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The Movie: A highly popular, well-reviewed and influential ensemble drama, "E.R." still stands as one of (few) remaining quality television programs on-air as it nearly reaches its tenth year. The show was created by author Michael Crichton, who graduated from Harvard Medical School and spent time at Massachusetts General Hospital. Apparently, the concept of the show met with skepticism from NBC, but came around after Crichton worked with Spielberg (another of the show's producers) on "Jurassic Park". The show, which continues to pull strong ratings despite competition from other new dramatic fare, deals with doctors in an ER in Chicago. During each hour-long episode, the multi-layered stories deal with both the relationships - personal and professional - of the doctors, as well as the stories of the incoming patients. The show does a superior job balancing the pain, tragegy, emotion and drama with hope and the occasional hint or two of humor. The first season of the show clicked into place almost immediately, thanks to remarkably good casting choices (the show won the Emmy in the first year for casting.) From then on, the show's cast only strengthened, and new additions/guest stars brought the show even further along. Anthony Edwards is confident and assured as Dr. Greene, Eric Lasalle is excellent and a strong presence as Dr. Benton, George Clooney is quite good as Dr. Ross; he's better here than he was in a couple of his early film roles. Excellent support is provided by Julianna Margulies and Noah Wyle. By the fifth season of the series, the characters had had time to develop and grow and the relationships between characters became stronger and more well-defined. The cast had great chemistry from the first episode, but by this point, the ensemble had clicked into place even more tightly. Even with the departure of George Clooney after this season (his Dr. Ross makes a risky choice to help a young patient in "Double Blind" and it ends up resulting in his resignation in the two-parter, "The Storm"), the series still pushed forward on the strength of its writing and ensemble (which added a few new faces in the sixth season, with Maura Tierney, Goran Visnjic and Ming-Na joining the cast.) Shortly after Ross leaves, Hathaway (Julianna Margulies) finds out that she's pregnant with Ross' baby. Other highlights of this season include: "Day For Knight" (the introduction of new med student Lucy Knight, played by Kellie Martin), "Split Second" (Greene becomes the EMS director and Benton learns that his son has hearing loss), "Stuck on You" (Carter moves into Weaver's basement apartment and two workers come in literally glued together), "Miracle Worker" (Carter tries to attempt a medical miracle on Christmas Eve), "Nobody Doesn't Like Amanda Lee" (Greene tracks down the truth about new ER chief Amanda Lee, which could damage her career), "Sticks and Stones" (Carter tries to escape from a riot scene in an ambulance), "Point of Origin" (Hathaway faces pregnancy on her own) and "Power" (both main power and back-up power go out in the hospital, but the doctors still push on.) Season 5 92. 5- 1 24 Sep 98 Day for Knight 93. 5- 2 1 Oct 98 Split Second 94. 5- 3 8 Oct 98 They Treat Horses, Don't They? 95. 5- 4 15 Oct 98 Vanishing Act 96. 5- 5 29 Oct 98 Masquerade 97. 5- 6 5 Nov 98 Stuck on You 98. 5- 7 12 Nov 98 Hazed and Confused 99. 5- 8 19 Nov 98 The Good Fight 100. 5- 9 10 Dec 98 Good Luck, Ruth Johnson 101. 5-10 17 Dec 98 The Miracle Worker 102. 5-11 7 Jan 99 Nobody Doesn't Like Amanda Lee 103. 5-12 21 Jan 99 Double Blind 104. 5-13 4 Feb 99 Choosing Joi 105. 5-14 11 Feb 99 The Storm (Part One) 106. 5-15 18 Feb 99 The Storm (Part Two) 107. 5-16 25 Feb 99 Middle of Nowhere 108. 5-17 25 Mar 99 Sticks and Stones 109. 5-18 8 Apr 99 Point of Origin 110. 5-19 29 Apr 99 Rites of Spring 111. 5-20 6 May 99 Power 112. 5-21 13 May 99 Responsible Parties 113. 5-22 20 May 99 Getting to Know You The DVD VIDEO: One of the first shows that was shot/broadcast in widescreen, "ER" is presented here in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation is, once again, largely excellent. Sharpness and detail are terrific, and the picture appears pretty consistently crisp and clear, with only a couple of minor instances of softness. A little bit of shimmering was spotted, but otherwise, the picture appeared crisp and clear, with no specks, marks or other faults. No pixelation was seen, either. Colors looked accurately presented, with no smearing or other flaws. Black level appeared solid, while flesh tones looked accurate. SOUND: The 2.0 soundtracks provide fine audio quality, with no hiss, distortion or other faults. Dialogue remained crisp and clear throughout, as did music and sound effects. EXTRAS: Deleted scenes from some of the episodes are available and a gag reel is also included. Final Thoughts: "ER"'s fifth season gets a terrific presentation with this set, which offers excellent image quality, fine audio and a nice helping of supplements. Definitely recommended for fans of the series. |