Music in the ‘Cuse

All my life, I’ve had a favorite TV show. Sometimes the show was a comedy and sometimes a drama, but the common thread was that it was a show that I watched every week without fail.

In the days before the VCR, that took some doing! You had one shot at watching the show, and if you missed it, you had to wait for the summer and hope that it would air in reruns.

I still remember my excitement when I got my first VCR and was able to tape whatever show I was watching at the time and watch it at my convenience.  Imagine my delight at the introduction of the DVR and now the availability on online episodes!

For many years, my favorite show aired on NBC on Thursday night. I never missed  Hill Street Blues and L.A. Law, and when L.A. Law ended, ER slid into that 10 p.m. time slot, and out of habit, I began watching.

I loved ER from the start.  The writing was superb, and I loved the fast pace of the show and the way the characters developed.  There were so many compelling story arcs, and over the years, ER never shied away from the hot topics of the day.

One character dealt with HIV and another came to terms with her homosexuality. Characters suffered from alcoholism, drug addiction, cancer, and mental illness, and County staff members mourned the loss of beloved (and not so beloved) doctors and other staffers.

Characters fell in and out of love, married and divorced, and had babies. The show dealt with the Iraq war and the casualties of war, and routinely showed us the reality of gang violence and life on the mean streets of Chicago.

ER has had its ups and downs over the years.  A lot of people thought the show would die off once George Clooney left. But it didn’t. Just as in a real ER, other doctors and nurses stepped in to fill the void and the show and life goes on.

The end of this series also marks the end of a long tradition of Thursday dramas on NBC (Jay Leno will be taking over this time slot) as production of these shows has become too expensive. And that’s a shame.

For fifteen years, I’ve followed this show, and when it ends its run tonight, I’ll be watching. I’d like to think that life at Country General will continue on. We just won’t be there anymore!

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