Product Description
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Combining the extraordinary talents of best-selling author
Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park) and Steven Spielberg's Amblin
Television with Peabody, Humanitas, and Emmy®-winning producer
John Wells (The West Wing, Third Watch) and Emmy® winner
Christopher Chulack (Third Watch), the multiple Emmy®
Award-winning ER explores the inner workings of an urban teaching
hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated
physicians and staff of its overburdened emergency room. These
medical professionals remain determined to save lives in a place
where nothing is taken for granted and nothing is
certain...nothing except that another desperate person will be
rushed through the emergency room doors in the next moment in
need of their help.
.com
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The final season of ER, the definitive medical drama of the
'90s, found a way to wrap up its 15-season run without veering
off the rails; moreover, it managed to bring back most of its
famous alumni in guest appearances that didn't detract from the
series' core. However, a longtime cast member dies in the very
first episode of the season, which tells you everyone is still
expendable. Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney)'s exit reveals a nice
tip of the hat to the cast's revolving door: a storage-closet
wall where Nurse Haleh had been posting everyone's locker
nameplates. Angela Bassett turns up as Catherine Banfield, the
new chief of the ER, with a fraying marriage and a personal
tragedy told in flashback--a clever device to bring back the
series' linchpin Anthony Edwards, who played Dr. Mark Greene
(Bassett's real-life husband, Courtney B. Vance, plays her
onscreen husband). Meanwhile, Tony (John Stamos) and Sam (Linda
Cardellini)'s new domestic life is torn apart by a tragic car
accident; Neela (Parminder Nagra) finally makes a decision about
her medical and romantic future; and John Carter (Noah Wyle, who
has appeared in more episodes than any other cast member) returns
for the second half of the season, with a medical condition and a
strained marriage. Fans will love the episode "Old Times," in
which George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, and Eriq La Salle
reprise their roles, and the guest stars include Susan Sarandon
and a then-unknown Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
As a nice touch, the opening credits--which had followed the
television trend and truncated itself into a five-second title
card--reverted back to the original for the series finale,
complete with the iconic theme song and a listing of both the
current and original cast members. The final episode brings
Carter together with Benton, Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield),
Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes), and Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston)
at the grand opening of Carter's HIV outpatient center; it also
brings the series to a fitting close as County General continues
to hustle and bustle through the end credits.
The set includes the hour-long retrospective that originally
aired before the series finale, with extensive interviews not
just with the main cast but those who appeared in just one season
(remember Maria Bello and Jorja Fox?). They reflect on
significant episodes like "Love's Labor's Lost" (season one) and
creator Michael Crichton, who died during the final season. Also
paying tribute? One of the show's former producers who helped
adapt Crichton's original film screenplay into the series: some
guy named Steven Spielberg. --Ellen A. Kim