Does ER still got your attention or is it going down hill? What does everyone think? I personally think it may be going down, a little.

I LOVE IT NOW MORE THAN EVER! :) i love carter!i dont think its going downhill at all!
but if carter, abby, and susan all then it will. (they;re the best)

I've enjoyed this past season a lot better than I liked the last two, but IMHO, I think the show was best the first four seasons.

Originally posted by Snoopy
I've enjoyed this past season a lot better than I liked the last two, but IMHO, I think the show was best the first four seasons.

I have to agree with that. Big time.

I think this season of ER is better than the last couple of season.

Definitely downhill. I can see why anyone would say season 9 is an improvement from season 7 and 8. Something about season 7 was just off. I can't really pinpoint it now and I don't think I'll check out an episode guide for season 7 and pick it apart. Then there is season 8, which I remember vividly because my local NBCs are playing reruns on the weekends. I won't even get into that season and complain what's wrong though. But the sheer fact that it had an episode that was a "Breakfast Club" ripoff is enough to claim it as the worst season of ER. YET, I probably favor 8 over 9, calling this series a consistant trip downhill.

Seasons before, the show was about a county hospital in Chicago, focusing on patients and blending in the personal lives of the medical staff. Now it's ALL personal life crap with a few patients here and there. And the only patients I have seen in season 9 are just there to tie into the plot of that episode. Even the last two seasons did better than that. But it's been coming for a while now. The characters are becoming so developed that the treating of patients can't matter anymore.

So yes, it's gone downhill, but it does still hold my attention. It will be here next season, but it might be best to end it now, and not drag this one into the ground. It's already getting there, and I doubt the show can improve. If it goes on for a season 11 without Wyle, well that will just be criminal.

I have to disagree with you, Cashodeen. Many patients have had major parts in episodes-Susan's dat is one veyr touching example, and Doctor Mack is another.

The programme has improved greatly since 6/7 and the first half of 8.

The only patients I have seen [in season 9] tie into some dramatic plot. There is no more of treating patients boom, boom, boom like it used to be. You named that boy Susan kissed... we hardly saw actual treatment of him, we just saw him as part of this ongoing drama. That's not necessarily bad, but that's all we see anymore. Look at the episodes on TNT now, if you can. There is such a difference. I think now they are on the episodes where Ross is about to leave, and that patient of his that ends up leading to his departure is an ongoing story, much like that boy and Susan. But at least in those episodes on TNT now, there is still the same old, same old going on--regular amount of patients. It has annoyed me that the only patients in season 9 are part of some dramatic story. And I should mention, that ongoing case with Ross is actually interesting and realistic. I didn't buy Susan and that boy on that ferris-wheel for a minute. It was goofy to me, not touching. Although I did like the end when she dropped those cranes. Reminded me of that book I read when I was younger.

Anyways, another example is those people that got shot at Doc Magoos. Those were the only patients we see being treated in the whole episode. And there wasn't much treatment going on. It was all another melodramatic storyline. And then the rest of the episode was filled with personal junk of the staff.

I wish I could speak about Doc Mack, but I don't know about that one. I haven't seen all the episodes from season 9, so maybe I have missed out on any hints of the same old ER. But I doubt it. Odds are, I have the gist of season 9. Too much drama, not enough trama.

To be fair, Mack was also tied into the plot, but to great effect. And I loved the thousand cranes denouement. THAT was touching. The ferris wheel was kinda creepy, but the relationship before was sweet.

The main difference is now, yes, they do use patients to increase the drama; but sometimes, they are self-contained dramas. I think that shpould be acceptable, shouldn't it?

Originally posted by Owen
The main difference is now, yes, they do use patients to increase the drama; but sometimes, they are self-contained dramas. I think that shpould be acceptable, shouldn't it?


Yeah, I agree with you there. It's acceptable to me. And they are pulling it off. Since I doubt the show will ever be the same (its been on 9 years, I shouldn't expect too much), I can at at least say it's still holding up. I do think it has "jumped the shark" but since I am still watching regularly, it must still be doing something right.

Lets say this its going DOWN hill.

And where as some other Medical Dramas like M*A*S*H, Trapper John,MD and Medical Center got better ER isnt :-(

I was watching ER last night and to me it seemed kind of dry. What kept me watching was the scenes with Pratt and the situation about his brother, but other than that I probably wouldn't have watched it. I have been a true ER watcher but I don't know some of the episodes are like blah!

I think ER has seen better days. Its turned into the Carter and Abby show. I wish they would either get together or break them up. I still watch the show but its not as good as it used to be. I didn't like the season finale at all.

Originally posted by mr roper
I think ER has seen better days. Its turned into the Carter and Abby show. I wish they would either get together or break them up. I still watch the show but its not as good as it used to be. I didn't like the season finale at all.


I totally agree! The season finale was not at its best! I didn't even watch the whole thing.:o Didn't Carter and Abby break up? I don't even remember eventhough most of the drama evolved around them. What made me annoyed with Abby was her constand control over her mother and brother!!