Amazon.co.uk Review
Set in a Chicago County General Hospital, the multi-Emmy winning ER is very much in the tradition established by the earlier Hill Street Blues. Like that series, ER also features a range of strong characters whose personal lives often reflect the turmoil of their working environment. It also similarly features a deft, fast-moving mix of comedy, intrigue and tragedy. It could also be seen as a precursor to The West Wing, in that we regard with some awe the ability of these characters to keep on top of the mounting chaos in their day-to-day lives and the myriad problems thrown at them. In ER, this chaos may mean crack addicts, violent patients tumbling through plate glass screens, vindictive colleagues or a chief of staff who insists that fellow surgeons operate on his sick dog.
The first series is best known for introducing George Clooney to the world as the likable but maverick Dr Ross; the show has often featured star guests such as Sally Field and Ewan McGregor, among others, while several seasons have seen the coming and going of various personnel. However, if one character embodies the strength of ER it's Dr Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards), whose dedication to his job has seen him turn down lucrative and cosier offers in the private sector, and who is an exemplar of decency, selflessness and emotional stability. The episodes dealing with his father's death were among the most moving in the series, touching as they did on a theme never far from ER's surface, that of reconciliation with mortality. --David Stubbs
Customer Reviews:
ER 1: Gripping, fast-paced, realistic - the series establishes its style.......2007-02-25
_ER Season 1 Cast_: Anthony Edwards (Dr. Mark Greene); George Clooney (Dr. Doug Ross); Sherry Stringfield (Dr. Susan Lewis); Noah Wyle (Medical Student John Carter); Julianna Margulies (Nurse Carol Hathaway); Eriq La Salle (Dr. Peter Benton)
The first season of NBC's long-running medical drama 'ER' (Sep.19, 1994 - May 18, 1995) remains one of its best, and bears all the qualities that came to be regarded as virtues of the show - fast pace, medical realism, gripping storylines, and the mastering of a balance between emotion, drama, and humour. The emphasis in the first season is on the medical side of things, and we learn more about each character primarily through their working days in a busy Chicago hospital - underpaid and overworked.
Included here is the original pilot, "24 Hours," set in March 1994; this 1hr20min episode has a noticeably slower pace than the other episodes, which run for between 42-45mins, and has a different feel - but it took a few episodes for the 'ER' style to establish itself. The season's early episodes feature some of its most memorable stories and patients, but there isn't the seamless, tight feel that materialised a couple of months into its hugely (and unexpectedly) successful run.
From a storyline viewpoint, each character has a great deal to contend with. Greene (Anthony Edwards) is the Chief Resident, having to deal with the pressures of maintaining a family life alongside hectic work commitments; the difficult long-distance relationship between him and wife Jennifer (Christine Harnos) and daughter Rachel (Yvonne Zima) is perhaps his main over-arching storyline, although the devastating episode "Love's Labor Lost" (1.19), in which he misdiagnoses a heavily pregnant woman with disastrous consequences, turns Greene's life around.
Pediatrician Ross (George Clooney) is passionate about his patients (resulting in several fracas in the ER) but also passionate about his love life, enjoying a number of flings, most notably with Risk Management colleague Diane Leeds (Lisa Zane) in a latter-season storyline where Ross reveals his father-figure side. Ross' ex-lover Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) slowly returns to normality after a suicide attempt in the pilot, and during the series she is engaged to another doctor, Taglieri (Rick Rossovich); another key Hathaway storyline is her ultimately unsuccessful bid to foster a Russian orphan with AIDS.
Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) has an excellent deadpan humour that becomes an asset during this season, but she also has her share of personal problems, when key players Kayson (Sam Anderson), Morgenstern (William H. Macy), and her friend and colleague Greene all question her abilities as an ER doctor, resulting in a mid-season fallout between Lewis and Greene (whose glimmer of possibility of romantic attraction is played out brilliantly). Her other main storylines include the time when her unreliable older sister Chloe (Kathleen Wilhoite) arrives, ending up pregnant and draining Lewis' energy, as well as her clinically depressed doctor boyfriend Div Cvetic (John Terry) and his dark descent.
Carter (Noah Wyle) is initially a clumsy, bumbling med student but gradually evolves into a capable and passionate young doctor. During this season, he can't decide between a sub-internship in the ER or in Surgery with his mentor Benton (Eriq La Salle), whose mean and moody demeanour causes some amusing and infuriating friction with Carter. Benton is the season's most serious and brooding character, an excellent surgeon but difficult in emotional situations. His biggest over-arching storyline is witnessing the decline of his mother Mae (Beah Richards), ultimately resulting in an emotional move into a nursing home.
'ER' is also populated by numerous important supporting characters, from nurses like Haleh (Yvette Freeman) and Lydia (Ellen Crawford) to desk clerk Jerry (Abraham Benrubi), and the various family members of main cast members. There are also a wealth of intriguing and memorable patients and recurring roles during the season, enhancing its extraordinarily tight ensemble quality. The characters and stories make up the drama, and each episode is packed with multiple stories, some of which are expanded and some not, creating an incredibly fast pace - but it always works, especially when the viewer is safe in the knowledge of the show's exacting realism (helped by the on-set presence of real doctors and nurses); the need to explain the medical jargon is never there.
Written and shot in a remarkably short space of time, each episode is meticulously crafted by a series of key players; the likes of John Wells, Mimi Leder, Lydia Woodward, Chris Chulack, Wendy Spence, and creator Michael Crichton all have a hand in making this superb series, from its top-rate scripts to the unique editing techniques that have kept the series fresh more than a decade on. The DVD extras include insightful commentaries and short but interesting documentaries about the show's inception and first run. The first season of 'ER' is one of its most notable, and proves the series' place as one of television's finest dramas.
_Key Episodes_: "Blizzard" (1.10); "Luck of the Draw" (1.13); "Sleepless in Chicago" (1.18); "Love's Labor Lost" (1.19); "Motherhood" (1.24).
_Memorable Patients_: Transvestite Henry (Vondie Curtis-Hall, 1.9); Madame X/Mary Cavanaugh (Rosemary Clooney, 1.3, 1.11); Mr. Klein (Sanford Meisner, 1.18); Liz (Liz Vassey, 1.1-3, 1.5); Jodi O'Brian (Colleen Flynn, 1.19)
_Notable Arrivals_: Dr. William Swift (Michael Ironside, 1.20), Dr. Angela Hicks (CCH Pounder, 1.10), Chloe Lewis (Kathleen Wilhoite, 1.6), Jeanie Boulet (Gloria Reuben, 1.14), Med Student Deb Chen (for several mid-season episodes only)
Loved every minute.......2007-02-04
As an avid ER fan from day 1 I wasn't dissapointed when I watched this dvd series. You can tell that this was in the days before ER really sharpened things up but that makes it even better to watch.
My only problem was that when i put disk 2 in it was same as disk 1 so I had to return it but they did get it back to me quickly and hasn't put me off buying any of the other series, a must for all ER fans or those that have only been watching later series.
The best hospital drama ever.......2005-11-12
I'm 15 years old. I started watching ER a couple of months ago on the advice of my parents, who saw it when it was first out (when I was only five). They highly recommended it to me. I was keen to see it, but I wasn't sure about it because I generally don't like hopsital dramas. Too much technical language, I thought. Wrong! ER is amazing. I love American TV shows - ER of course and I can't get enough of 'Friends'! And ER is possibly better (and that's saying something!)
I was glued to the TV watching ER for two weeks practically ever night. If I missed an episode I would be moody for the rest of the evening (this may not sound appealing but when you do get to see it... ahhhhhhh!!)
Then I got my younger sister, 10, hooked as well. This is a girl with a fairly short attention span. She LOVED it and still does. Then I decided to stop watching it on More4 and having to tape it, and buy the DVDs. It was a good choice - now I can here that great theme tune and get the ER 'feeling' whenever I want! ER's great. Don't be put off by memories of Casualty of some other boring hospital sitcom. ER is like nothing you'll have ever seen before. I highly recommend it (for George Clooney if for nothing else! I would seriously watch it just for him! Though luckily it doesn't need his face to sell the show).
Go for it, try something new, and I promise you won't regret it.
thrilling to watch, a must to buy!.......2005-05-09
It's hard to think of a television drama series as long running, well acclaimed and absolutely essential to have in your dvd collection as ER.
This fantastic 4 disc box set takes you right back to the very beginning, how it all started. Whether you have been watching all 10 series or you are a new viewer this is great viewing.
Set in Chicago's County General hospital, the fast paced action of the busy emergency room shows the trials and tribulations of doctors, nurses and other staff. The realism is amazing and is testimony to the series creator, Michael Crichton's own medical background.
For me buying ER dvds is now a compulsion. Whether you have no interest in medicine or you want to see how it is practised across the pond, after watching all 24 episodes (including the pilot) it will be a compulsion for you too. And if that isn't enough, the special features discs will keep you happy with behind the scenes specials and lots of extra goodies!
ER - ought to stand for 'Energy Room'!.......2004-09-17
I bought this box set because, like many, I got into ER at the start of season 4 and totally missed the first 3 seasons. I am glad I did, this is brilliant.
It only takes about 2 episodes for this first season to get up to speed, and I mean speed. Most people have seen at least one episode of ER and most marvel at the pace of the program. It is constant. I guess we have started to get used to it now after 10 seasons but going back to the start really brings home the pioneering aspects of this first season.
Pioneering why? ER is one of the first TV programmes to not bother to explain everything in minute detail. Who cares if the audience do no know what a 'thoracotomy' or 'blood gas' actually are. They are doctors, they all know it so why waste plot time explaining stuff! Also, the large use of tracking shots (where the camera follows the actors between many scenes without a cut or break) really makes you think that you are in the hospital with them. It turns out after watching the special features that this was to save money, but it is fab!
Each episode is very good blend of serious drama and humour. Who can forget the brilliant comedy characters such as the University 'Behaviour Analyst' who is studying the length of time it takes to annoy someone. There is some brilliant, blink and you will miss them, comedy skits too: the man with the arrow who was waiting for 20 minutes, the sun burn victim, the kid with his head stuck in a stuffed tiger. I could go on! A special mention must go to Noah Wyle who is an excellent comedy actor that seems to have been under used in later seasons as he has become more 'senior'.
Drama wise, there are plenty of on-going threads through the episodes, Greene's relationship with his wife, Lewis's relationship with her sister, Benton's general rubbishness at being nice to people. And of course, Dr Ross's love life. Each episode is well written, never boring and a good balance of drama, action and comedy. A standout episode is the Emmy winning 'Love's Labor Lost'. I am not just saying that because it's the one that won the awards. It is genuinely, in my opinion, the best episode of the season.
The extras are ok. A couple of episode voiceovers and around 5 short featurettes about the making of and behind the scenes. The episode voiceovers were very informative and the featurettes the usual 'I just loved working with so-and-so, he/she was just soooo great' gush-fest. Not bad, but you really ought to be buying this DVD for the programmes!
After a slow, moody and poor (by comparison) season 10 I think the current writers should "go back to the roots" and investigate what made the programme great in the first place. Come on ER writers buy this box set and remember what it was like!
This is must watch TV.
Program: 5 stars
DVD Extras: 3 stars
Customer Reviews:
Among the very best drama series ever.......2003-10-20
Having bought the US region 1 version already, I can safely say that any ER fans should buy this box set. The episodes are all great and its especially good to see the pilot episode which introduces us to characters and shows the foundations of many relationships that grow over the years.
I just hope that the following seasons are given such good treatment and are with us sooner rather than later.
UK DVD:
- ER: Complete Season 3
- Flood [2007]
- Fortunes Of War (Three Discs) (DVD) [1987]
- Foyle's War - Series 4 - Complete
- Ghost (2 Disc Special Edition) [1990]
- Good Will Hunting [1998]
- Gosford Park [2002]
- Hallam Foe [2007]
- Hard Candy [2006]
- Hearts And Bones - The Complete Series 1-2
UK DVD List
UK DVD
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