Saturday, October 26, 2019

Website update, October 26, 2019

I don't know if there are any people left who check back in on this website who aren't just here to leave fake SEO blog comments (or robots, as the analytics indicates), but if anyone is wondering...

I've re-started doing episode recaps. I did the first two episode recaps back in 2012, the year I created this website. Now, I'm giving the series a good, thorough re-watch, and my intention is to finally document all the good stuff that St. Elsewhere's writers/producers did to make this series something special in the first place. You should be able to access these posts from the links in the Episode Guide page.

It's going to take a while. If I'm on my game, I can do one recap per day. There are 137 episodes. This should keep me busy for a while, but I'd like to get all of this down as a matter of personal aspiration. This is what I intended, back in 2012, and I'd like to finish what I started. I'll also be looking to complete capturing photos for the cast page.

In addition to recounting what happens in each episode, I'll be including screen shots, trivia and commentary, cast lists, and video clips. In particular, I'd like to tease out the inside jokes, cultural references (particularly the references to other TV shows), character development, and the recurring elements that rewarded sharp-eyed viewers.

As far as recurring elements go, I'm looking at (so far):
  • "You're a pig, Ehrlich" -- Someone out there did a YouTube video of this, but they just included the punchlines. I want to do clips of the full scenes, so you can appreciate this side of Victor Ehrlich's personality.
  • Ehrlich & Caldwell -- There was a running gag of Victor saying insensitive things that offended Bobby Caldwell in particular.
  • B.J. Hunnicutt -- Several times, Mark Craig makes comments about his Korean War buddy, B.J. Hunnicutt, presumably the same character from M*A*S*H.
  • The Gerbode Mitral Valvulatone -- Craig's first surgical instrument, which he claims was a gift from his mentor, Dr. David Domedion.
  • Dr. David Domedion -- I'll be compiling all the mentions of Craig's mentor, including the episodes where we actually see him. They did a bit of retconning with the character, and then they referenced the retconning.
  • The Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award -- There's a running joke where this award statue is mentioned and also multiple instances where it is broken and replaced.
  • "I have the valve. You got the murmur?" Jack tells this story in "Legionnaires (Part 1)," and it gets repeated at least three more times during the series.
  • Dr. Oliver Lunden -- This character, a surgeon at the hospital, is mostly unseen, but frequently referenced.
If anything else comes up, I'll be sure to mention it.

Update, November 2020... This particular influx of energy waned halfway through season one. I can't make any promises about when I'll do another one; I have a very full plate right now.

7 comments:

  1. I was 8 years old when this show came out so naturally I had no interest in it and couldn't stay up until 10 o'clock to watch anyway. Fast forward to present time and I have discovered it on Hulu. I just finished the first season and I absolutely love this show. I just wanted you to know that in researching the show as I got into it I found your site and refer back to it almost daily. You have everything I need to find out more about the show as I go along. I also love how well organized it is so that I don't stumble upon any spoilers by accident. Anyway when I saw this post start out questioning if anyone even comes onto the site anymore I felt the need to let you know that I currently do and I appreciate all the work you put into it, including the new episode recaps with all the background details. Keep up the good work, it's definitely still appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, thank you! This has been a labor of love for me (my advertising was axed a few years back), so it's great to know that other people appreciate it. If you liked season 1, you'll love season 2 and beyond. They ditched the original show-runners towards the end of the first seasons, and, IMHO, it's a better show from season 2 onward. You're in for a treat. Better lighting, tighter storytelling, more humor, crazy stuff happening, great guest stars, tons of references to pop culture and other TV shows. It's comments like yours that inspire me to keep working!

      Delete
  2. I was born the year this show premiered, so obviously I have no recollection of it, even though my mother watched it. Fast forward 25 years, my first grown up job, most of my co workers were at least twice my age. They loved to play the “you’re such a youngster, I bet you don’t even remember (insert old song, news headline, movie, television show here)” game. St Elsewhere was a show that came up often and they all would lament over how I’d never get to watch this wonderful show. This was in the early years of Netflix, when DVDs came by way of snail mail, and they were all amazed that I was able to find season 1 and it was the basis of many conversations. I was disappointed that nothing beyond season 1 was available for my viewing pleasure, but I moved on. Fast forward some more years, I still work at the same place, but I’m no longer the youngster. To my great surprise, I find the complete series is available on Hulu! I’m so happy to have found your blog, as none of my 25 year old co workers have even heard of St. Elsewhere and therefore do not want to have conversations with me about it. I’m excited to finally get to see it all the way through!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This site is awesome. I'm a huge fan of the show. I watched it in my preteen and early teen years when it first aired. I'm on myb5th or 6th time through right now. Mrs. Hufnagel just got squished in her bed and I was looking up a reference during the mortality conference. You have a great explanation on it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm thrilled to stumble on your site!! I watched and loved a couple of early(?) seasons of the show when I had cable briefly around age 21. I was so excited to get hulu recently and dove right into the show, I'm mid-season 4. In short, yes, we're out here! I can't wait to check out your posts more.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Daniel, hope you're well. I'm curious about your reference to Craig's nemesis as "Oliver Lunden" - I had always heard the name as "London" (like the writer Jack London), and this is how it's spelled in most other online sources. IMDb uses the "Lunden" spelling for episode #1.21 (where Walter Brooke is credited as playing the character) but this credit doesn't appear on screen so IMDb may be wrong. Have you seen a copy of a script or other original production material that gives the definitive spelling?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I don't know any official spelling, and I was just going by IMDb at the time, and they're often wrong. I'll probably change it to "London"--I assumed it was spelled that way because of how William Daniels pronounced it.

      Delete

Due to the volume of fake/spam blog comments this site receives, I will be moderating comments. If your comment is a real comment about the show or the website, I will approve it within a day or so. I used to work in SEO, so I know what fake SEO comments look like. If that's what you're doing, go somewhere else.

Search this site