Your Custom Text Here

Television Jason Hoggan Television Jason Hoggan

Time of Completion: 12/27/18 23:55 - My ER Residency is Over, So Here's a List

I spent the past…I don’t know how long…re-watching ER. Well, re-watching some of it while other parts were new to me. Tonight, I finished it. I’ll be brief.

I think the show still holds up today - each iteration it goes through.

I fell in love with the characters all over again.

So I’ve ranked them. And to all you ER fans out there - please fight me! I would love to debate ER characters with literally anyone. FIGHT ME.

As I now have an honorary degree in Emergency Medicine, without further ado, except the ado of some explanation of my list criteria, here it is…

I chose 7 criteria and weighted them as follows:

  1. % of Series - How long were they on the show? Because longevity matters, but sometimes not a lot.

    • Weight: 7.5%

    • Max = Longest run on series is John Carter at 254 episodes.

    • To get this to a scale of 0-100, each characters’ number of episodes is divided by 254 rather than the total number of episodes (331) and multiplied by 100.

      • Example: John Carter = 254/254*100=100

      • Example: Doug Ross = 109/254*100=42.91

  2. Entrance - How memorable or vital was their introduction to the show?

    • Weight: 5%

    • First impressions…

    • If they started the show, they get an automatic 100.

    • For guest stars, I’ve doubled their entrance score to 200 due to the fact that a guest star makes you gasp when you first see them. This is the only time someone is given more than 100 on any score.

  3. Exit - How memorable or vital (or dramatic or fiery) was their (official final) departure from the show?

    • Weight: 10%

    • You remember the ones that go out with a BANG!

    • If they didn’t technically exit the show, meaning they stayed until the very end, they automatically receive a 100 for their perseverance.

  4. Backstory - Do they have a compelling, believable, mostly explained, and somewhat interesting backstory?

    • Weight: 10%

  5. Depth - Do they grow as an individual? Do they impact the lives of other doctors and nurses? Do they have life outside of the hospital? Do they have compelling personal and work issues? Do they draw you in to their story, make you fall in love with them, and cry?

    • Weight: 40%

  6. Likability - Do you “like” the character? (Love to hate is complicated…Dr. Romano…)

    • Weight: 20%

  7. Believability / Actor Execution - Was the character well-played by the actor and generally believable?

    • Weight: 7.5%

And now, with no context or explanation as to why I’ve given them the scores I did, here it is:

# Character Actor % of Series Entrance Exit Backstory Depth Likability Believability/Actor Execution Weighted Score
1 Abby Lockhart Maura Tierney 74.41 100 100 100 100 100 100 98.08
2 Maggie Wyczenski Sally Field 4.72 200 100 100 100 100 100 97.85
3 Mark Greene Anthony Edwards 71.65 100 100 90 100 100 100 96.87
4 John Carter Noah Wyle 100.00 100 75 90 100 90 100 94.50
5 Greg Pratt Mekhi Phifer 53.54 90 100 90 100 85 100 92.02
6 Neela Rasgotra Parminder Nagra 50.79 85 100 100 90 100 100 91.56
7 Carol Hathaway Julianna Margulies 53.54 100 100 90 90 100 100 91.52
8 Jeanie Boulet Gloria Reuben 40.55 80 100 100 80 100 100 86.54
9 Elizabeth Corday Alex Kingston 62.99 100 100 55 80 100 100 84.72
10 Dr. Gabriel Lawrence Alan Alda 1.97 200 100 100 70 90 100 83.65
11 Kerry Weaver Laura Innes 98.43 100 60 90 80 80 90 82.13
12 Luka Kovač Goran Visnjic 72.83 75 90 90 80 80 85 81.59
13 Lucy Knight Kellie Martin 14.57 100 100 50 80 100 100 80.59
14 Catherine Banfield Angela Bassett 8.27 75 100 100 80 75 100 78.87
15 Paul Nathan Don Cheadle 1.57 200 100 100 70 70 90 78.87
16 Michael Gallant Sharif Atkins 24.02 100 100 95 70 80 80 76.30
17 Sam Taggart Linda Cardellini 49.61 100 100 90 70 70 75 75.35
18 Tony Gates John Stamos 25.59 100 100 90 60 70 80 69.92
19 Doug Ross George Clooney 42.91 100 80 80 50 80 90 66.97
20 Dr. Andrew Wade Julian Morris 2.76 80 100 10 50 90 90 59.96
21 Susan Lewis Sherry Stringfield 55.91 100 0 80 60 75 50 59.94
22 Peter Benton Eriq La Salle 68.11 100 50 80 70 10 90 59.86
23 Dr. Victor Clemente John Leguizamo 4.72 200 100 100 40 30 80 58.35
24 Frank Martin Troy Evans 50.79 100 100 40 20 100 100 58.31
25 Alex Taggart Oliver Davis / Dominic Janes 16.93 50 100 50 50 70 70 58.02
26 Eve Peyton Kristen Johnston 2.36 200 100 100 30 50 70 57.43
27 Ray Barnett Shane West 27.56 50 100 50 30 90 80 55.57
28 Jerry Markovic Abraham Benrubi 53.94 100 100 30 20 100 70 55.30
29 Charlie 'Chaz' Pratt, Jr. Sam Jones III 6.30 100 100 70 40 60 60 54.97
30 Haleh Adams Yvette Freeman 72.44 100 100 10 15 100 100 54.93
31 Archie Morris Scott Grimes 44.09 100 100 25 50 50 50 54.56
32 Chuny Marquez Laura Cerón 86.22 100 100 10 10 100 100 53.97
33 Lydia Wright Ellen Crawford 44.49 100 100 15 15 100 100 53.34
34 Simon Brenner David Lyons 10.63 50 100 100 40 40 60 51.80
35 Dr. Kevin Moretti Stanley Tucci 3.94 200 50 40 40 50 70 50.55
36 Makemba "Kem" Likasu-Carter Thandie Newton 5.51 20 10 50 50 80 80 49.41
37 Dr. David Morgenstern William H. Macy 12.20 100 100 50 30 50 80 48.92
38 Lily Jarvik Lily Mariye 50.00 100 100 0 5 100 100 48.25
39 Conni Oligario Conni Marie Brazelton 44.49 100 100 0 5 100 80 46.34
40 Hope Bobeck Busy Philipps 5.51 100 100 50 10 100 25 46.29
41 Rachel Greene Yvonne Zima / Hallee Hirsh 14.17 100 100 20 20 70 80 46.06
42 Dr. Janet Coburn Amy Aquino 10.24 90 100 40 25 50 75 44.89
43 Dr. Paul Grady Gil McKinney 9.06 30 100 10 20 90 75 44.80
44 Dr. Lucien Dubenko Leland Orser 24.02 50 100 20 30 50 70 43.55
45 Malik McGrath Deezer D 74.80 100 100 0 0 100 30 42.86
46 Al Boulet Michael Beach / Wolfgang Bodison 7.87 40 80 20 50 20 80 42.59
47 Robert Romano Paul McCrane 49.61 100 100 20 30 10 100 42.22
48 Dr. Harold Zelinsky Steven Christopher Parker 4.33 100 20 10 25 80 100 41.82
49 Dr. Donald Anspaugh John Aylward 29.13 100 100 20 10 60 80 41.19
50 Miranda "Randi" Fronczak Kristin Minter 27.95 100 50 10 5 100 80 41.10
51 Eric Wyczenski Tom Everett Scott 3.15 50 0 40 60 20 65 39.61
52 Sarah Riley Chloe Greenfield 9.45 20 100 80 20 30 50 37.46
53 Steve Curtis Garret Dillahunt / Cole Hauser 3.54 30 70 30 40 10 100 37.27
54 Chloe Lewis Kathleen Wilhoite 7.48 100 100 80 10 30 40 36.56
55 Carla Reece Lisa Nicole Carson 11.42 30 0 40 50 30 50 36.11
56 Yoshi Takata Gedde Watanabe 22.83 100 0 5 5 100 70 34.46
57 Dr. Jane Figler Sara Gilbert 5.91 100 30 0 10 80 80 34.44
58 Cleo Finch Michael Michele 21.65 30 0 10 50 30 50 33.87
59 Dr. Dustin Crenshaw J. P. Manoux 9.45 75 100 0 15 10 90 29.21
60 Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen Ming-Na 46.46 20 20 15 30 20 40 26.98
61 Dave Malucci Erik Palladino 18.50 20 10 0 10 75 50 26.14
62 Cynthia Hooper Mariska Hargitay 5.12 80 0 80 10 20 40 23.38
63 Anna Del Amico Maria Bello 9.84 20 0 0 20 50 30 21.99
64 Dr. Maggie Doyle Jorja Fox 12.99 20 0 0 15 40 25 17.85
65 Dr. Skye Wexler Kari Matchett 1.97 100 0 10 0 10 20 9.65

Fight me.

Read More
Jason Hoggan Jason Hoggan

Medium & Television's Biggest Insult

How could you be more insulting, CBS?  Cancelling Medium, the best drama on television, in the middle of the season?!?  Insulting and absurd.

Here's the story.  First, all you need to know is I LOVE Medium and believe it is the best drama on television.  Medium ran for 5 seasons on NBC (2005-2009) and did quite well.  Interestingly enough, Medium is actually a CBS show that NBC "purchased" the rights to air for those 5 years.  While on NBC, the show had a couple of schedule changes, but usually aired on Monday nights at 9pm here in the Mountain Time (MT) Zone, 10pm most other places.  My point, it was NBC's headline show on Mondays.  Patricia Arquette and crew grew a moderately sized, but very steady fan base that followed them throughout those first 5 years.

During Medium's fifth season, we learned NBC was not going to renew their "subscription" with CBS to continue airing the show.  This was disappointing, but not shocking.  Immediately after this report, rumors began that CBS would pick it up for the next season.  Good thing, too, because season 5 ended with a HUGE cliff hanger.  Luckily, season 6 began in fall 2009 on CBS airing Friday nights at 8pm MT (9pm elsewhere).

It is well known that Friday night is not the best night for primetime television (see Friday night death slot) because a lot of people go out...myself included.  Thank goodness for online tv!  (If only CBS would get with it and join with Hulu...)  That said, Medium was the "hook" show for CBS's hit Ghost Whisperer starring Jennifer Love Hewitt airing the following hour.  This was quite the Friday night supernatural crime-fighting duo.  Unfortunately, due to Medium's network, day, and time switches, ratings slipped...but not horribly.

Let me just say, season 6 was amazing.  It included what I now say is my favorite episode of Medium.  The key: amazing writing.

Then the drama began as CBS's 09-10 season came to a close and show renewals and cancellations were announced.   

On the chopping block:  The New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Cold Case, Accidentally on Purpose, Miami Medical, Rules of Engagement, Numb3rs, (dun dun dun) Ghost Whisperer, and (dun dun dun....DUNNNN) Medium.

Who survived?  Rules of Engagement and Medium.

I can't even tell you how relieved I was to hear we'd get at least one more season out of Medium.  Phew!  The part that bothered me, though, was the cancellation of Ghost Whisperer.  Don't misinterpret what I'm saying...I am not / was never a fan of that show.  But I knew it gave life to Medium...

The next change Medium experienced was in the Friday night lineup.  It's previous time at 8pm MT (9pm elsewhere) was bad enough, but CBS moved Medium to 7pm MT (8pm elsewhere)!  Quite possibly the worst timeslot available for a television show.  This change in conjunction with CBS's other cancellations made me realize this 7th season would most likely be Medium's last, so enjoy it.

November 18, 2010:  CBS Cancels Medium.  It's last episode will air on January 21, 2011.

WTF?

Yes, I had a very good feeling this would be Medium's last season...but I would have never predicted CBS would pull the rug out from under the show mid-season.  I can't think of anything more insulting to a television show crew.

I can't sleep either, Allison.

I can't sleep either, Allison.

CBS, you blew it.  This is your own fault.  It makes me wonder why you "saved" the show in the first place.  It is absurd that the mother network of Medium would place it in most abysmal timeslots and expect ratings to be as high as the NBC glory days.  Way to run the show out of town.  I hope you're happy with yourselves.  You were very successful in cancelling the best show on television.

Now you've given me one more reason to watch CBS even less than I already do.  You will only get my attention on Sunday nights (oddly at 7pm) to watch The Amazing Race.  You'll probably cancel that soon too since it's a 7-time Emmy Award winner for best reality TV show.

The Amazing Race ends December 12, Medium leaves January 21...  CBS, please consider me a lost viewer once Medium officially ends.

Read More

search me

 

categories

 

tags