A Very Special Episode

ER, the TV show, was just hitting its stride when I got to college. And, thanks to George Clooney and the Noah Wyle, it was a female campus favorite.

Every time ER was on, there would be a mad dash in my dorm. The elevators would be packed out with excited girls as we all rode down to Houghton 2, the only floor with a TV. It was commonly referred to the ER Rush.

We’d all be in our pajama pants, Diet Cokes in hand, bowls of popcorn in giant tubs, and wait for the opening credits when we could swoon over “our boys.” There was always quite a crowd, so sometimes, my roommate and I would try to sneak down a little early so we could get a seat on one of the couches, as opposed to the floor option offered to late comers.

Many, many boys wondered why no girl wanted to go out on those nights. We knew. We were already “booked” with the Men of ER.

ER started when I was in high school and has now morphed into a completely different show. Or at least, I think it has. I stopped following ER closely after I graduated from college, and it amazes me that it is still on at all.

What I don’t understand is the new ER marketing campaign. I mean, I know it’s been on the air f-o-r-e-v-e-r and all, and they’ve probably run out of storylines AND ways to make it sound new and exciting, but now every time I see a promo it’s “Tonight on a very special episode of ER….”

Now, how can EVERY episode be a special episode? Doesn’t it prevent it from being “special” if every one is? I just wonder. And they also seems to be raising the stakes – like a soap opera – I have a sneaking suspicion that eventually someone will have an evil twin brother that appears and tries to sleep with someone’s wife. Call me psychic.

I think it just needs to just go off the air. Then maybe, we can convince George Clooney and Noah Wyle to star in a new show.

Now, that one, I’d watch.