tek's rating: ½

Chicago Hope, on CBS
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This medical drama premiered on CBS at the same time "ER" premiered on NBC, and at first, they were on opposite each other. So I had to pick one, and this is what I went with. (Over the years I saw a few episodes of ER, which I thought was an okay show, but it never really grabbed me, though I guess it was more successful than this show.) Anyway, it starred Mandy Patinkin) as Dr. Jeffrey Geiger, a gifted (and highly egocentric) surgeon, with personal issues. His best friend was Dr. Aaron Shutt (Adam Arkin). The chief of staff was Dr. Philip Watters (Hector Elizondo). There was an in-house attorney named Alan Birch (Peter MacNicol, who I'd later see in Ally McBeal). Other doctors on the show included Billy Kronk, Diane Grad (Jayne Brook), Dennis Hancock, Danny Nyland (Thomas Gibson, who I'd later see in Dharma & Greg), Jack McNeil (Mark Harmon, who I knew from Reasonable Doubts), Kate Austin, and... well, there were lots of other characters, over the years. The cast tended to change somewhat, from season to season. There were, btw, six seasons, though I don't think I watched much of the last couple. Oh, I also vaguely remember Robyn Lively being on the show for a little while.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure what to say. I don't remember anything very specific about the show, but it could be funny and mildly quirky, but mostly it was a serious drama, which I think concentrated more on the characters than on the medical cases. Of course, the medical cases had a lot to do with the characters' lives, but they also had lots of personal stuff going on. It could get pretty depressing and stuff. And many of the characters were kind of neurotic. But I did like them, or at least find them interesting, and I thought the show was pretty good, at least for the first few seasons. Not something I have much interest in ever seeing again, but I suppose it was important to me while it was on.


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