What was the best season of ER?

Season 2 is really solid

Season 2 is the strong leader

After Kellie Martin was killed it just went bananas. People were dying left and right, getting their arms chopped off by helicopters, having Monkeypox outbreaks (which now we know doesn't require being held hostage in an ER for a month) and it seemed like just the most dangerous place in the world to work. I kinda tuned out, but was there ever a point where a character just said "too many people that work here are getting killed! I'm outta here!"?

I voted for 3, but it would be between 2 and 3, in my opinion.

For those first three seasons, it was an all-time-great show. In 4 and 5, there was a slight downturn, a higher number of humdrum episodes between the highlights, things in the writing we'd already seen in slightly different versions.

6 was overpopulated (a lot of new characters thrown against the wall to see who would stick), but it's the last season in which I considered it anything close to a must-watch. That was 1999-2000, and we were now in the TV-changing era of The Sopranos, which would be followed by other dramas that eclipsed most of what was on the networks.

The departure of Neal Baer, with Jack Orman now the principal show-runner in seasons 7-9, was the beginning of ER's terminal stage. The tone changed. Much of what people remember now as ridiculous or tedious happened in those years. A lot of the classic cast was moving on, too.

Good analysis r4

The ones with peak Goran Visnjic.

Noah Wyle was much more likeable in early seasons

WHO FUCKING CARES

The season where Noah presented hole then I woke up and it was all a dream.

I don't know. I just know hearing that glorious theme song gives me major childhood nostalgia vibes.

Followed by New York Undercover...

The one with Elliott Gould.

Who knew?

r13 Me and George Clooney knew.

I just started Season 4

I think seasons 2 through 5 are the best 6 - 9 are okay I like them but I never rewatched them like I have the earliest seasons. Where I'm pretty much checked out was when the helicopter fell at Romano and the stupid African episode with Dr what's his name and the stupid plot of Abby bouncing back and forth between doctor Euro sexy and Noah Wyle

Also I hate that Susan came back and they couldn't seem to find one single useful or interesting thing for her to do. She was one of my favorite characters and I was super bummed when she left during season 3 but then she came back and added absolutely nothing to a single story and they had to fall back on her sister going all crazy again.

Agree r17

I agree with R3 that the killing off of characters getting killed or maimed got way out of hand. It got so it was ridiculous; I mean Romano gets his arm cut off by a helicopter THEN gets crushed to death by one? What are the chances of that happening in real life?

The way George Clooney left the show was ludicrous. Doug Ross, ever the rogue, steals some hospital equiment with the help of Carol Hathaway, and is treating on the sly (his mother seems to want to keep it a secret) a dying boy who is in great pain. He ends up euthanizing the child. And what is his punishment for that crime? Nothing! Some friend of his pulls some strings and he faces no criminal charges; he just flys off to practice medicene in Seatlle. No way would that have happened in reality.

ER just kept getting crazier and crazier. It was supposed to be a drama, but quickly degenerated into a soap opera. A bad one.

R19 I found that totally plausible I mean how many times have doctors been sued for malpractice or had their licenses revoked and finding out later that their whole career has been riddled with really awful acts and they just transferred to different hospitals and different states.

[quote] I found that totally plausible

I didn't find it plausible. For one thing, the father of the child was enraged at what happened. Surely he would have brought a wrongful death suit against Doug Ross, would have wanted him arrested. He would have done everything to see the doctor who had killed his child brought to justice.

Meh. I imagine he calmed down and realized his wife would also face charges and was happy to exchange his right to see with an extremely generous settlement from the hospital.

The ones Julian Morris was in.

[quote] I imagine he calmed down and realized his wife would also face charges and was happy to exchange his right to see with an extremely generous settlement from the hospital.

Actually the husband had a lot of animosity for his wife. At any rate there was plenty of evidence of what Doug Ross (and Carol Hathaway) had done. I don't think in reality they would have gotten off scot free. I think in Carol's case the only punishment she got was having her stupid in-hospital "clinic" closed.

Any scene with the Abby character. She was such a sour-faced bitch complete with crying jags.

Why were the leading guys always falling in love with her sorry ass?

[quote] Why were the leading guys always falling in love with her sorry ass?

THere was always a female on the the show that all the males were falling in love with. In the beginning it was Carol Hathaway. Doug was madly in love with her, Tag was madly in love with her, Shep the EMT was madly in love with her, Luka falls madly in love with her. Abby was always sought after by men on the show and Luka and Carter had a rivalry for her, despite the fact she was plain, an alcoholic and has a batshit crazy mother and brother. Neela was wooed and loved by Michael Gallant, Ray Barnett, Tony Gates and a sex addicted doctor named SImon Brenner. There was always a female on the show who was irresistable to men. It was really dumb.