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St. Elsewhere

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This article is about the television drama. For the album by Gnarls Barkley, see St. Elsewhere (album).

St. Elsewhere
GenreMedical drama
black comedy
Serial
Created byJoshua Brand
John Falsey
Developed byMark Tinker
John Masius
Starring
Theme music composerDave Grusin
ComposersDave Grusin
J.A.C. Redford
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons6
No. of episodes137 (list of episodes)
Production
Production locationsCBS Studio Center
Studio City, Los Angeles, California
Running time45–48 minutes
Production companyMTM Enterprises
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseOctober 26, 1982 (1982-10-26) –
May 25, 1988 (1988-05-25)

St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama black comedy television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series starred Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels as teaching doctors at an aging, underrated Boston hospital who gave interns a promising future in making critical medical and life decisions. The series was produced by MTM Enterprises, which had success with a similar NBC series, the police drama Hill Street Blues, during that same time; both series were often compared to each other for their use of ensemble casts and overlapping serialized storylines (an original ad for St Elsewhere quoted a critic that called the series "'Hill Street Blues' in a hospital"). St. Elsewhere was filmed at CBS/MTM Studios, which was known as CBS/Fox Studios when the show began; coincidentally, 20th Century Fox owns the rights to the series when it bought MTM Enterprises in the 1990s.

Known for its combination of gritty, realistic drama and moments of black comedy, St. Elsewhere gained a small yet loyal following (the series did not rank higher than 49th place in the yearly Nielsen ratings) over its six-season, 137-episode run; the series also found a strong audience in Nielsen's 18-49 age demographic, a young demo later known for a young, affluent audience that TV advertisers were eager to reach.[1] The series also earned critical acclaim during its run, earning 13 Emmy Awards for its writing, acting, and directing. St. Elsewhere was ranked No. 20 on TV Guide's 2002 list of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time",[2] with the magazine also selecting it as the best drama series of the 1980s in a 1993 issue.[3] In 2013, TV Guide ranked the series #51 on its list of the 60 Best Series of All Time.[4]

Overview

St. Elsewhere was set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood. (The South End's Franklin Square House Apartments, formerly known as the St. James Hotel and located next to Franklin and Blackstone Squares, stood in for the hospital in establishing shots, including the series' opening sequence.)[5] The hospital's nickname, "St. Elsewhere", is a slang term used in the medical industry to refer to lesser-equipped hospitals that serve patients turned away by more prestigious institutions; it is also used in medical academia to refer to teaching hospitals in general (to the further detriment of St. Eligius's reputation). In the pilot episode, surgeon Dr. Mark Craig (William Daniels's character) informed his colleagues that the local Boston media had bestowed the derogatory nickname upon St. Eligius since they perceived the hospital as "a dumping ground, a place you wouldn't want to send your mother-in-law." In fact, the hospital was so poorly regarded that its shrine to Saint Eligius was commonly defiled by the hospital's visitors and staff, and is passingly referred to by Dr. Wayne Fiscus as "the patron saint of longshoremen and bowlers." (Eligius is neither; he is patron saint of numismatists, metalworkers, and horses.)

Just as in Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere employed a large ensemble cast; a gritty, "realistic" visual style; and a profusion of interlocking serialized stories, many of which continued over the course of multiple episodes, if not multiple seasons. In the same way Hill Street was regarded as a groundbreaking police drama, St. Elsewhere would also break new ground in medical dramas, creating a template that would influence ER, Chicago Hope, and other later shows in the genre. St. Elsewhere portrayed the medical profession as an admirable but less-than-perfect endeavor; the St. Eligius staff, while mostly having good intentions in serving their patients, all had their own personal and professional problems, with the two often intertwining. The staff's problems, and those of their patients (some of whom didn't survive), were often contemporary in nature, with storylines involving breast cancer, AIDS, and addiction. Though the series dealt with serious issues of life, death, the medical profession, and the human effects of all three, a substantial amount of black comedic moments and inside jokes and references to TV history were included, as well as tender moments of humanity.[6]

The producers for the series were Bruce Paltrow, Mark Tinker, John Masius, Tom Fontana, John Falsey and Abby Singer. Tinker, Masius, Fontana, and Paltrow wrote a number of episodes as well; other writers included John Tinker, John Ford Noonan, Charles H. Eglee, Eric Overmyer, Channing Gibson, and Aram Saroyan.

The cast of St. Elsewhere (season one)

The show's main and end title theme was composed by famed jazz musician and composer Dave Grusin. Noted film and TV composer J.A.C. Redford wrote the music for the series (except for the pilot, which was scored by Grusin). No soundtrack was ever released, but the theme was released in two different versions: the original TV mix and edit appeared on TVT Records' compilation Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3: 70s & 80s, and Grusin recorded a full-length version (4:13) for inclusion on his Night Lines album, released in 1983.

Main cast

Main article: List of St. Elsewhere characters

Along with established actors Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels, St. Elsewhere's ensemble cast includes David Morse, Alfre Woodard, Bruce Greenwood, Christina Pickles, Kyle Secor, Ed Begley, Jr., Stephen Furst, Howie Mandel, Mark Harmon, Denzel Washington and Helen Hunt. Notable guest stars include Tim Robbins, whose first major role was in the series' first three episodes (as domestic terrorist Andrew Reinhardt), and Doris Roberts and James Coco, who both earned Emmy Awards for their season-one appearance as, respectively, a bag lady and her mentally challenged husband.

2

Episodes

Main article: List of St. Elsewhere episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
122October 26, 1982 (1982-10-26)May 3, 1983 (1983-05-03)
222October 26, 1983 (1983-10-26)May 16, 1984 (1984-05-16)
324September 19, 1984 (1984-09-19)March 27, 1985 (1985-03-27)
424September 18, 1985 (1985-09-18)May 7, 1986 (1986-05-07)
523September 24, 1986 (1986-09-24)May 27, 1987 (1987-05-27)
622September 16, 1987 (1987-09-16)May 25, 1988 (1988-05-25)

St. Elsewhere ran for six seasons and 137 episodes; the first season (1982–83) aired Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (ET), with remaining seasons airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

St. Elsewhere was noteworthy for featuring episodes with unusual aspects or significant changes to the series' status quo. Some of those episodes included:

"Newheart"

Original air date: November 9, 1983

Dr. Morrison learns of the death of his wife, Nina (with whom he had an argument in an early scene of this episode), after slipping and hitting her head. Nina's heart is donated to a heart transplant patient—a patient of Dr. Craig. The poignant final scene of the episode finds Morrison entering the patient's room and, with a stethoscope, hearing the patient's new heart—Nina's heart—steadily beating.

"Cheers"

Original air date: March 27, 1985

St. Elsewhere ended its 3rd season with this TV crossover that found Drs. Westphall, Auschlander, and Craig getting together at that other Boston TV institution, the namesake setting of the comedy series Cheers. The scene, which was filmed on the main Cheers soundstage (Stage 25 at the Paramount Studios lot) and not entirely done for laughs, finds the bar's hypochondriac know-it-all Cliff Clavin, trying and failing to gain free medical advice from the doctors; Auschlander confronting his former accountant, Norm Peterson; and barmaid Carla Tortelli voicing her displeasure with the doctors regarding her stay in St. Eligius two years earlier for the birth of her baby. The scene ends with Westphall announcing to his two colleagues that he has decided to leave St. Eligius and medicine, a short-lived departure as Westphall would return in the Season 4 premiere.

"Time Heals"

Original air date: February 19 and 20, 1986

This two-part episode featured storylines that fleshed out the 50-year history of St. Eligius, each sequence taped in a different style (i.e. black-and-white for the 1930s setting, muted colors for the 1940s). The storylines included the hospital's 1936 founding by Fr. Joseph McCabe (played by Edward Herrmann), the arrivals of Dr. Auschlander and Nurse Rosenthal, the early struggles of Mark Craig and his relationship with his mentor (which mirrored Craig's later mentoring of Dr. Ehrlich), the death of Dr. Westphall's wife, and Dr. Morrison simultaneously dealing with an overdose patient and the disappearance of his son. TV Guide ranked "Time Heals" #44 on its 1997 list of "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time", calling the episode "a masterwork of dramatic writing."[7]

"After Life"

Original air date: November 26, 1986

This episode deals with the shooting of Dr. Wayne Fiscus, who is critically wounded while trying to capture fireflies in the park across from St. Eligius during a break from rounds. As the staff frantically try to save him, Fiscus ventures back-and-forth between Hell (where he meets former colleague, and rapist, Peter White); Purgatory; and Heaven, where he has a conversation with God, who presents Himself as a spitting image of Fiscus. Just as Fiscus shakes hands with Lou Gehrig, his colleagues successfully revive him back to Earth.

"Last Dance at the Wrecker's Ball"

Original air date: May 27, 1987

In the season-five finale, all attempts to save St. Eligius from closing seem to have failed. As demolition begins, a frail Dr. Auschlander, accidentally left in the hospital after a relapse, attempts to escape.

"A Moon For the Misbegotten"

Original air date: September 30, 1987

St. Eligius is saved (and any damage from the above-mentioned "Wrecker's Ball" repaired), but it falls under the new ownership of Ecumena Corporation, a national managed health care concern. (The use of "Ecumena" garnered some real-life controversy, as Humana thought the use of that name sounded too much like its own; the protest prompted NBC to begin airing post-episode disclaimers stating that Ecumena was indeed fictional.).[8] Ecumena's choice to head St. Eligius, Dr. John Gideon, would mix like oil and water with the St. Eligius staff, especially Dr. Westphall, who, in the final scene of this episode (and Ed Flanders's last moment as a St. Elsewhere series regular), delivers his resignation "in terms you can understand" — by dropping his pants and exposing his bare buttocks to Gideon ("You can kiss my ass, pal"). This scene, which would normally be considered controversial, was preserved by NBC's censors as they did not consider Westphall's display to be erotic in nature.[9]

"Their Town"

Original air date: April 20, 1988

In a somewhat change-of-pace episode, Drs. Craig and Novino, Ellen Craig, and Lizzie Westphall visit Donald and Tommy Westphall (Lizzie's father and brother, respectively), who appear to be enjoying the quiet life in small town New Hampshire. The episode features Dr. Westphall occasionally breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the viewer, a la the "Stage Manager" character in Our Town (the episode title and its location are nods to the Thornton Wilder play).

"The Last One"

Tommy holds the St. Eligius snow globe in the final moments of "The Last One."

Original air date: May 25, 1988

St. Elsewhere's series finale featured momentous changes for several main characters, including the departures of Drs. Fiscus and Morrison and the death of Dr. Auschlander, as well as the return of Dr. Westphall to an active leadership role at St. Eligius after Ecumena agrees to sell the hospital back to the Boston archdiocese, as Dr. Gideon is set to move on to another hospital in San Jose, California. The finale is more known for its provocative final scene: Westphall and his son Tommy Westphall (played by Chad Allen), who has autism, are seen in his office watching snow falling outside. The image cuts to an exterior shot of the hospital. At that moment, Tommy and Daniel Auschlander are seen in an apartment building, with Tommy playing with a snow globe. Donald arrives home from a day of work, and it is clear from the uniform he wears and the dialog in this scene that he works in construction. "Auschlander" is revealed to be Donald's father, and thus Tommy's grandfather. Donald laments to his father, "I don't understand this autism thing, Pop. Here's my son. I talk to him. I don't even know if he can hear me, because he sits there, all day long, in his own world, staring at that toy. What's he thinking about?" As Tommy shakes the snow globe, he is told by his father to come and wash his hands for dinner. Donald places the snow globe on the family's television set and walks into the kitchen with Tommy and Auschlander; as they leave the room, the camera closes in on the snow globe—which holds a replica of St. Eligius.[10]

The most common interpretation of this scene is that the entire series of events in the series St. Elsewhere had been a product of Tommy Westphall's imagination, with elements of the above scene used as its own evidence.[11][12] One of the results of this has been an attempt by individuals to determine how many television shows are also products of Tommy Westphall's mind because of shared fictional characters: the "Tommy Westphall Universe".

"The Last One's" closing credits differed from those of the rest of the series. In all other episodes, the credits appeared over a still image of an ongoing surgical operation, followed by the traditional MTM Productions black-backgrounded logo, featuring Mimsie the cat in a cartoon surgical cap and mask; here, the credits appeared on a black background, flanked by an electrocardiogram and an IV bag, with Mimsie lying on her side at the top of the screen; at the end of the credits, the heart monitor flatlines, marking Mimsie's death and the end of St. Elsewhere. Coincidentally, Mimsie the Cat would pass away in real life shortly after the airing of the "The Last One" at the age of 20.

"The Last One" brought in 22.5 million viewers, ranking 7th out of 68 programs that week and attracting a 17.0/29 rating/share, and ranking as the most watched episode of the series.[13] In 2011, the finale was ranked #12 on the TV Guide Network special, TV's Most Unforgettable Finales.[14]

Allusions, crossovers, and homages

St. Elsewhere was known for the insertion of several allusions, large and small, to classic movie, pop culture, and television events (the latter especially) throughout its run, including other shows that were produced by MTM Enterprises.[1] Some of the more noteworthy allusions have included:

  • The St. Eligius public address loudspeakers would periodically summon characters from other television series, often going unnoticed by the show's characters.
  • The character of hospital orderly Warren Coolidge (played by Byron Stewart) was carried over from The White Shadow, where Coolidge had been a student at Carver High. (Before St. Elsewhere, Bruce Paltrow served as Shadow's showrunner.) Coolidge occasionally sported a Carver High T-shirt while working at St. Eligius. In third season episode "Any Portrait in a Storm", Coolidge sees guest star Timothy Van Patten (another Shadow alumnus) in an elevator and calls out "Heyyyy!! Salami!!", to which Van Patten, playing an unrelated character (named Dean, in a three episode story arc), replies "You got the wrong guy, pal.", leaving Coolidge trying to plead his case with a confused "No - it's Warren." as the elevator doors close.
  • Another episode saw Amnesiac John Doe #6, a recurring character played by Oliver Clark, watching an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on a hospital TV and started believing himself to be that series' lead character Mary Richards; during the episode, Doe greeted a visiting Naval officer (from a concurrent storyline) as Moore's Sue Anne Nivens; the officer, played by Betty White (who played Sue Anne) responds, "I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else."
  • In the same episode in which John Doe believed he was Mary Richards, he is verbally disparaged by another patient in the psychiatric ward — Elliott Carlin, the resident neurotic from The Bob Newhart Show played by Jack Riley. Carlin's treatment of Doe mirrored his behavior toward Oliver Clark's Bob Newhart Show character, Mr. Herd. Mr. Carlin subsequently appeared on an episode of Newhart, still uncured from the damage caused by "some quack in Chicago."
  • In "Santa Claus is Dead", Dr. Craig mentions serving in Korea with his drinking buddy, B.J. Hunnicutt, implying that Dr. Hunnicutt was reassigned to another unit in Korea following the July 1953 deactivation of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital at the end of M*A*S*H’s finale, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen".
  • The crew filled the series finale, "The Last One", with an abundance of allusions and homages. The cold open has Dr. Fiscus saying to an ER patient "General Sarnoff..." (the man responsible for launching NBC, the first television network, in 1926) "... cut down the time you spend in front of the television". There is a direct reference to the 1967 series finale of The Fugitive, when orderly Coolidge catches a "One-Armed Man", on a water tower, for "Dr. Kimble". A patient appears to get his hair cut by (The Andy Griffith Show's) Floyd the Barber, including his first name, face and clothing. There is a call over the public address system for a Code Blue (someone has reached their "end") in Room 222. There is a direct reference to the 1977 series finale of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, including a group hug, a group shuffle to get tissues and a suggestion that they sing "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". The finale for the character Dr. Henry Blake in a 1977 episode of M*A*S*H is referenced when cadaver "4077" is autopsied after a "helicopter crash". There are numerous song references, including Dr. Fiscus saying "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine", and Dr. Auschlander exclaiming "Jumpin' Jack, what was that flash?".[15]

St. Elsewhere was also host to one crossover, served as the source material for two others, and has been paid homage to in several ways:

  • The third season's finale featured Drs. Westphall, Auschlander, and Craig visiting the eponymous pub of Cheers (also set in Boston) for a drink. During the second season of Cheers, barmaid Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman) gave birth to a child at St. Eligius, and here expresses her displeasure about her hospitalization there, even getting into a verbal altercation with Dr. Craig.
  • Two St. Elsewhere characters were carried over to the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street, which was executive produced by St. Elsewhere alumnus Tom Fontana. In an episode in season six entitled "Mercy," Alfre Woodard reprises her role of Dr. Roxanne Turner, who is accused of illegally euthanizing a cancer patient. Woodard was nominated for an Emmy Award as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance. In other Homicide episodes, the character of Detective Tim Bayliss (played by Kyle Secor) develops a bad back and is treated by an offscreen "Dr. Ehrlich." In the Homicide: The Movie finale, Ed Begley, Jr., makes an uncredited appearance as Dr. Victor Ehrlich.
  • Ed Begley Jr., William Daniels, Stephen Furst and Eric Laneuville reunited to appear in a season-one episode of Scrubs; the episode saw the actors not reprising their St. Elsewhere characters but rather guest as a quartet of doctors that fell sick at a medical convention. The episode was part of a week-long series of events honoring NBC's 75th Anniversary.[16]

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by St. Elsewhere

St. Elsewhere has won 24 out of 106 award nominations. The series has garnered 62 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning 13 of them. Out the thirteen wins, Ed Flanders won once and William Daniels won twice for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series; Bonnie Bartlett and Doris Roberts each won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series; James Coco won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series; John Masius and Tom Fontana won two awards for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series and Mark Tinker won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.[17] It has received five Golden Globe Award nominations, with four of them for Best Television Series – Drama.[18] St. Elsewhere received seven TCA Award nominations, winning once for Outstanding Achievement in Drama.[19] The series also won three out of four Q Awards. Additional accolades include a Peabody Award[20] and People's Choice Awards for Favorite New TV Dramatic Program.[21]

Film adaptation

In May 2003, Walden Media announced a partnership with Roth Films to create a film adaptation of the television series. The film would be re-designed to be similar to Walden's project Holes.

Reruns

After its initial run, reruns of St. Elsewhere aired for a time in syndication, with later runs on Nick at Nite, TV Land, Bravo and AmericanLife TV. Also a popular series in the United Kingdom, St. Elsewhere has been aired twice by two independent British broadcasters. Channel 4 aired the series between 1983 and 1989, with Sky One later airing repeats in a daily Midday timeslot during 1992–93. In 2009, Channel 4 began showing the series again, usually at around 03:30AM, and have repeated the entire series several times since then. All 137 episodes are also available to view online at 4OD.

Nick at Nite first added St. Elsewhere to its regular lineup on April 29, 1996 as part of an all-night sneak peek of sister network TV Land. After the sneak peek, Nick at Nite aired St. Elsewhere regularly from May 4 until July 6, 1996 every Saturday night as part of a short-lived programming block called Nick at Nite's TV Land Sampler. St. Elsewhere was among one of many rotating shows airing Saturday nights as part of Nick at Nite's TV Land Sampler, which included (among other shows) Petticoat Junction, That Girl and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour along with past Nick at Nite Classics Mister Ed and Green Acres. Nick at Nite would air reruns of St. Elsewhere once again from June 30 until July 4, 1997 as part of the week-long event The 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.[22]

DVD releases

On November 28, 2006, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the complete first season of St. Elsewhere on DVD in Region 1.[23] It is unknown if the remaining five seasons will be released at some point.

In Region 2, Channel 4 DVD released the first season on DVD in the UK on April 2, 2007.[24] All episodes have been made available on Channel 4's UK on-demand internet stream 4OD (4 On-Demand) in the UK and Ireland, though these episodes are edited versions for syndication and not as they were originally aired.

Currently, episodes from season 1 are available on Hulu.

References

  1. ^ a b "100 Episodes: St. Elsewhere," essay from The AV Club, 3/12/2012
  2. ^ "TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows". April 26, 2002. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  3. ^ TV Guide April 17-23, 1993. 1993. p. 11.
  4. ^ "TV Guide Magazine's 60 Best Series of All Time". TV Guide.
  5. ^ Entry for Franklin Square House on VirtualGlobetrotting.com
  6. ^ "NBC's Stylish 'St. Elsewhere,'" review from The New York Times, 11/16/1982
  7. ^ "Special Collector's Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". TV Guide (June 28-July 4). 1997. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  8. ^ "'St. Elsewhere' Told to Carry Disclaimer" from The New York Times, October 2, 1987
  9. ^ Source: "St. Elsewhere: A Moon for the Misbegotten," from IMDB
  10. ^ "TV ACRES: Quotations > Signoffs > Classic Series Finales > St. Elsewhere". Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  11. ^ Gallagher, William (May 30, 2003). "TV's strangest endings". BBC News. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
  12. ^ Feder, Robert (May 26, 1988). "Chicago Sun-Times:: Search". Chicago Sun-Times.
  13. ^ "Star-News – Google News Archive Search". Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  14. ^ TV's Most Unforgettable Finales – Aired May 22, 2011 on TV Guide Network
  15. ^ Gedan, Gail (May 28, 1988). "`Elsewhere` End A Pun Fest". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  16. ^ Scrubs: "My Sacrificial Clam", from IMDB.com
  17. ^ "St. Elsewhere". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  18. ^ "St. Elsewhere". GoldenGlobes.com. Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  19. ^ "Television Critics Association Awards (1988)". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  20. ^ "St. Elsewhere". Peabody Awards. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  21. ^ "1983 People's Choice Awards - Nominees & Winners". PeoplesChoice.com. One Three Digital, LLC. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  22. ^ "The Nick at Nite Log: 1985–present – Sitcoms Online Message Boards – Forums". Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  23. ^ "St. Elsewhere – Washington, Morse and Mandel – Artwork inside".
  24. ^ "St Elsewhere – Series 1 [DVD]". Retrieved August 9, 2015.

Further reading

Wikiquote has quotations related to St. Elsewhere.
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