ER: Season 6

ER has had several memorable episodes over the course of its first five seasons. We saw Mark Greene attempt to deliver a baby in Season 1 that cost the life of the mother. We had Doug Ross in Season 2 courageously saves a boy trapped in a storm drain. And yet, as powerful as those episodes were, even they pale in comparison to Season 6's "All in the Family."Before I comment on that episode, we see some new additions to the cast of ER. Goran Visnijic debuts as Dr. Kovac. I liked him much better in these earlier seasons before they made him a carbon copy of Doug Ross when he was a womanizer.Michael Michele comes aboard as Dr. Cleo Finch, the new Attending Pediatric physician. Finch is a good doctor who really cares about her patients, and Michele does a great job of demonstrating this.Erik Palladino is a new, young ER resident, Dr. Dave Malucci. Malucci is the gung-ho doctor who doesn't have much of a bedside manner, but who is over-eager for the most difficult cases. Malucci's impulsiveness tends to land him in hot water, especially with Dr. Weaver.Ming-Na also makes her return here as Dr. "Deb" Chen. I really liked her in Season 1 of ER, and I was thrilled when she came back. She was always a good counterpart for Carter, as the two always seemed to be in competition with each other.Season 6 also has the first appearance of Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) who is doing a rotation as an OBGYN nurse before beginning her rotation down in the ER.Season 6 also has one of the great guest appearances by Alan Alda playing Dr. Gabriel Lawrence. Dr. Lawrence was the doctor who trained Kerry Weaver, and when a medical condition arises in Dr. Lawrence, Weaver has a difficult time facing her mentor and friend. There is a great scene between these two characters during his final appearance that is touching.The season is a good one, and the acting talents of Noah Wyle are really put to the test, especially in the episodes that follow after "All in the Family" when Carter tries to deal with his guilt as well as the trauma that he suffers. Wyle was always a strong actor and played Carter with an almost innocent quality. Perhaps this is truly the first time that we see Carter with a loss of that innocence.This season also sees the exit of the third member of the original cast. One of the small problems in this season is that, at times, you have too many cast members and too little screen time. At one point, there are twelve regular cast members during the course of this season. There simply isn't enough time to really showcase them all, especially the new additions to the cast.SPOILER ALERT BELOWNow, on to the episode of "All in the Family." I still recall vividly the first time I saw this episode when it aired. It was unlike anything I'd seen on television before. It was so powerful and poignant, that even seeing it again moves me inexplicably.Dr. Carter and Lucy Knight have just been brutally stabbed by a psych patient. This occurs at the very end of the previous episode. So, imagine waiting an entire week to find out what happens next! This was one of the biggest cliff-hangers that I can remember, and everyone made sure they were available to watch this episode to find out what was going to happen to Carter and Lucy. Very few people foresaw what transpired.The entire ER springs to action when Dr. Weaver discovers them on the floor in the trauma room lying in pools of blood. There's nothing like a team coming together for a single purpose, especially when that purpose is dire. There is something especially powerful in such actions.Benton is nearly out of control when he discovers that Carter has been injured. Perhaps for the first time in the series, we really see and understand how the usually emotionally cold Dr. Benton feels about Carter. It's on his face and in his actions. As Benton tries to assure Carter that he will be all right, Carter says in a cracking voice, "I'm glad it's you," when he realizes that Benton is going to operate on him.Equally strong is Dr. Corday and Dr. Romano working feverishly to save Lucy's life. Dr. Romano, who seems to care about no one at all, can't even hide his anger, frustration, and grief when it's clear that Lucy can't be saved. In many ways, Romano is the doctor who speaks for the audience. Seeing this episode for the first time, it was unbelievable that Lucy was dead. It wasn't often that a major character was killed in an on-going series, and so Romano expresses his anger and disbelief for us, and he does it well as he sends surgical instruments flying across the room.Just when you think that ER can no longer surprise you, they came up with this episode. Word has it that Kellie Martin no longer felt comfortable being on the show as her own real-life sister was a traumatic victim of lupus.You have to credit the writers for coming up with this episode. Very few, if any, characters up to this point in television history have had such a powerful and heart-wrenching exit as Kellie's character here on ER. I recall the following Friday everyone talking about it.There have been previous events in ER that were terrific episodes, and there were even a couple more that would follow after Season 6, but "All in the Family" is still the premiere ER episode that truly defines the pinnacle of a great drama series.

Disc do not freeze up

Arrived timely and DVDs appear to be in good condition. However, case was opened spilling the DVDs into the outer packaging and the actual DVD case outside and side are broken.

This season marks the departure of one of my cast favorites, Julianna Margulies as Nurse Manager of the ER. It is the second departure from the original cast, and it marks the beginning of a turnover in the next few seasons, but this season is still shining with all its original members, except George Clooney (who actually seemed out of place in some ways). But we get the addition of Luka Kovac, a Croatian attending, who makes a very nice replacement of Clooney as a ladies' man.Heading the list of attractions is several terrific story arcs. The first is the three episode appearance of Alan Alda as a new hire as chief of the ER. At first, it is clear he is expert, if a bit old fashioned. He plays the role quite differently from his Hawkeye Pierce persona. (I almost missed the Hawkeye humor. Would it have been really so bad to name him "Pierce") I won't spoil the reason he left after 3 episodes. Far more tense is a story arc featuring "Numb3rs" star, David Krumholtz, as a psychotic patient. The events of his stay change the direction of the show for over a season.Hospital politics plays a big part early in the season, which makes Paul McCrane's role more important, as the doctor everyone loves to hate. I can say with some safety that following seasons sustain the overall quality, but none seem to reach the heights of this season, especially with other guest stars, John Cullum and Francis Sternhagen, whose parts wind down after this season.If you happen to see this review before you buy any ER season, this is the one to try if you just want to sample the show.

Entertainment

It was what I wanted

Everything was good

I remember this being the first season I was really allowed to watch, other than fleeting glimpses I happened to catch as I was headed for bed. Thanks in part to surgery and then my first TV for my bedroom, I quickly liked what I saw, I remember it being the first TV show that I didn't want to end. However, it wasn't until the episodes "Be Still My Heart", and the following, "All in the Family", that I really became hooked, I think there were some really good episodes in this season, but those are the two standouts for me.

Far and away my favourite Season of ER. The show had got better and better in each of the previous Seasons but it was Season 6 where it truly hit its stride. The two-parter 'Be Still My Heart' and 'All in the Family' is the best written and most shocking episode in ER's history. I remember crying watching the second part back when the show was on Sky 1 and crying again when it was repeated on S4C a couple of weeks later. The penultimate episode of the Season also sees the departure of Nurse Carol Hathaway, and is perhaps one of the best character sendoffs that ER does. There's also a couple of new faces with the arrivals of Dr. Kovač, Dr. Malucci and Abby Lockhart and the return of Season Ones 'Deb' aka Dr. Chen played brilliantly by Ming-Na. While Clooney fans may be disheartened by his exit last season, it's worth watching this season til the very end for another chance to be reminded of the great chemistry he had with Julianna Margulies. For fans of American Drama this is a must have purchase, and if you've never experienced ER before this is definitely the Season that will have you hunting down all the other box sets

Starting off a little weak, this season only gathers momentum as it heads towards the inevitable departure of Julianna Margulies. Without Doug Ross, Carol Hathaway has no reason to remain at County!With an excellent guest appearance from Alan Alda (one of my favourite actors) as Kerry Weaver's teacher stricken by Alzheimers, he stands out for his run.Furthermore, John Cullum as David Greene, Mark's dying father, gives new depth to his character, and both actors excel with the plotline.The main point of this season is the introduction of an almost entirely new cast! Four new characters are introduced this season; and Paul McCrane is upgraded to regular and Ming-Na makes a comeback. This helps keep the show appropriate, and avoids the old characters running out of steam. Furthermore, Julianna Margulies, Gloria Reuben and Kellie Martin depart in this season. Kellie Martin's character had not run its course, and its a shame as she was genuinely likeable.Of the brand new characters, Goran Visnjic and Maura Tierney make the most impact, both will become long-serving cast members and truly excellent additions to the cast. Michael Michele is undoubtably very pretty but doesn't really do much, other than providing Peter Benton with a love interest, and Erik Palladino is strange but still funny in this season.The best episodes are 'Humpty Dumpty'; 'Great Expectations'; 'Be Still My Heart' and 'All In The Family'; 'Loose Ends', 'Such Sweet Sorrow' and 'May Day'.Finally, the change in Noah Wyle (John Carter) as an actor is very clear it seems he switches on and shows off his range as an actor, which is impressively large. He becomes the lead in seasons 9-11, and you can see why this season.Buy it!

This is not a one star for the content material. This is a one star review for the quality of the product. Three times now (since working our way through the early seasons of E.R.) we have had damaged discs that judder and skip then jump at certain sections. This disc replication standard is very poor and cheap. WB need to look into this urgently as the amount of times this has happened isn't coincidence and can't be bad luck surely. Looking at the discs fresh from the box they have been scratched or have water mark damage from the burning process that creates issues on play back unless you have a machine with a thicker laser which won't pick up disc damage/blemishes. Poor show WB. But.. E.R season 6 is actually very good.

I agree with the lengthy review below. The series starts off painfully - the script is dire and the pace and direction is cringeworthy. Then Alan Alda steps in and the whole dynamic changes. Some of the most emotive scenes I have seen and his acting raises everyone's to a higher standard. Keep persevering past the first three episodes.

PRODUCT AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE. OUT OF 22 EDPISODES SEVEN (EACH TIME ON A NEW DISC) WOULD NOT PLAY; HENCE WE HAD TO TURN THE DISC OVER AND JUST TAKE WHAT WAS LEFT - MISSING SEVEN EPISODES REDUCED OUR ENJOYMENT AND WE DO NOT FEEL AMAZON SHOULD BE SENDING OUT FAULTY PRODUCTS. THIS WAS SERIES SIX AND HAS LEFT US MOST ANNOYED AT BASICALLY SUCH A WASTE OF MONEY (AND THE LOST SEVEN EPISODES!).DO NOT TOUCH THIS PRODUCT IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE WHOLE SERIES.