St. Elsewhere

keen- I'm so glad you are watching St. Elsewhere. It was a brilliant series with phenomenal actors. All the actors you mentioned were so good. The man playing Dr. Ansbacher was wonderful. Chad Allen played his son. Even Howie Mandel was great. It's been a long time since I saw this series so I can't remember all the details. Mark Harmon always played such likable guys- but not in this show. Have fun watching the rest! mom

I loved that show! I used to watch it with my mom. :)

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The first couple of seasons are great. But there is a point, and it comes quickly, where it hits rock bottom. I never researched why, but it's like all the creative talent of Season 1 packed up and left and turned the show over to people who had no talent or imagination or brain waves.

There is an episode (it might be a two parter) where Howie Mandel is hallucinating or dreaming. It is one of the worst episodes ever filmed.

The last five minutes of the series finale are pure tv gold. I rate it one of the top 5 series finales.

Am I mistaken or was the show originally supposed to take place in a mental hospital? I thought when it was first announced that's what it was going to be (hence the name St. Elsewhere referring to the mental state of the patients) and somewhere along the way they switched it to a regular hospital. I might be mistaken on that but I had thought I had heard something about that at one point.

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Updated On: 10/28/07 at 12:06 AM

William Daniels and Ed Flanders are absolute perfection on this show.

Almost the entire cast of Hill Street Blues rate that high as well.

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I did my level best not to miss this show when it aired, it had everything.

A fabulous Dave Grusin theme tune to boot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgKHqFKDILw

Ed Flanders is such a rock on this show. You feel all the other characters kind of revolving around him. Mark Harmon hasn't shown up yet (I am only on Episode 6 - real life keeps interrupting). And the liver doctor who is dying of liver cancer - which actor is he?

Ever since I saw Williams Daniels as John Adams in both 1776 and The Adams Chronicles, I always go - What is John Adams doing in a hospital?! I love the scene when he is accepting an award, and clearly very few people have shown up to the award lunch. I worked with a cardiologist in the 1970's who was just like that - SOB but still the one I would have chosen to do the job if I needed cardiac surgery.

Updated On: 10/28/07 at 11:27 AM

I think "St. Elsewhere" refers to a hospital saying- when they are forced to treat an indigent patient with no health insurance, they fix him up as minimally as possible then suggest a transfer to "St. Elsewhere- i.e. Another hospital, home, the street, ANYHERE but here.

I had a friend who worked for the city with the homeless mentally ill. One of the suggested treatments was what the old timers called "Greyhound Therapy": Put them on a bus (one way) to another town.

This show was one of my very ALL TIME favorites.

Luscious you ruined it for me! I never saw the last episode and now you've ruined the ending! You should say SPOILER ALERT!!!

I have to agree with Gothampc on this. For me, the show went downhill pretty quickly after the first couple of years.

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