Once upon a time, before they decided to change the face of network television single-handedly, NBC aired a little medical drama called ER. Despite the network’s belief that the 10:00pm slot had been a wasteland since the days of Sing Along Witch Mitch, ER commanded a sizable audience for its 15 seasons. And that’s with a cast that changed more than NBC’s executive management.
Sadly, ER ended its run last April. Luckily, we have Warner Home Video to thank for the release of complete season DVD sets of the series. Most recent is the six DVD box set for season 12.
I won’t go into details about the extras included in this box set because, frankly, there are very few. The only special features are some un-aired scenes (called “Patient Outtakes”) that don’t really enhance or diminish the episodes. Instead, I want to chat about season 12 and how it was both a period of weakness and transition for the program.
When you take it as a whole, it was really two different seasons. The first half, from season premiere to Christmas, was the weakest. The introduction of Kristen Johnston as caustic nurse manager Eve Peyton and John Leguizamo as the erratic Dr. Victor Clemente threw off the synergy that made this show click for so long. There was more tension on the program than there had been since Kerry Weaver was introduced in season two. Whether the producers of the series did this on purpose or not is not known (though it would have been nice to hear their comments on the DVD set).
Not that there weren’t some good episodes during that time; they were just infrequent. For example, “Two Ships,” where the entire ER staff (joined by John Stamos as paramedic Tony Gates) work frantically after a plane collision above Chicago, was the typical high-intensity episode that ER had become famous for. “I Do,” where Neela and Gallant finally tie the knot, gave fans the emotional boost that they were looking for since the start of the season. That joyful feeling (as joyful you could get with ER) continued into “All About Christmas Eve,” where Luka became Chief of Emergency Medicine and Abby revealed she was pregnant.
If was after the Christmas episode that the show began to change. Abby and Luka became the focal point as the pregnancy progressed. Staff that had annoyed us in the past, particularly doctors Ray Barnett and Archie Morris, began to grow up (especially Archie, who became a fan favorite in the later seasons) and Victor Clemente became a character pushed more and more to the background. We also saw some closure to old issues as Kerry finally decided to have an operation to replace her hip; allowing her full mobility once again. It all led to a taut season finale that, as usual, put the ER staff in peril and made us wonder if Abby would ever see any happiness.
Despite the mixed outcome of the season, you should still add the box set to your ER collection. If only to watch the transformation of the series from predictable doldrum to appointment television.
Disclosure: This review is based on a commercially available copy, provided complimentary to CliqueClack TV by Warner Home Video for the purpose of review.
Clacked by Richard Keller 
on Jan 25, 2010 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
thanks to this post, i now know that season 12 is on dvd. thanks! i’ve bought every season so far & i saw most of seasons 1-8ish growing up since my mom watched it all the time.