Oct 21, 1999

The Hospital Dramas - THE COMMENTARY

By Joseph Planta

In the early part of this decade, a man from Long Island named Buttafuco, had a torrid affair with a juvenile Amy Fisher. You know the story I’m sure, it was the day’s O.J., and that little situational comedy spurned three TV movies on three separate networks. Surprising? no, because the even more intriguing, or tasteless fact is that two of the networks aired the movie on the same night. Not only was it embarrassing for the networks, it further showed the decline in taste by the television industry. Well that little mistake in scheduling prompted the networks to try to fix their schedules and avoid programming the same genera on the same night. Well, by 1994 they had some more egg on their face, when NBC had Michael Chricton create a hospital drama called ER. Sure he had big success with Jurassic Park, that’s not the point, CBS also had a medical drama created by David E. Kelley, called Chicago Hope. Sure if a genera works, milk it, but they both scheduled the shows on Thursday nights at 10:00. NBC was must-see then, as it is now, and they kicked Hope to Monday nights, where it remained somewhat successful. Then this season CBS moves it back to Thursday, but at the more civil hour at 9:00.

I happen to like both shows. I had been a fan of David E. Kelley, because this guy’s so bloody creative. After creating Picket Fences, and his stint in co-creating LA Law before that, he was destined to be the wunderkid of the television industry. For the last few seasons Chicago Hope has tried to separate itself from its distant cousin, ER. They were always compared, because they were both set in Chicago, and for the fact they were set in a hospital. Chicago Hope went for tight drama, while ER for the fast paced, first do no harm, medical rescues. ER was more watched, partly because of George Clooney, while Chicago Hope had to bolster its ‘hunk quotient’ by adding 1980’s heartthrob Mark Harmon to the cast. Hope had one thing going. That one thing was the track record of its creator. Kelley was by now creating Ally McBeal and The Practice, and Chicago Hope was being touted as substance, while ER was being lauded for its style.

Last season, facing the axe from CBS, Kelley stepped back into the Hope fray and razed the show, gutting 6 prominent cast members and reverting Hope back to its quirky plots that won Mandy Patinkin an Emmy. Kelley is the mark of success in the industry, and his intervention is perfectly timed. ER, facing Clooney burn-out after his exit last February, saw declining ratings. NBC too, has felt the viewers exit on their entire Thursday night schedule, so Chicago Hope could bounce back, and the seem like they have. Adding veterans like Oscar-nominee Barbara Hershey, and former Picket Fences star Lauren Holly, Hope seems to be getting there. They’ve also seen the semi-return of Mandy Patinkin, as well as the addition of Carla Gugino, who helped start-off Spin City.

ER, too has added new faces. One face is already a familiar doctor, Alan Alda, who could bolster the shows ratings. Whatever the case may be these two dramas aren’t really fighting each other, but they’ve got their collective work cut out for them. Chicago Hope is on CBS, Thursdays at 9:00, while ER is at 10:00 on NBC

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An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE .