Doesn't seem to be a current thread on this one, unless I just can't find it.
They are cycling through at least some of the seasons (maybe all of them, and I'm just missing the early ones) on the W network in Canada.

I saw the epi with the convenience store robbery last night that has Austen and Kronk operating on some white supremacist, and was struck by the change in attitude between Kate wanting the one she shot to live and pay for his crimes and her later killing of the cabin-want-to-be-rapist and her desire to just see him dead. Anyone have a theory on the difference in outlook? I'll admit I'm a little fuzzy on some of the finer details since its been so long.

Alternatively, other CH thoughts?

I don't remember that ep, Firebrand, or I'd be sure to jump in. The cycle down here hasn't gotten there yet. . . .

I was so excited to see the Discovery Health Channel pick up the series. They started on August 1 with a selection of eight episodes: Hector Elizondo's favorites, including my favorite, "The Quarantine," where half the staff is cooped up together because of a virus and acrimony and hijinks ensue.

Now I'm watching it from the very beginning, and I'm remembering how much I enjoyed it when it came out. Now I like it better than ER, at least these first episodes: it's funny, witty, moving, and interesting, without "ripped from the headlines" and "soap opera, let's all sleep together in serial-monogamist pairs" so much. You can see where DEK was already working on some Ally McBeal material (speaking of, how cool is Peter MacNicol? In, like, everything?), but it isn't over the top here. Also, I've discovered that my flaming passion for Jeffrey Geiger lives on. My God, how I love that man. The arrogance! The dark humor! The tragedy at his core! And more arrogance! His friendship with Aaron is a lovely thing to behold; I really get a feeling that they are friends, have been for years, maybe always will be. Not a whole lot of male friendships depicted and explored that way on TV, at least in my viewing experience.

To end on a shallow note: Thomas Gibson (Dr. Nyland)? A very, very beautiful man. I'd forgotten that. Sigh.

The early stuff is definitely the best. And better than ER. And Geiger, so complex, conceited and heartbreaking at the same time. Though, the show declined in the later years, I'll always have a soft spot for Diane Grad. Kronk too. But all that Albergeti (sp?) and crew that they added at the end, just left me cold. You can't overhaul an entire show like that after its been running for several years. The characters made the show.

Do you happen to recall what happened at the end with Aaron? I can't remember what he was doing or who, if anyone, he was seeing...

Ooh, a Chicago Hope thread! I loved this show...until Geiger left. The first season was amazing--Jeffrey and Aaron's, the Eel, Cheif of Surgery Hackett dying in the MRI machine during some lovin' from Angela! Oh, it was so good. And then Kate Austin had to come in and ruin it. At least she did for me.

And I totally agree, "The Quarantine" is freaking brillant!

I tended to run hot and cold about Kate. There are times when I really loved her, and times when I wanted her off my tv screen. Most of those times were when she went of the deep end of the feminist platform or was extremely uptight. I recognize that they were important parts of the character, but then went over much better when they were lightly touched upon, not the glaring focus.

I'd obliterated all memory of this disaster until I saw this thread. I remember absolutely HATING this show...David Kelly at his worst. High on his soapbox with too many axes to grind and not one ounce of subtlety in sight.
I do remember Geiger (Mandy Patinkin at the top of his histrionic game) and MacNichol were an absolute hoot but the characters were soooooo over the top. Too much scenery was chewed on this show with Christine Lahti downing more than her share...I swear the woman still has scalpels and sponges in her belly.
I always liked her until she got on this show and the director obviously just kept telling her "More! Louder! More Obnoxious! Yeah, now you've got it.
Thanks for the um, memories.

I passionately hate almost everything David E. Kelley's ever done, but I LOVED the first couple of seasons of this one, and always will. I think maybe the actors and the gravity of the subject matter functioned to balance out some of DEK's more DEK-ish tendencies and bring them depth beyond just simple quirkiness. Geiger. MAN.

I was glued to this series in its first few years. I am a major Mandy Patinken fan. My absolute favorite bit of his was the phantom pant noise.

Geiger was pacing in his office and the sound his pants were making was bothering him, so Aaron comes in and finds him pacing in his boxers. Except, he said taking off his pants didn't work because he was still hearing phantom pant noise.

ETA thanks for letting me know this is on Discovery Health now. I tuned in last night. I loved this show for the first several seasons, but had given up on it by the end.)

Yea! Finally a thread! (yeah I know I could have started one) It's great after missing it all those years. The first seasons were the best. As mentioned, the friendship between Shutt and Geiger was truly something to watch. I liked the early seasons much more than ER. Quarantine was definitely one of their best. Loved the quips. I'm kinda sad that they didn't show the Picket Fences/CHicago Hope cross-over though. The Geiger/pf Doctor/Lawyer scenes were really good. (Can't remember a single PF name!)

Didn't mind the Kate character too much until they pushed her into the starlight over shadowing the rest of the cast.

I've been watching the episodes of Chicago Hope on Discovery Health as well. Love it!

They showed my favourite episode the other day-where the 12-year-old boy fell through the ice and was trapped underwater for 3 hours, and the docs were able to revive him(but not before his ear fell off-when they were moving him around in the emergency room)

Agreed about Christine Lahti.The second, and any season after, episodes(with a few exceptions here and there)with her are so-so.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm,Dr. Nyland. And Kronk(Peter Berg)too.

How freakin' sad was the one where the desperate guy took the OR hostage to get his older brother a heart?

I mean, that plot was bad enough, but after he was threatening to shoot Alan, and Birch was telling Watters something like, "It took a gun pointed to my head to make me feel alive."

Sure, the death shot wasn't to his head, but I still call *SOB*!

So glad I get Discovery Health. And also very glad that it's on the same package as Nick Toons (Animaniacs!) Not too crazy about the commercials they show, though. Yuck.

I like seeing the soon-to-be HITGs. Like Obba Babatunde in yesterday's episode.

The guy playing the brother(not the one who needed the heart transplant) is Chris Penn, brother of Sean Penn.

And, from the same episode, the leeches.Eww.

I happened to catch only the first half of tonight's episode, the one with Marcia Gay Harden and her husband with Parkinson's. (She got pregnant to give him fetal cells in a last-ditch effort to save him.) Can anybody tell me what happened? Thanks in advance!

And I had never watched this show on network television, so I wasn't expecting much when I saw it on Discovery Health. I was surprised by how well-done it was, and I'm looking forward to catching more episodes.

Although from what you guys say, only the first couple seasons are worth viewing.

They rerun the prime time ep at one AM and noon the following day. (Times CDT.)

Really, the only season worth watching is the first one. At the start of the second, DEK and the two richest characters (Birch and Geiger) all hit the pavement. One literally.

I used to have a whole diatribe about DEK making shows with a Distinctive DEK Voice and then ditching them for the bigger better deal (see also: Picket Fences), but I don't really care anymore.

I would LOVE it if they put out the 1st season of Chicago Hope on DVD.

The only truly great season was the first-later seaons just brought the suck.Bigtime.And I say that as a Chicago Hope fan.Surprising,I know.

The episode where Kronk found out that his girlfriend Annie used to be a dude was on the other day.Hee

I used to love this show - particularly Kronk and Diane Grad. For a few years there, it was definitely better than ER.

When they originally aired, I caught a little of both the Chicago Hope and ER pilots. Right then I was hooked on CH and bored to tears by ER. That was the only time I watched ER so I can't compare the two much but, up until the time that Birch died, CH rocked.

The original cast is my favorite. I loved Arthur and Phillip and Angela was a hoot. It's too bad they left, although E.G. Marshall I believe was in poor health. Nyland was all right but Kronk didn't do too much for. Neither did Vondie Curtis Hall (I can't remember the character's name).

The only later episodes that I saw where the ones that Geiger appeared in. It was great to see him but I hated how the relationship between he and Shutt had changed. I loved how the first season had them openly saying that they loved each other, that two straight men weren't afraid to say that. Later, it was played that the two hadn't kept in contact and Mark Harmon's character was pal-ing around with Shutt. I just couldn't see these two men, who had gone through so much together, would grow apart. I'm sure it happens, I was just disappointed. The only time I remember them being "together" was the ep. when a fellow doctor jumped off the building and Shutt was hanging around Geiger's office. Jeffrey told him that if he ever decided to do that, Aaron would be the frist to know. Aw.

Nice to see that this show is being reran again, really gives Nip/uck a run for it's money!

It is a testiment to good writing and good casting that this show was able to accomplish what it did without having to resort to graphic scenes of sex and surgery! The show had such an interesting variety of characters.
For the first three and a half seasons it had what I feel was oe of the best ensamble casts in the history of television, espeically the first season. I really loved the friendship between Aaron, Jeffrey, Alan and Philip. Later on I liked the relationship between Billy Kronk and Danny Nyland. I never really minded Kate Austin and was one of the few who actually liked toughness of her character, although her constant crying fits could be a bit annoying.

I always found it tragic the way things seemed to go downhill and fall apart mid fourth season.

Sing it! I think he started me on my love of arrogant, slightly apeshit characters. Man, I loved Jeffrey Geiger.



Snort. I'm evil.

Sigh. Leave of Absence aired on Friday. It's all downhill from here. Starting off with Richard and Rain Pryor and Carol Kane in the next episode.

I liked the episode where Nyland and Kronk(and Kronk's dog Gordy) became roommates.We never found out what happened with that though(I'm guessing Kronk found his own place eventually)

"Leave of Absence" is where I hop off the train (sobbing like a lost child the whole way, natch). Maybe I'll check in now and again, but without regular Geiger . . . nope, can't do it.

I'd forgotten how much Kronk works my last nerve, among other things. The man's face just bugs, and his voice, and his attitude, and -- you get the idea. Don't mind the actor, hate the character.

In the first season, wasn't Kronk always offering to punch people? "One hit, I can take him down, Phillip" when Chris Penn was holding the donor heart (and Geiger! Nooo, don't hurt Mandy!) hostage? He seemed to grow up, though, once he got together with Diane. This show needs to be on DVD.

Oh gooodie, there is a thread. I accidently found this show of reruns by channel surfing. (Damn TV guide is soo messed up lately, nothing in it) I'm so glad to have a decent hospital show on again even if it's a rerun. I absolutely love Geiger and lmao at THE TOAD! Loved Arkin on CH and Northern Ex as Adam the homeless chef. Why cant they make good shows like this anymore. Picket Fences/Chicago Hope, St Elsewhere. Are they afraid that the fast food generation can't sit still long enough to let it sink in?

Maybe the short attention span thing, but also maybe because Chicago Hope always seemed to focus more on the emotional stuff without a lot of "in your face" blood and guts footage like a lot of medical dramas.
I love that, "fast food generation"--Perfectly sums up teenagers today, they want instant gratification and they want it now.

Discovery Health has started season one again. The pilot aired Tuesday. I'm particularly excited for "Shutt Down". I was an AA 'ho, but I've never seen that episode in its entirety.

I'm pretty certain they skipped a lot of the later seasons in their run. And who can blame them?

I swear, I didn't know Margaret Colin playing Antonovich. I remember hating her waaaaay back when, but that was before Now & Again. She's sneaky.

By the way, if ya'll haven't yet, you might want to go vote for Chicago Hope to be released on DVD. Who knows if it works, but it doesn't hurt.

Yay for Season 1 episodes of Chicago Hope. The last few seasons the show was on were downright unwatchable.

I've been wondering what happened to the show. It used to be on at 6pm on Discovery Health. All of a sudden this week, it's gone. Is it being shown at another time?

According to my TiFaux, it's on at three am and eight am.

The eight AM baffles me. Mmmm, bloody surgery with your oatmeal.

Am I remembering correctly, was it Chicago Hope that had one of the surgeons cut off his own arm with a chainsaw (or something like that?).

It was many years ago, but I vaguely recall something to that effect...

In general, I had a love/hate relationship with Chicago Hope. Sometimes I loved it, and other times it was JUST. SO. BAD.

IIRC, Chicago Hope had a doctor cut off a car accident victims limb (can't remember was it arm or leg) with a chainsaw. The guy was trapped in a car and the limb was badly damaged so Billy Kronk (who else) went at it with the chainsaw so as to get the guy out in a hurry.

My problem with "Chicago Hope" after the first season was that I totally loved both Mandy Patinkin and the character of Jeffrey Geiger and by the end of his time on the show, everyone else was treating him as if he was the Devil Incarnate. Then after he left, even 'best friend' Aaron Shutt acted as if he found Jeffrey incredibly annoying. That, and hating Kate Austin, Billy Kronk and Danny Nyland with the fire of ten thousand burning nuns apiece, meant the show went from 'must see' to 'avoid like the plague' in no time flat.

Agreed. I think it lost a lot of what made it unique when Patinkin/Geiger left and became just another hospital drama. Shame.

I first had a crush on Jeffrey Geiger in 1995. It is now 2005 and I still have a crush on that crazy doctor, maybe it's seeing all the Crestor commercials starring Mandy Patinkin?

I checked DHC's upcoming episode listing of CH, and they are just Geiger-like crazy, with season five episodes, season six episodes, one from season one, 3 from season four, one from season two. Is it that hard to run them in order, DHC? Maybe if they were just running the Geiger episodes I could understand, but no....

TudorQueen, I couldn’t agree more. I loathe Austin and couldn’t enjoy when Geiger returned because everyone was mean. Aaron was mean! My favorite part of the first season was their friendship. I loved that these two men weren’t ashamed to say they loved each other.

Oh, yes, one of my favorite first season episodes - "Quarantine" - established just that. When Geiger told Camille how deeply Aaron loved her and wanted her to come back to him, he even said, "I love this man and I am not ashamed to say it." It brought tears to my eyes. He knew Camille didn't particularly like him, but he didn't care, because this woman was the one his friend wanted.

Aww, I like this show. I think one of the Lifetime networks show it now. I like Gieger, but his return did seem so forced and firing everyone at once, that was wierd.

It was a patient's leg, and he turned out to be a professional football player. Ah, the irony!

Although I didn't watch this series as religously after Mandy/Gieger left, one of my favourite episodes was quite late in the run (I remember Mark Harmon was in it so that puts it somewhere near the end). It was the one with the soap star who died when his butt implant ruptured. I loved the humour in this show and that episode had some pretty funny moments. Anyone else remember it?

Vaguely. While I'll agree it was better with Mandy P., I still very much enjoyed it and felt it was vastly superior to ER even with Billy, Kate Austin, Diane Grad, etc etc. It was the last cast shake up that sucked the big one.

OMG, yes!!! The only part I really remember was the EMTs bringing the soap star through the ER and everyone they pass--from doctors and nurses to a little kid in a wheelchair--says, "Holy sh*t (bleeped out of course)! It's Todd Landers!"

My favorite was the 100th episode because Alan Birch came back. Even if he was just Dr. Watters' fever hallucination, I still love the eel.

Just started catching this show on W. Have seen two episodes, "Heartbreak" and "Quarantine", and I'm already addicted. Wondering how, having been a Mandy fan since I was a kid, I could have missed this. Maybe because E.R. scared me away from medical procedurals...

Love Geiger, love the friendship he and Aaron have, love discovering Hector Elizondo's role as mentor and sane father to all has yet another permutation, and am trembling at the thought of the hard road I am warned is ahead. How can they possibly fall to bad writing and character inconsistencies? Oh, the plagues that so often take the lives of even the maddest and best shows.

Incidently, I started watching because of "Criminal Minds." Thomas Gibson is of course reunited with Mandy on CM, and I'm amused by other homages and parallels they have pulled, without losing respect for the plot. Maybe Jason Gideon is just Jeffrey Geiger all grown up and into a different brand of scientific excellence...

What network is W? Are in the US are you referring to the W network in Canada?

I don't have a dish, or digital cable, but I've heard two networks are airing it in the US and one, I think Lifetime Women, was airing them uncut.





I've been watching Crimminal Minds, and it is not nearly the same as Chicago Hope. Thomas Gibson's character has almost no personality, and while I have always liked Mandy Patinkin, I really can't get into him on this show. The show is sheerly plot based with no time for character or relationship development.

Aah relationship development. Chicago Hope wasn't my favorite DEK show (I was more into Picket Fences), and even during S1 struggled to find its footing, but the layered relationships between the main five (Jeffrey, Aaron, Camille, Phillip, the Eel) were DEK at his best. None of them on their own were likable characters, except maybe Phillip, but some of their interactions would time and again break my heart. I think that's why rather than plotlines it's key scenes that are etched in my memory, e.g. Aaron and Camille joining hands at the funeral of the rabbi who'd married them, or Aaron comforting Jeffrey as he reminisced about Joey after operating on that baby w/o a skull.

ETA: So grateful that some ep. summaries are still available:

Two Cents: I've crushed on Mandy Pantinkin since his turn as Inigo Montoya way back in the day, all the while hating George Clooney for HIS turn on The Facts of Life (don't flame me, I don't hate him any more), and so I was always more invested in Chicago Hope than ER. Geiger's singing breakdown when he locked himself in an operating room? I bawled. Actually I never bothered with ER. But I am apalled at how poorly I remember the Chicago Hope episodes! I hope it's been released on DVD, I'd like to re-catch-up.

(I did appreciate ER for having Kubiak -- from Parker Lewis Can't Lose -- on. Heh.)

Yup, up here in the chilly north. Really hoping they have a nice marathon pretty soon. I have a lot of catching up to do, and the dribs and drabbles I'm getting are nearly killing me. At least I've seen the number one rated episode everyone likes to reference...



Really? I was disappointed in the show, but that was in fact because it is good... I was really hoping they would be making a new "Dead Like Me" season, now that Showcase (another Canadian station that produces most of the more original Canadian shows like "Queer as Folk") picked up the first two seasons. But with Mandy and Callum Blue both doing well elsewhere, it's hard to see that being possible. Or at least being good.

I do agree that the shows (Chicago Hope and Criminal Minds) have completely different styles. Like Geiger points out, they always have their guts and feelings right out there, they have to deal with each other without avoidance in that hospital. And they do it well, excellent writing. But I appreciate the CM style, as well, very subtle, and the characters I do feel are building slowly, and there have been some pretty intense and lovely moments, at least with Reid, Hotch and Gideon. Reid and Gideon both have faces that are well worth watching, a whole subtext of expression, and Hotch plays very well off of other characters, he's surprised me a number of times.

Does anyone know if there will be a Chicago Hope DVD? I've voted, I've put myself out there are the local DVD store, but no one seems to know anything.

Ooh, a Chicago Hope thread! I just got back into the show a couple of weeks ago, after I had a dream about Mark Harmon (no, not like that!) and woke up loving him even more and feeling the need to watch some of his stuff. Unfortunately, W runs it at 4AM, so I can't really watch those episodes. Just the ones on Saturday nights.

At the beginning, I thought it was much better than ER. I agree with a lot of you that this show was just plain lousy in later seasons. I really don't remember much, but I do recall one particularly horrible musical episode, when Aaron (I think it was Aaron) was in a coma and the rest of the cast was singing and dancing.

I was pleasantly also surprised to see Thomas Gibson, although it's strange that I didn't know he was on the show. Maybe I started watching after he left the cast.

Oh, I hated Thomas Gibson on CH - maybe because his Danny Nyland was one of the 'Young Turks' who were always so nasty to Geiger - and about him after he left - but I did like his last episode, and the whole Rashomon-style story-telling approach... I came to like Gibson a lot during "Dharma & Greg" and quite like him on "Criminal Minds".

Have you seen MH in NCIS?

Lol, I'm the exact opposite. Loved him on Chicago Hope, thought he was an utter waste on Dharma and Greg, and am seriously considering giving up Criminal Minds.

The actor can do snark so well, and the only role where he been able to do it so far has been as Danny Nyland on Chicago Hope.