ST. ELSEWHERE: A COUPLA WHITE DUMMIES SITTING AROUND TALKING (TV)
Summary
One in this medical drama series set in St. Eligius hospital in Boston. In this episode, a sleep-deprived Axelrod struggles through rounds and finds that Brett Johnston has returned to the hospital after developing pneumonia. Gideon orders Morrison to discharge his hip-replacement patient, Mrs. Jeffries, reminding him that the hospital is not a "dumping ground," and Ehrlich updates a group of reporters about Mr. Spooner's condition after receiving the Craig 9000. A highly agitated young stockbroker, Mr. Mitchell, is brought into the ER, and Johnston talks to Papandrao about his unpredictable health. Gideon refuses to elaborate when Craig questions him about his relationship with Ellen, and Kiem tries to tell Jeffries that she is ready to leave, though Morrison argues against it. An eccentric man, Knox, informs Ehrlich that he has built his own Craig 9000 and then kidnaps him at "gunpoint," and Gideon tells Wade that he may be legally forced to change the "Ecumena" name. Ellen returns and reunites with Gideon, who declines to scold her in a Craig-like fashion for resuming her smoking habit, and Mitchell, sure that he is dying, informs Griffin that he is "cashing out" and selling everything he owns.
Spooner and his wife share a tender moment as they reflect on their long life together, and Kevin O'Casey comes to visit Johnston, suggesting that they travel together, though Johnston seems distant. Mitchell offers to sell his watch to Hawkins, desperate to officially become a millionaire before his demise, and Kiem finds that Jeffries has no one to take her home and care for her. Spooner employs a straightforward method of "sharing" his physical discomfort with Craig, and Knox drags Ehrlich to his trailer home and shows him his many inventions, including his unnerving puppet friend, and asks him to "help him be heard" and receive fair credit for the heart device, which he feels was stolen by Ecumena. Jeffries admits to Kiem that she is glad to have broken her hip, as she feels far less alone in the hospital than in her own home, and Craig talks to Ellen, who readily admits that she is dating Gideon. Johnston tells Papandrao that he intends to break up with the devoted O'Casey, and Mitchell, upset at not making it to a million, desperately wonders if he can sell an organ to raise the cash.
Spooner begins to deteriorate, and Craig is annoyed when Knox, brought along by Ehrlich, offers some smart tips on his case. Rosenthal is offended when Kiem confronts her about her excessive drug use since her surgery, and Papandrao suspects that she may be pregnant. As Spooner crashes, his wife firmly states that he is through with machines, and Craig is upset when his groundbreaking patient dies. Griffin sends Mitchell to Psych when he attempts to extract his own gold tooth, and Johnston ends things with O'Casey, telling him not to waste his life caring for him. Kiem invites Jeffries to stay as an "adoptive grandparent" volunteer for the pediatric patients, and Mrs. Spooner coldly tells Craig that he is in fact the "heartless" one. Griffin tells Hawkins that Mitchell, who turned out to have lead poisoning, inspired him to make some "priority changes" of his own, and Gideon's "Ecumena" sign is symbolically destroyed as it is taken down. Knox leaves to work on "his" inventions, marveling at the miracle of the human heart, and Craig admits to his "dummy" pal Ehrlich that he has gotten in over his head and committed too much to the artificial heart project, prompting Ehrlich to cheer him up with a song. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: December 16, 1987 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:49:09
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:14446
- 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
- Mark Tinker … Executive Producer, Developed by
- Abby Singer … Coordinating Producer
- Channing Gibson … Producer, Writer
- John Tinker … Producer, Writer
- Steven Milkis … Associate Producer
- Joshua Brand … Created by
- John Falsey … Created by
- John Masius … Developed by
- David Morse … Director
- D. Keith Mano … Writer
- J.A.C. Redford … Music by
- Dave Grusin … Theme Music by
- William Daniels … Cast, Dr. Mark Craig
- Norman Lloyd … Cast, Dr. Daniel Auschlander
- Ronny Cox … Cast, Dr. John Gideon
- Bonnie Bartlett … Cast, Ellen Craig
- Ed Begley Jr. … Cast, Dr. Victor Ehrlich
- Stephen Furst … Cast, Dr. Elliot Axelrod
- Bruce Greenwood … Cast, Dr. Seth Griffin
- Eric Laneuville … Cast, Luther Hawkins
- Sagan Lewis … Cast, Dr. Jacqueline Wade
- Howie Mandel … Cast, Dr. Wayne Fiscus
- David Morse … Cast, Dr. Jack Morrison
- France Nuyen … Cast, Dr. Paulette Kiem
- Cindy Pickett … Cast, Dr. Carol Novino
- Christina Pickles … Cast, Nurse Helen Rosenthal
- Jennifer Savidge … Cast, Nurse Lucy Papandrao
- Denzel Washington … Cast, Dr. Philip Chandler
- John Kellogg … Cast, Henry Spooner
- Rosemary DeCamp … Cast, Amy Jeffries
- Neva Patterson … Cast, Marguerite Spooner
- Kyle Secor … Cast, Brett Johnston
- Joseph Kell … Cast, Mitchell
- John Scott Clough … Cast, Kevin O'Casey
- Alan Young … Cast, Knox
- Shelli Place … Cast, Reporter #1
- Kenny Rhodes … Cast, Reporter #2