remembered the Dr. Carter/pediatric surgeon love story arc that happens later

Carter gets involved with Glenne Headley's character?

All I can remember of that character is Benton, while working for her, getting cocky and doing a surgery he's not equipped to do, or something like that, and her telling him, "If that baby dies, it will be my responsibility, but it will be your fault."  I love that line.  I think it might be coming in the episode that's on now.

Edited April 25, 2017 by Bastet

[WendyCR72]

22 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Carter gets involved with Glenne Headley's character?

He does, and ironically, her name was Abby (Keaton).

[AndySmith]

Wasn't she also Peter's mentor for a brief time as well? Smooth, Carter, smooth.