E/R aired from September 1984 until July 1985 on CBS.
Chicago's Clark Street Hospital was the setting for this comedy about the staff and patients populating the hospital's emergency room. Howard Sheinfeld ( Elliott Gould), was the sarcastic, talkative doctor who oversaw most of the emergency-room treatment. An ear-nose-and-throat specialist , he moonlighted at Clark Street Hospital doing 48 hour shifts to help him keep up with alimony payments to 2 ex-wives. Eve ( Played by Marcia Strassman in the pilot and Mary McDonnell in the series), his no-nonsense boss at the hospital , wished he would take things a little more seriously and not work such long shifts. Harold Stickley ( Jason Alexander), was the hospital administrator, and Ace ( George Clooney), the inexperienced young physician recently assigned to emergency-room duty.Joan Thor ( Conchata Ferrell), was the head nurse, Julie ( Lynne Moody), her industious assistant( the character was the niece of George Jefferson of The Jeffersons who appeared on the first episode), and Cory ( Corrine Bohrer), the perpetually confused floater nurse. Maria ( Shuko Akune), was the lazy, smart-mouthed receptionist and Fred ( Bruce A. Young), was her boyfriend. Among the minor characters on this sitcom were Luis Avalos as Dr. Thomas Esquivel; Jason Alexander as Harold Stickley; George Clooney as Ace; William G. Schilling as Richard, the orderly; and Jeff Doucette as Bert, the paramedic. Into their emergency room came a constant stream of the sick and the injured, some with minor problems and others in critical condition, in this awkward mixture of gag comedy and serious illness.
A Review from TV Guide
Published on November 24-30, 1984
Review
By Robert Mackenzie
" You know, he's kinda cute," says a nurse of a passed-out patient.
"They're all cute when they're unconscious ," says the other nurse.
And here comes a hypochondriac who's a recurring visitor, " Please give me something so I can go home," she says. " Here's three dollars," Elliott Gould replies. " Take a cab."
Gould plays Dr. Howard Sheinfeld, a weary but cheerful ear-nose-and-throat man who works 48-hour shifts in the E.R. because he needs the money for alimony. Sheinfeld's laid- back approach to the job annoys his prim boss, Dr. Sheridan ( Mary McDonnell), who wants to bring some order into the natural chaos of the emergency room.
If you're beginning to picture a hybrid of M*A*S*H and Taxi, you're picking up the wavelength. Helping Sheinfeld practice hurry-up medicine are a half-dozen quippy-but-caring aides. Shuko Akune, the receptionist, is utterly poker-faced as she says something like, " That's another good idea." Dr. Sheridan falling into the trap asks, " What's the good idea?" Shuko: " Oh , the wheel, I guess." Bruce A. Young is an amiable cop who drops in to flirt with Shuko and Conchata Ferrell is a head nurse with a quick wit but a slow husband; the guy won't get a job. Corinne Boher is a cutie-pie nurse who thinks Sheinfeld is a hunk and Lynne Moody is another nurse who makes jokes.
This CBS show ( currently shown Wednesdays at 8:30 P.M. ( ET) tosses some pain and tragedy in amongst the funny stuff, as though to remind us, M*A*S*H- style , that we're dealing with life and death here. That mixture can be wonderful, if it is folded in with great care. E/R doesn't always bring it off. One sequence involving a battered boy was afecting. But another scene brought in a young man with a broken neck, who said a few words, then died with his parents looking on. The actors playing the parents weren't up to the scene and the episode seemed to exploit a death for a quick jolt.
Gould used to annoy me, in his days of playing college leftests and wise-guy soldiers in the movies.In this series he generates some warmth instead of a smug coolnest, while keeping his relaxed persona. He's likable and funny, and the strong element in a show that wobbled some in the early season. Marcia Strassman , who played Dr. Sheridan in the pilot episode disappeared, to be replaced by McDonnell. The latter actress doesn't seem to respond any more readily to Sheinfeld's sexual remarks, so we can only guess at the reason for the change.
When not hassled by his woman boss or by patients who want drugs, Sheinfeld is needled by his second divorced wife, Phyllis. In the pilot he fought back by keeping the dog he hated but that Phyllis loved. " The one thing that's more important to me than love and hate...is spite."
If, like me, you have a morbid turn for medical oddities, there are occasional doozies here. One guy complaining of having bitten his tongue was given a tetanus shot. Why? " He didn't bite his own tongue. The teeth marks were going the other way."
With a little more shakedown time, this show could join that shrinking roster of sitcoms that survive a season.
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