CHICAGO HOPE: FROM SOUP TO NUTS (TV)
Summary
One in this series of medical dramas about the personal and professional lives of the staff of the state-of-the-art Chicago Hope Hospital and the ethical dilemmas they face.
In this episode, Austin is evasive when Shutt asks her to dinner, and Sutton is forced to tell a couple, Steven and Elena Hayes, that their unborn child requires a dangerous in-utero hernia operation. Watters and Birch appear on television for a Senate hearing regarding health care; Watters is blindsided when Senator Thomason hammers him with accusations about his doctors' irresponsible experimental surgeries and false promises of "miracle cures," particularly from "that ghoul Geiger." Austin admits to Shutt that she is frustrated by her child's fondness for her soon-to-be stepmother, and when she confronts Sutton about the risky operation on the Hayes fetus, he cruelly suggests that she is jealous of other women having babies.
Geiger learns that his ex Laurie and her new fiancé Gilbert wish to be married that very day — by a fellow patient who believes himself to be former Argentinian First Lady Eva Perón — and she begs Geiger to give her away. Hancock begins to worry that Camille is overworked when she starts making minor errors and falling asleep at work, and Elena decides to undergo the operation despite her husband's preference to abort. Watters complains that "the old Alan Birch" would have prepared him for the senator's ruthless attack, but he eventually okays Sutton's plan for Elena; Austin demands to assist on the surgery. Geiger tries to persuade Laurie to reconsider her plans so that she might one day leave the hospital, but she tells him that she "needs to be insane" to escape the extreme guilt about their son's death. Shutt opts not to get involved when Hancock warns him about Camille, as they're officially divorced, though the exes agree to attend Laurie's wedding at her request.
Elena's operation seems to be a success, and Birch retakes the stand and offers Thomason a fiery rebuttal about Chicago Hope's remarkably low mortality rate and the doctors' bravery in making speedy, life-saving decisions for their patients, He adds that it is the politicians who are to blame for endangering the poor and elderly with their cost-cutting measures. Despite Sutton's best efforts, Elena suffers drastic complications and is forced to deliver a dead fetus, much to Steven's grief and outrage. Watters thanks Birch, though the lawyer coolly observes that he would have given a fellow doctor far more leniency. Laurie and Gilbert's wedding is celebrated with a "hymn" of sorts, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," and Camille eventually asks Hancock for a sleeping aid prescription. A stressed-out Shutt forgets his date with Austin and spends an introspective evening with Geiger instead. Austin tries to comfort a distressed Sutton, assuring him that Elena's risky surgery was a noble effort. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:45:58
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:45683
- GENRE: Drama, medical
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, medical
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1994-2000
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- John Tinker … Executive Producer, Writer
- Michael Dinner … Co-Executive Producer
- Rob Corn … Coordinating Producer
- Kevin Arkadie … Producer
- James C. Hart … Producer
- John Heath … Co-Producer
- Steven Heth … Associate Producer
- Patricia Green … Consulting Producer
- Lou Antonio … Director
- David E. Kelley … Created by, Writer
- Jennifer Levin … Writer
- Jeff Rona … Music by
- Mark Isham … Theme Music by
- Mandy Patinkin … Cast, Dr. Jeffrey Geiger
- Adam Arkin … Cast, Dr. Aaron Shutt
- Jamey Sheridan … Cast, Dr. John Sutton
- Roxanne Hart … Cast, Camille Shutt
- Peter MacNicol … Cast, Alan Birch
- Peter Berg … Cast, Dr. Billy Kronk
- Thomas Gibson … Cast, Dr. Daniel Nyland
- Vondie Curtis-Hall … Cast, Dr. Dennis Hancock
- Jayne Brook … Cast, Dr. Diane Grad
- Hector Elizondo … Cast, Dr. Phillip Watters
- Christine Lahti … Cast, Dr. Kathryn (Kate) Austin
- Gailard Sartain … Cast, Senator Thomason
- Jeff Perry … Cast, Gilbert Weeks
- Jenny Gago … Cast, Elena Hayes
- Jim Metzler … Cast, Steven Hayes
- Kim Greist … Cast, Laurie Geiger
- Richard Libertini … Cast, Reverend 'Eva Peron'
- Lillian Lehman … Cast, Senator
- Brad Baldridge … Cast, Anesthesiologist