E.R. ends 15 seasons tomorrow

E.R. will be coming to an end tomorrow. And based on ratings and general public interest you might have thought it ended years ago. Which is a sad way for a ground-breaking show to end.

Though E.R. has reached a huge landmark in hitting 15 seasons, much of the luster faded before this year. I was a fan of the show early on. The entire plot seemed, looking back, to be the journey of one cast member - Noah Wyle as Dr. Carter. We all followed his path from lowly surgical intern into a highly qualified and intense doctor. And once he left the show, there really was no reason to continue to watch.

One of the things I loved about the show was that it was bright, and was not afraid of that. It was honest terminology and real medicine procedures. There were no miracles from future tech or television time constraints. The characters had flaws and issues, some never resolved. Characters grew, and fell, and died often in ways we never expected. But it was real and that drew in the audience.

Dr. Carter was our window into that world. As he learned more and became comfortable in that fast-paced, life or death arena, so did we. We were all proud when he became a doctor in his own right. We were surprised and pleased when he made the critical career move to give up surgery where he might just be good, to become an E.R. doctor that was great. We were all saddened when Dr. Carter fell into the pit of drug addiction, and were among his friends as they intervened to help him overcome his problem.

It's funny, the fact that the salary of Noah Wyle grew by the last season he was on the series to be more than that of the entire original cast he started with. It reflects the importance of his character, and the fanbase he drew. But the casting on this program was always smart.

This show launched the career of George Clooney, and Wyle. It beefed up the importance of Anthony Edwards, Eric La Salle and Juliana Margulies. It drew the most loved and most acclaimed actors in all of Hollywood to its set. Alan Alda, Michael J. Fox, Don Cheadle, Ray Liotta, Dakota Fanning and more.

This show was one of the few that featured Latinos, African Americans, and Asians as recurring if not main characters of importance and prominence. People of color were doctors and heads of departments. All at a time on television where the faces of people of color were vanishing from even the backgrounds in other shows. Especially on NBC.

Serious issues facing the nation and world have been addressed. Child abuse, violence against women, AIDS, alcoholism, drug addiction, cancer, famine, racial conflicts, poverty, international wars and ethnic cleansing. There are few topics this show has not touched upon, with honesty and compassion.

But like all things, it too must end. Because in a world of American Idol and Survivor, being honest and more than superficial is too much. When we lost our connection to the history of the show, Dr. Carter, we lost the need to be involved. Especially with issues that did not go away or were solved by the end of the episode or season. In that E.R. did it's job too well, it was too smart and honest to stay on television.

So while I am sad to see the show end, I agree it is well about time. It's languished enough, made many a political and educational point. It's helped widen the knowledge base of the world, and lifted more than a few actors and actresses to renown. In 15 years the television program has done just about everything that you could ask for in a weekly series. So with a salute I say goodbye to the series. And thank you.

The new 90210 - is it cancelled yet?

Ok. Please stop. I’m speaking to the CW network.

The CW network is the channel that has brought us such hits as Hidden Palms, Aliens in America, and Online Nation. If you don’t recall those television shows don’t worry, no one else did either – even when they were on the air. This network was the reheated remains of the corpses of the WB and UPN networks (birthplace of Homeboys in Space - thank god they went bankrupt). It’s only successes to date being Smallville, Supernatural, Everybody Hates Chris, and America’s Top Model each from the old networks that went out of business.

So in search of new ideas that might sustain this still miserable network there has been an nearly unending hype about the new 90210. Yes sheer joy will fall from the heavens and ratings records will be set anew when the sequel to the original 1990’s television show hits the airwaves. Or so the CW keeps using all kinds of media to let us know.

Honestly, do they think that the return of Jennie Garth, and Shannen Doherty will cause some kind of uproar? Neither of these women have had a success in years. Unless you count the short stint Doherty had on Charmed (before she reportedly was fired and the series really took off) or her season of work on “Sci-Fi” Channel’s Scare Tactics [which has nothing to do with scifi and does not deserve to be on the channel]. That says nothing of the fact that the fan base left their teens over a decade ago.

But let’s look at what the show has to offer the youth of today.

The most notable change to the show is that suddenly the Beverly Hills area has a touch of color. And I do mean A touch. Tristan Wilds will play the adopted brother of Shenae Grimes – essentially the Brendan and Brenda of the old show.

So the only way that a Black kid can get into Beverly Hills is via an adoption, or so the show seems to present. Because the original certainly had as many Blacks as were to be found on Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, Friends, Seinfeld, and E.R. combined. Oh wait, that’s not true because there was 1 African American on E.R. at it’s start. Well at least the new show follows the far more enlightened and standardized format of 1 Black, 1 Latino, and at least one woman. (Well at least one of the women in the show looks sortof Latino so that counts right? And Asians? They don’t exist in America)

Well it won’t matter. The show has good looking rich people (everyone can relate to that right?), and they have Youtube in the show too (they are just like you, just in a Ferrari - if you are also White). It must be cool. And just for added effect they threw in an alcoholic/addict grandmother (because who doesn't have one). It's just a good wholesome television show, with drugs, and drinking, and sex, and paparazzi, and clothes that cost more than what most parents make in a year.

I think Brian Austin Green, who is among virtually all the old cast that refused to be on this program – except for Tori Spelling who dropped out because she thought she was worth more money like she has an acting career now that nepotism is not an option – stated it best

“The new ['90210'] could be good. Or it will suck terribly."

The odds stack up that it will suck. But in a world engorged with American Idol and ‘reality’ television shows, drivel might just pass for drama and entertainment. Unrealistic views of American population or success, a deep need to exploit real issues, and a drive to suplant style for substance. No wonder why I avoid broadcast television.