ER: A vice that doesn’t even have kitsch value
Posted by Dan
September 5th, 2008 at 11:14am
In Guilty Pleasures
It’s confession time, Internet.
I watch ER with stunning regularity. I mean, I won’t stress out if I miss an episode or watch it on the TiFaux in a less-than-timely manner, but I’ve safely seen the lion’s share of the past several seasons (after taking a break from it in, uh, my early-to-mid twenties).
And it’s a little shameful, I know, because the show is just a glorified, past-its-prime soap opera. I’ve definitely been in social situations where the topic of “did you realize ER is still on the air and it has Uncle Jesse on it?” has come up and I’ve just looked down and taken another swig from my Yuengling. Because it’s embarassing, and in a different way than watching “The Biggest Loser” is embarassing.
At least watching The Biggest Loser is ridiculous by any standards and I can explain it as a vice (I just love the competition aspect and making love to Trainer Bob with my eyes). With ER, I have nothing to blame but my unwillingness to break a habit and my own love of comfort television.
It’s the difference between unabashedly singing along to Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” in the car and air-tenor sax-ing to Kenny G.
Why am I talking about this?… oh yeah. First up, if you didn’t know, Angela Bassett is going to be on the show next season. This makes me sad because even though it is a high profile network gig, I really feel like Angela can do better. John Stamos -> step up. Angela Bassett -> step down.
But now Anthony Edwards is coming back! For real! He’s not going to be a twin brother or a back-from-the-dead incarnation of Dr. Greene, he’s just going to appear in flashbacks to give backstory to Bassett’s character. I guess this will be interesting to watch play out, but mostly it just makes me feel bad for Anthony Edwards — especially since IMDB says his resume has been pretty barren since he left ER.
Oh well. Welcome back, Anthony. Perhaps Mandy Patinkin can show up and there can be an old-school ER/Chicago Hope crossover!
Ha! Roommate mentioned Anthony Edwards returning to ER the other night, and we were both wondering how he’s going to be in flashbacks when he’s now five or six years older than Dr. Greene was when he died.
I still watch ER, too. When I started watching, I wasn’t allowed to stay up that late so I would go to bed at, like, nine, and then sneak out of bed to watch Friends and ER. Yeah, my mom was strict, the show is old and so am I.
phew. at least it’s not just me. i’m actually sort of sad it’s ending this season. i have yet to find suitable replacement comfort tv. jericho was starting to fill that void. sigh. i am doomed to like shows that solicit only apathy from the majority of viewers.