ST. ELSEWHERE: PLAYING GOD: PART 2 {SEASON THREE PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The third season premiere in this medical drama series set in St. Eligius hospital in Boston. In the second half of this two-part episode, Ellen informs Craig that she is unhappy with their lack of intimacy and wants to make a change. Clancy tells a hopeful Morrison that she has not changed her mind about the abortion, and the doctors are distracted by worries about the nurses' strike as they review the three firemen's cases. Sister Domenica is upset to learn that Westphall has banned her from entering Teresa's room, and Craig, annoyed with Ehrlich's brown-nosing, orders him to deliver his "sex after bypass" lecture for him. Westphall learns that the nurses have indeed voted to strike if necessary and that White has been reinstated, and Domenica again confronts him about Teresa, pointing out that she has no real quality of life and should be given over to God's will rather than to machines. Chandler is taken aback to see that White has returned, and when a mysterious woman brings an unconscious young boy, Billy, into the ER, Fiscus is baffled when she provides no information on him and then seemingly disappears. Ehrlich nervously attempts to deliver the embarrassing lecture, and Auschlander is frustrated when Richard Clarendon arrives at the negotiation meeting to serve as a federal mediator, summoned by Rosenthal. Despite his presence, they hit an impasse and Rosenthal informs him that the nurses will strike in ten days' time if nothing changes.
Two of the firemen, Manny and Mike, are finally reunited, and when Auschlander urges Domenica to solve the debate with Westphall privately rather than in court, she agrees to sit down with the two of them and with Father Flynn to talk it out. Clancy emerges from the procedure and informs Morrison that he has not been sufficiently supportive, and Billy's friend reappears by his side in the ICU and matter-of-factly tells Fiscus that she is the boy's fairy godmother. He decides to take her to see Martin for a psych evaluation, though she cautions him that only he can see her. Westphall is angered to see that White has joined him on rounds, still feeling that he does not belong there, and Marvin Kroll stops by to see Craig, explaining that his wife did not attend Ehrlich's lecture but badly needs the information. Mike's friend Russ comes to visit him and offers him a "pick-me-up," and Caldwell discovers that Manny may have pneumonia, meaning that his debridement must be postponed. During the meeting, Domenica declaring that she is Teresa's honorary family and ends up firing Westphall from the case, and Clancy apologizes to Morrison, telling him that she would like a child with him one day but is currently "not as grown-up as she thought."
Craig assures Mrs. Kroll that her husband has recovered and is more than ready to resume normal marital activities, and Martin assumes that Fiscus is teasing her when she fails to locate any "fairy godmother." Fiscus is further bewildered when the woman reappears and Billy awakens, having apparently made a full recovery. Luther deals with a stubborn patient as certain wards are consolidated because of the nurses' situation, and Westphall admits to Domenica that he believes only in "the here and now," telling her that he still has doubts about his wife's death and wonders if he was right to unplug her machines. Daniels is unconvinced by Fiscus' story about the fairy godmother, and when they find the woman in the waiting room, she appears to be simply mentally ill, not magical. Craig and his wife rekindle their romance, though she informs him that they still have a serious problem, and Domenica stays by her friend's side as Flynn administers last rites and Chandler removes Teresa's ventilator, and Westphall soon arrives to pay his respects as well. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: September 26, 1984 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:48:47
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:66177
- GENRE: Drama, medical
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; Drama, medical
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1982-1988
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bruce Paltrow … Executive Producer, Director
- Abby Singer … Coordinating Producer
- Mark Tinker … Supervising Producer, Developed by
- John Masius … Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Tom Fontana … Producer, Writer
- Beth Hillshafer … Associate Producer
- Joshua Brand … Created by
- John Falsey … Created by
- J.A.C. Redford … Music by
- Dave Grusin … Theme Music by
- Ed Flanders … Cast, Dr. Donald Westphall
- Norman Lloyd … Cast, Dr. Daniel Auschlander
- Ed Begley Jr. … Cast, Dr. Victor Ehrlich
- Ellen Bry … Cast, Nurse Shirley Daniels
- Stephen Furst … Cast, Dr. Elliot Axelrod
- Mark Harmon … Cast, Dr. Robert Caldwell
- Terence Knox … Cast, Dr. Peter White
- Eric Laneuville … Cast, Luther Hawkins
- Howie Mandel … Cast, Dr. Wayne Fiscus
- David Morse … Cast, Dr. Jack Morrison
- Christina Pickles … Cast, Nurse Helen Rosenthal
- Cynthia Sikes … Cast, Dr. Annie Cavanero
- Denzel Washington … Cast, Dr. Philip Chandler
- William Daniels … Cast, Dr. Mark Craig
- Tammy Grimes … Cast, Fairy Godmother
- Helen Hunt … Cast, Clancy Williams
- Stephen Elliott … Cast, Manny Schecter
- Bonnie Bartlett … Cast, Ellen Craig
- John Hammond … Cast, Michael Duffy
- Herbert Edelman … Cast, Richard Clarendon
- Barbara Whinnery … Cast, Dr. Cathy Martin
- Bette Ford … Cast, Pat Kroll
- Frank McCarthy … Cast, Father Lindsay Flynn
- Priscilla Morrill … Cast, Sister Teresa
- Michael Learned … Cast, Sister Domenica
- Sagan Lewis … Cast, Dr. Jacqueline Wade
- Byron Stewart … Cast, Warren Coolidge
- Philip Bruns … Cast, Marvin Kroll
- Mary Gregory … Cast, Lillian Schecter
- Seth Isler … Cast, Russ Butler
- Florence Halop … Cast, Mrs. Hufnagel
- Richard Jamison … Cast, Security Guard
- Susan Blu … Cast, Receptionist
- Carol Lee Shahid … Cast, Cashier