Watching ER

Did you know that ER has been on NBC for 17 years this September? I did but I didn’t think about it until now and it makes me officially old. I felt old before but this is feels worse.

Hi all, I am Nikki, your blogger for Watching ER.

I anticipated the pilot episode for ER (I know you all remember the token scene of Noah Wyle sitting in the alley with his head resting on his stethoscope. A girl could really go for a guy like that, and oh how so many of us did). I was left thirsting for more. It was my first taste of a medical drama and it had hooked me like an addict needs a fix.

It was back in the day when I had finished my first semester of college and was living in SC, the only woman in a house full of Navy men (yes ladies it can happen to you!) When ER first debuted and we were introduced to the doctors and nurses that would become a regular fixture of “Must See TV” on Thursday nights and one of NBC’s go-to shows for ratings and awards.

To say that I was single-handedly responsible for turning a bunch of sailors into ER fans might be a little presumptuous and pompous of me, but I will take credit for being able to commandeer the television for an hour in order to view NBC’s brand new show. I won’t add how the rest of the house, filed into the living room with me and jumped up on commercials to make munchies. I won’t rat out the manly men who dished with me during the show about newcomer Noah Wyle, Top Gun’s talented Anthony Edwards, and sexy Julianna Margulies and all of the other fabulous cast members who paved the way for what ER is today.

Not much has changed in 17 years. I still need the fix. The characters have become my family and I can’t go through a tragic episode with a dry eye. When Mark died, I sat and sobbed through the entire thing and then again during reruns. I prayed for Abby when the baby came early and she was in a pool of blood on the floor. I was angry with Carrie when she fought for custody of her son after the death of her life partner, and I waited with Abby at the bottom of the apartment building while Luka bargained for his life against a deranged stalker. It’s television moments like those, the actors, and writers that make me shake uncontrollably when summer comes or I am faced with a long hiatus.

Let’s see what NBC has in store for us this fall. Stay tuned to Watching ER as faithfully as you have watched ER for 17 years. I hope you will enjoy reading and particpating in the discussions as much as I will blogging for you.

For now, I leave you with this:

ER, Pilot, Welcome, NBC