[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

I recently finished the first season of ER, perhaps the best medical drama series ever made, and the first time I've seen it in widescreen. I was so amused by the appearance that I checked online to make sure it was in the right aspect ratio, and found several credible sources stating that it was always filmed in anamorphic widescreen and then broadcast in full frame - the opening credits are still in full frame because they were obviously designed for TV broadcast.

Although most episodes are standalone stories, there's some where the stories carry on from previous episodes, such as three where and one of the main storylines is about a a young Russian girl who is abandoned at the hospital and cared for by Carol Hathaway who, because of a Ukrainian mother speaks and understand some Russian. Hathaway is effectively dead at the end of the pilot episode and most doctors would say that her condition is terminal, but some creative license was used so she survived her suicide attempt and returned to the hospital several episodes later.

The main character arc, and the one that is the most interesting, is that of John Carter (Noah Wyle), a third year who has previously done psychiatry and dermatology placements, and begins the season completely out of his depth, but finishes it as a calm, knowledgeable, and clinically capable physician. Additionally, you have the money love lives of Dr Doug Ross (George Clooney), Dr Mark Greene?s (Anthony Edwards) marital struggles and career ambitions, surgical resident Dr Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle) trying to balance his medical ambitions with looking after his elderly, vulnerable mother, and Dr Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) and her strained relationship with her wayward sister.

The show is superbly written, performed exceptionally well by the talented ensemble cast, all of whom do an extremely good job with the complex medical terminology and procedures, the editing is appropriately pacey, the camerawork really draws you into the action, and there are many standout episodes.

I watched the pilot afterwards with the two commentary tracks, both of which were good, though the one with Michael Crichton is probably the best and then two other commentaries on the episodes Sleepless in Chicago and Love?s Labor Lost, the latter probably the most intense and emotionally draining episode of the season. I?m not sure what I watch later, though it could be the first few episodes of the second season.