ER Season 11 on DVD Today!

It amazes me that ER ran for 15 seasons. Grey's Anatomy will start season six in the Fall, but if you ask me it had already burned itself out by season two.

The difference between the two medical dramas is that ER--created by former medical student Michael Crichton--concentrated more on the medical, while Grey's Anatomy is all about the drama. By focusing more on the medical, ER managed to create character arcs and relationships that played out over several seasons, while Grey's Anatomy cast members play a constant game of musical chairs. I believe this is why ER was such an enduring television show.

That and the fact the producers were smart enough not to cast a whiny anorexic in the lead...


ER : The Complete 11th Season is available on DVD today. Fans of the show will remember that this was the season that Abby (Maura Tierney) started as a doctor, Neela (Parminder Nagra) returned to the E.R. Sam (Linda Cardellini) and Luka's (Goran Visnjic) relationship got more serious, Dr. Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) becomes Chief of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Morris (Scott Grimes) becomes Chief Resident, Dr. Corday (Alex Kingston) takes her leave of County General as does Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle).

The season also included a memorable guest appearance by Ray Liotta, who won an Emmy for his performance as the dying alcoholic Charlie Metcalf. The episode titled "Time of Death" reminded me of "Of Past Regret and Future Fear" from season four where Nurse Hathaway stays with a chemical burn victim with no hope of survival. Very powerful episodes. I dare you to watch without shedding a tear or two!

The six discbox set includes all 22 episodes of season 11 plus "Outpatient Outtakes" aka unaired scenes. ER fans will definitely want to add it to their DVD library!