2000 Subj : Re: Canon City To : alt.tv.er From : KL Date : Sat Sep 24 2005 19:43:21 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.er on 9/24/2005 5:26 PM Dropping The Helicopter said the following: > npardue@indiana.edu wrote: > >> Dropping The Helicopter wrote: >> >>>>> That was >>>> >>>> the main thing that struck me about the eppy -- it didn't 'feel' like >>>> any previous season; neither like the generally crappy stuff we've been >>>> fed the past two seasons, nor did it feel like 'classic ER.' The >>>> question is, do I like this new style of ER, and I can't answer that >>>> yet, because I haven't decided. In each storyline there were things I >>>> liked a lot, and things I didn't like at all. >>>> >>> In all seriousness, I didn't get a new feel at all. In fact I got the >>> exact opposite: >>> >>> - The road trip was an almost verbatim ripoff of the Doug/Mark one in >>> season (whenever). >>> - We've seen the exact same "New Residents Are Idiots" stuff in each and >>> every season. In fact, I believe that they used mostly stock footage in >>> the premiere for that, and simply spliced in footage of Howie Mandel >>> from "St. Elsewhere" for the scenes with Neela. >>> - They even dredged up the "Day in the life" episode(s). Well, in this >>> one I guess I do have to hand it to them: they covered *THREE* shifts! >>> Yawn. >> >> >> >> Yeah, they've done similar themes before. But still, the whole sense >> of it was different to me. It's something you really can't explain ... >> like if they removed our familiar characters and plugged new ones into >> the scenario, we wouldn't know it was ER. > > > Hmm, I just didn't catch it. Unless you count the general devolution of > the series; there's definitely the shift there from "show you want to > watch" to "show of which you want to find some small morsel left to enjoy". > >> (And while they've done road >> trips before, [not only Doug/Mark is S4, but Abby/Carter in S7), they >> were very different in intent -- those were both two friends making a >> relatively short drive to a known destination and using the time to >> cement relationships.) >> > > Yeah, but this one was too. Until they get there and she dumps him. > >> >>>> I found the Sam/Luka storyline very watchable (or, maybe it was just >>>> that Luka was exceptionally watchable...), though it did peter out at >>>> the end. And, of course, they never explained a few rather important >>>> points ... like how Alex made it all the way to Colorado without anyone >>>> wondering who this kid was. Sam did the franctic mom thing well. >>> >>> Yes, but it made little sense to me, and (dare I say it?) broke my >>> suspension of disbelief (there, I did it, I used a theatre term about as >>> far away from anything theatre as possible, and I will not apologize!). >>> "Oh my God, my bratty kid ran away again! I'm in such a complete >>> tizzy that I'll hit a deer and nearly kill me and a guy that should by >>> all rights have cut my sweet ass loose seasons ago, AND THEN TRY TO >>> DRIVE OFF IN HIS WRECKED CAR. THEN I WILL TRY TO ***HITCHHIKE*** TO >>> COLORADO." >> >> >> My feelings about it were rather mixed. I agree that her reaction was >> a little (or maybe more than a little) OTT. But as a mom I know that >> parental reactions to our kids being in danger are not always rational. >> Some parents become very calm, others flip out. Sam flipped out. > > > Yeah but it seemed to be a break in character to me, which is something > we simply have never seen happen on ER. I just don't recall her ever > showing any tendency for "OMGOMGOMG!! I'm in a total tizzy because Alex > is out of my sight! Stand back, I'm about to completely flip out!" What > really was over the top for me was the Iowa deal: > > Cop: "They're faxing a photo over now..." > Sam: "ELECTRONS TRAVELING IN WIRE IS SIMPLY NOT FAST ENOUGH! WE MUST > DRIVE TWO HUNDRED MILES INSTEAD!!!" > Luka: "I will go with you even though doing so makes absolutely no sense > even to mothers who are completely flipping out." > > Huh? Wait two seconds for the fax, case closed. And I wonder why they were bothering to drive at all? OK, Iowa isn't that far, but after that, couldn't they fly to Colorado? I mean, doesn't Luka have enough money to buy a plane ticket or two? She surely would have gotten there faster that way. Did she think she was going to catch up to him on the road? Yeah, yeah, I know...then we wouldn't have had all that alone time in the car and the antelope scene. >> (And >> I thought the atelope scene was very well written and played AND >> directed. > > > Agreed, except for the antelope not being dead / maybe dead / don't > know. I saw no movement. Small nit to pick I know. > >> (And, while hithiking from McCook Nebraska or whereever the >> hell they were wasn't real bright .... at least it meant they weren't >> DRIVING anymore and putting every other car on the road in danger! >> > > AH! Very good point! ;-) > >>>> A few other minor glitches/questions. >>>> How probable was it for the kid in the Davenport hospital to have been >>>> Alex. Could he really have ended up in a diabetic coma THAT fast? He >>>> left the previous evening; it's now early the next morning. >>>> >>> How probable was it that a helicopter would fall on Romano? >> >> >> At least that fits in with the laws of physics. Large, heavy things >> fall and tend to squash people who are standing underneith when they >> hit the ground. > > > True. > >> But this one doesn't fit the laws of >> medicine/physiology. > > > There's still medicine and/or physiology and/or theatrical integrity on ER? > >> A kid doesn't go from "well-controlled diabetes" >> to "diabetec coma so severe that, 5+ hours later the patient is still >> comotose and unable to give his name" after less than 12 hours. > > > True enough. > >>>> Along with recasting Alex, they also aged him a bit. IIRC, he was 9 >>>> when he joined the show early S10 (October 2003). It's now just under 2 >>>> years later and he's 12. >>>> >>> That's in TV years though, every show does that. >> >> >> ER pretends to run in 'real time.' They shouldn't be able to do that. > > > Well, you'll get no real argument from me. My point there was, if that > was the worst of ER's problems.... > >> (Esp. since there was no real reason to. Sam could be just as franctic >> about a runaway 11 year old.) >> > > I think we can probably chalk it up to sloppiness / > just-don't-give-a-shit-anymore-iness. It would take the least of us, > what, two seconds to put all the characters' ages into an Excel > spreadsheet, put the show's "assumed to occur on date" in one cell, and > automatically have it calculate out how old every character is, to the > exact second? > > What a tragedy this show has become. Or even to have an Access database that could be called on in a moments notice for any continuity questions? -- KL Please help if you can.... How to Help: Organizations Involved in Hurricane Katrina Relief o FEMA Charity tips: http://www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm o Red Cross: 1-800-HELP-NOW or https://www.redcross.org/ o Network for Good http://www.networkforgood.org o Jewish Federation: 323-761-8200 or http://www.jewishla.org o McCormick Tribune Foundation Hurricane Katrina Relief Campaign: http://www.mccormicktribune.org/mtf/hurricanerelief.htm o Episcopal Relief & Development: 1-800-334-7626 or http://www.er-d.org/ o Mercy Corps http://www.mercycorps.org o United Methodist Committee on Relief: 1-800-554-8583 or http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/hurricanes/2005/ o Salvation Army: 1-800-SAL-ARMY or http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/ o Catholic Charities: 1-800-919-9338 or http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/ o National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster: http://www.nvoad.org/ o Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: http://www.la-spca.org/ ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Un d4 limited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- . 0