Monday, September 8, 2008

St. Eligius

It may sound a little odd, but for a while now, I've occasionally watched reruns of "St. Elsewhere", the 80s hospital drama set in Boston, online when there is nothing else to watch on TV, which is pretty common, or when I don't feel like reading at night. I got into this show when I was home on winter break during college, and I rediscovered it online earlier this year. Bravo at one time ran the reruns, but doesn't currently.

St. Elsewhere - even in its drab 80s technicolor - blows the doors off most TV dramas nowadays. It was very intelligently written, it casted its actors incredibly well, and apparently it was among the first programs to offer multiple story lines at a brisk pace. It gave Howie Mandel and Denzel Washington their start on prime time television, and other actors won Emmys for their work on the show, including Ed Flanders, who played the chief of staff. Of course, it never was ranked highly in Neilsen ratings like a lot of smart, well-written shows, because it wasn't stupid and catered to an educated demographic, but NBC still kept it on the air for six years, anyway.

The final episode goes down in TV fame as one of the best series finales ever.

Seriously, if you watch one show, I bet you'll get hooked.

www.fancast.com/tv/St.-Elsewhere/91984/watch-videos