After 15 years, E.R. was taken off life support Thursday night with a two-hour episode that featured former cast members Noah Wyle, Eriq La Salle,Laura Innes, Sherry Stringfield, and Alex Kingston and was written by onetime E.R. executive producer John Wells. The finale averaged 16.23 million viewers, peaking in the third half-hour with 17.77 million -- good enough to give NBC a win on Thursday night, a night that it once dominated, but far from the 30 million plus that E.R. commanded in its heyday. In her (positive) review of the episode, Sarah Rodman wrote in the Boston Globe "It was hard not to think about saying goodbye to an era as E.R . signed off. Although it's been years since "everyone" watched anything, including E.R. , the drama was the last vestige of a TV landscape that predated the explosion of the viewing universe with countless niche channels, exceptional original cable programming, and time-shifted and Internet viewing." But Debra Yeo wrote in the Toronto Star "Watching the E.R. finale Thursday night was a little like trying on a favorite old dress and deciding that, though it reminds you of good times, it's ready for the charity pile."
03/04/2009
