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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. The sixth season of "E.R." saw the show go through a series of cast changes - while some cast members continued their roles, some newer cast members were brought forward and additional cast members joined the show in major roles. The biggest change would be the departure of George Clooney, who was essentially replaced by Goran Visnjic, who plays Luka Kovac, a new physician who first appears in the season opener. Visnjic still remains on the series as does the underrated Maura Tierny, whose Dr. Abby Lockhart first appears in this season, as well. While a transition year in terms of the cast, "E.R." still remains strong this time around, as there are several highlight episodes throughout the season, including: "Great Expectation" (Hathaway delivers twins on Thanksgiving), "Humpty Dumpty" (Lawrence departs and Kovac becomes full-time), "Abby Road" (Abby Lockhart, a part-time nurse who cared for Hathaway, comes to the ER for her med-student rotation), "Be Still My Heart" (Carter and Knight are attacked by a schizophrenic patient), "All in the Family" (The ER crew works to save Carter and Knight, then the assailant is brought in after being in a car accident), "Be Patient" (Greene finds out his father is terminally ill), "The Fastest Year" (Greene takes his father out on a final boat ride on Lake Michigan), "Such Sweet Sorrow" (Hathaway realizes that she needs to see Dr. Ross and heads to Seattle) and "May Day" (Kovac and Benton race to the scene of a school shooting and Carter's drug use is found out.) 114. 6- 1 30 Sep 99 Leave It to Weaver 115. 6- 2 7 Oct 99 Last Rites 116. 6- 3 14 Oct 99 Greene with Envy 117. 6- 4 21 Oct 99 Sins of the Fathers 118. 6- 5 4 Nov 99 Truth & Consequences 119. 6- 6 11 Nov 99 The Peace of Wild Things 120. 6- 7 18 Nov 99 Humpty Dumpty 121. 6- 8 25 Nov 99 Great Expectations 122. 6- 9 16 Dec 99 How the Finch Stole Christmas 123. 6-10 6 Jan 00 Family Matters 124. 6-11 13 Jan 00 The Domino Heart 125. 6-12 3 Feb 00 Abby Road 126. 6-13 10 Feb 00 Be Still My Heart 127. 6-14 17 Feb 00 All in the Family 128. 6-15 24 Feb 00 Be Patient 129. 6-16 23 Mar 00 Under Control 130. 6-17 6 Apr 00 Viable Options 131. 6-18 13 Apr 00 Match Made in Heaven 132. 6-19 27 Apr 00 The Fastest Year 133. 6-20 4 May 00 Loose Ends 134. 6-21 11 May 00 Such Sweet Sorrow 135. 6-22 18 May 00 May Day 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: Outtakes and deleted scenes for many episodes. Final Thoughts: "ER"'s sixth 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. |