St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
This hour-long dramatic series featured life at St. Eligius Hospital, headed by Drs. Donald Westphall and Daniel Auschlander. Every year, new residents would walk down the halls of St. Eligius; learning to deal with perfectionist Cardiovascular Surgeon Mark Craig was only the beginning of the way the hospital and its interesting patients would change their lives forever.
匚卂尺ㄥ reviewedFebruary 14, 2025
The nickname given to St. Eligius, a crumbling hospital in a tough part of Boston - its staff dedicated, exhausted, vulnerable.
Groundbreaking in 1982, the series attracted critical acclaim and a modest but loyal following. Although it now seems dated after the "ER" documentary style and adrenalin, there is still much to reward the viewer. In fact many may prefer to be spared the gory operations and the soapy excesses so rampant in current medical dramas.
Emphasis is very much on the patients and those tending them. Particularly impressive are Ed Flanders as Chief of Staff Westphall and Norman Lloyd as Administrator Auschlander. (He is a liver specialist now dying of liver cancer, but determined to be cheerful and active to the end.) The two represent the show's heart and humanity.
Here are chances to see Denzel Washington and David Morse before films took over, to catch glimpses of faces now famous - Ray Liotta as a patient, Tim Robbins chilling as an unrepentant young bomber.
22 fifty minute episodes. Much action and humour (although a few of the "comic" sub-plots are truly dire). One major irritation: most of the episodes are preceded by a few seconds of spoiler highlights.