St. Elsewhere

This is a wonderfully scripted, well-acted drama which takes place in the fictional Saint Eligius hospital in Boston. The ensemble cast is perfect, with stellar performances by William Daniels, Ed Flanders, and Norman Lloyd as the long-practicing doctors who hold the hospital together. The series follows the physicians, residents, and staff through their personal and professional lives, with just enough humor and pathos to keep it all interesting. Especially notable is the two-part episode dealing with the 50th anniversary of Saint Eligius. The flashback sequences really tie to the current stories, help fill in blanks and make you understand more fully certain characters' actions and quirks. I highly recommend this series. It is currently being shown on Bravo (cable network). Look for it!

This series helped break prime time drama out of the 70's, "Marcus Welby M.D.", "Medical Center" humorless, melodramatic rut, and was the father of such shows as "Northern Exposure", "ER", and "Chicago Hope". The latter has even paid homage to it through subtle references to its characters and storylines.

Along with "Hill Street Blues" it offered week after week of an ingenious blend of truly insightful drama and clever, often bizzare humour that left me craving more. It is still one of the most missed television programs to ever leave the air.

There is much to be said about St Elsewhere and its immense importance in defining the modern Television drama. The series set the formula for how future medical dramas would be produced. Physicians were not perfect individuals, and patients died. Doctors and nurses were "real people", and they, as did the patients, cope with day to day life inside and outside the confines of St Eligious hospital.

St Elswehere would bring the viewer into a drama filled hospital, where both doctors and patients interacted. The writers while giving us a look into the lives of both the Physician and patient, mercifully avoided a soap opera like atmosphere. They were instead disciplined in the intercourse between doctor and patient, and everything in between. They explored issues that TV had previously considered taboo, and handled those subjects in a mature, responsible manner, while never disregarding the intellect of the audience, and their ability to hold attention to dialogue.

Comparatively St Elsewhere moved on a slower pace than it's modern counterpart, "ER". The writers gave you scenes and story-lines that would cause the viewer to slow down and think, and avoided fast paced vacuous imagery and verbiage. Rarely did their ER blow-up, or the hospital fall victim to a helicopter crash. While there were expeditious Emergency Room exhibits in the St Elsewhere series, they did not bounce back and forth the camera like a ping-pong in an attempt to keep us amused. Instead, they focused on dialogue, the characters, and most imortant the plot.

Its drama along with real and diverse characters, will ensure its place in history, as one of televisions best series. St. Elsewhere is a prime example of how big ratings mean very little in defining a shows value or place in Televisions hierarchy.

There were very few shows that could provide stirring, insightful, sometimes disturbing drama week after week, but "St. Elsewhere" always did. A superlative cast made it entirely believable: Ed Flanders was terrific as Dr. Westphall, as was William Daniels as Dr. Craig. I still miss the insults that Craig threw at Dr. Ehrlich (Ed Begley, Jr.)

I found the show so believable that I wondered if there was a real St. Eligius Hospital in Boston. I think everyone should see it.

After watching St. Elsewhere on Bravo, I realized that it is truly a superior show even now. It took chances that nobody else is willing to take. It is even more multi-ethnic than most dramas today. It makes ER and other medical shows look like they written by first graders. Even after all these years, St. Elsewhere has aged like fine wine. It is fresher now than ever before. Too bad, it struggled in its day. What a shame. It is truly one of the finest dramas on television today even in syndication. ER could learn a lot from watching St. Elsewhere. Too bad, ER's stars are ruining their own show. Maybe if William Daniels joined the cast, I would start watching it again. St. Elsewhere is one of the finest hours on television. Even now, it will blow you away. I miss the chemistry among it's characters and it's controversial but yet compassionate way of handling some situations. I still think Christina Pickles should be recognized with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) because it would boost the show's genius and brilliance all around the world. I dislike the fact that she will be more remembered for her role as Ross and Monica's mother on Friends than her days on St. Elsewhere as Nurse Rosenthal, a British woman with a love for Jewish men. Anyway, it was a show that just gets better in time. It's classic television and every medical show should watch and take notes.