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While my parents were visiting recently, I introduced them to ER. During a break in the weekend’s activities, I popped in a DVD, and we sat down to watch an episode while sipping hot chocolate. When the episode came to an end, leaving a patient precariously close to death, my mom was clearly frustrated. “Well, now what?” she asked, with a bit of a huff.
“The nice thing about having the season on DVD,” I explained to her as I reached for the remote, “is never having to wait for next week.” And we all settled back in for another episode.
For those of us who lack the patience to wait until next week to see what happens, there’s just nothing like TV on DVD. And for those of us who look back fondly on the good old days of Michael Crichton’s award-winning medical drama, ER—the days of Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) and Dr. Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle) and Nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies)—there’s no better way of reliving them than with the complete sixth (1999-2000) season on DVD.
In ER’s season six, Carol’s pregnancy ends in the Thanksgiving Day birth of twin daughters, Tess and Kate—and Carol faces the challenges of life as a single mom. Dr. Benton battles to keep his ex from leaving the country with their son. Dr. Greene deals with the death of his mother—and he’s forced to face the problems he’s had with his father (John Cullum) when failing health brings the older Greene to Chicago. And a Valentine’s Day party ends in tragedy—one that forever changes Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle). Season six also sees the introduction of Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney), the return of Jing-Mei Chen (Ming-Na), and Alan Alda’s touching guest appearance as Dr. Gabe Lawrence. Dr. Kovac (Goran Visnjic) is hired full-time. Dr. Romano (Paul McCrane) wreaks havoc. And Dr. Dave Malucci (Erik Palladino) tries to charm the ladies.
Though it’s been years since I last arranged my Thursday night schedule around ER (probably not since George Clooney was still on the cast), it took no time at all to pick up where I left off. Season six is filled with heart-stopping action and heart-breaking drama, and I’ll freely admit to shedding a few tears along the way—especially in the last few episodes. Granted, County General is unlike any emergency room that I’ve ever seen. In fact, it made me a little nervous about ever going to an E.R. again—for fear that I’ll walk in with a sprained ankle and end up being diagnosed with leukemia. I can’t say, though, that the emergency rooms that I’ve seen (or the minor injuries I’ve suffered) would make for moving, unforgettable drama—but this does.
As for special features, you won’t find many on this six-disc set—just a gag real and a few deleted scenes here and there. But you won’t miss the behind-the-scenes features and games and things that other DVDs offer. I promise.
If you’re a fan of ER—or if you were years ago, as I was—you’ll love reliving the good old days of season six. And if you’ve never seen the show, this is a great season to check out. The performances are stellar. The characters are so real that you’ll find yourself getting a little too caught up in their stories and their decisions. And the ongoing storylines are guaranteed to have you popping in disc after disc whenever you get a few spare minutes, to see what will happen next. Just one word of caution, though: you might want to think twice before sneaking in an episode during your lunch break—unless you have an iron stomach.
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