ST. ELSEWHERE

'''St. Elsewhere''' was a weekly drama series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series was set in a decaying urban teaching hospital called St. Eligius Hospital (named for St. Eligius), in Boston's South End neighborhood (said at the time to be based on Boston City Hospital, now Boston Medical Center). The hospital's nickname, "St. Elsewhere," is medical industry slang for poor hospitals that serve patients not wanted by the more prestigious institutions. As a medical drama, ''St. Elsewhere'' dealt with serious issues of life and death, though episodes also included a substantial amount of black comedy.
Running six seasons and 137 episodes, the show is frequently mentioned in discussions about television series finales, due to its own provocative ending. It was produced by MTM Enterprises, which found success with ''Hill Street Blues'' around the same time. (The shows were often compared to each other for their ensemble casts and serial storylines.)

Contents

Overview

Cast

Episodes

Final episode

DVD releases

Trivia

In-jokes, puns and crossovers

Awards and nominations

Awards won

Awards nominated

References and further reading

External links

Overview

The series had a large ensemble cast, a "realistic" visual style, and a profusion of interlocking stories, and could be regarded as something of a "serial" for its ongoing storylines that continued over the course of many episodes, and sometimes many seasons. Its influence can be seen in more recent medical series such as ''ER''. The series was well regarded by critics, including the influential David Bianculli of the New York Daily News, and received 13 Emmys during its six-season run.
The producers for the series were Bruce Paltrow, Mark Tinker, John Masius, Tom Fontana, John Falsey and Abby Singer. Tinker, Masius, Fontana, and Paltrow wrote a number of episodes as well; other writers included John Tinker, John Ford Noonan, Charles H. Eglee, Eric Overmyer, Channing Gibson, and Aram Saroyan.
In addition to established actors Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels, ''St. Elsewhere'' is also noted for strong ensemble cast, which included Denzel Washington, David Morse, Alfre Woodard, Mark Harmon, Bruce Greenwood, Helen Hunt, Christina Pickles, Kyle Secor, Ed Begley, Jr. and Howie Mandel.

Cast

★ Dr. Donald Westphall — Ed Flanders

★ Dr. Mark Craig — William Daniels

★ Dr. Ben Samuels (1982-1983) — David Birney

★ Dr. Victor Ehrlich — Ed Begley, Jr.

★ Dr. Jack Morrison — David Morse

★ Dr. Annie Cavanero (1982-1985) — Cynthia Sikes

★ Dr. Wayne Fiscus — Howie Mandel

★ Dr. Cathy Martin (1982-1986) — Barbara Whinnery

★ Dr. Peter White (1982-1985) — Terence Knox

★ Dr. Hugh Beale (1982-1983) — G.W. Bailey

★ Nurse Helen Rosenthal — Christina Pickles

★ Dr. Phillip Chandler — Denzel Washington

★ Dr. Vijay Kochar (1982-1984) — Kavi Raz

★ Dr. Wendy Armstrong (1982-1984) — Kim Miyori

★ Dr. Daniel Auschlander — Norman Lloyd

★ Nurse Shirley Daniels (1982-1985) — Ellen Bry

★ Orderly Luther Hawkins — Eric Laneuville, who also directed more than 15 episodes

★ Joan Halloran (1983-1984) — Nancy Stafford

★ Dr. Robert Caldwell (1983-1986) — Mark Harmon

★ Dr. Michael Ridley (1983-1984) — Paul Sand

★ Mrs. Ellen Craig — Bonnie Bartlett

★ Dr. Elliot Axelrod (1983-1988) — Stephen Furst

★ Nurse Lucy Papandrao — Jennifer Savidge

★ Dr. Jaqueline Wade (1983-1988) — Sagan Lewis

★ Orderly Warren Coolidge (1984-1988) — Byron Stewart

★ Dr. Emily Humes (1984-1985) — Judith Hansen

★ Dr. Alan Poe (1984-1985) — Brian Tochi

★ Nurse Peggy Shotwell (1984-1986) — Saudra Sharp

★ Mrs. Hufnagel (1984-1985) — Florence Halop

★ Dr. Roxanne Turner (1985-1987) — Alfre Woodard

★ Ken Valere (1985-1986) — George Deloy

★ Terri Valere (1985-1986) — Deborah May

★ Dr. Seth Griffin (1986-1988) — Bruce Greenwood

★ Dr. Paulette Kiem (1986-1988) — France Nuyen

★ Dr. Carol Novino (1986-1988) — Cindy Pickett

★ Joanne McFadden (1986-1988) — Patricia Wettig

★ Dr. John Gideon (1987-1988) — Ronny Cox

★ Clancy Williams (1984-1986) — Helen Hunt

★ Tommy Westphall (1983-1986) — Chad Allen

Episodes

Main articles: List of St. Elsewhere episodes

Final episode

The final episode of ''St. Elsewhere'', known as "The Last One", ended in a context different from every other episode of the series. As the viewer pans away from snow beginning to fall at St. Eligius hospital, the scene changes to Donald Westphall's autistic son Tommy, and Daniel Auschlander in an apartment building. Westphall arrives home from a day of work, and it is clear that he works in construction from the uniform he wears and from a conversation in this scene. "Auschlander" is revealed to be Donald's father, and thus Tommy's grandfather. Donald laments to his father, "I don't understand this autism thing, Pop. Here's my son. I talk to him. I don't even know if he can hear me, because he sits there, all day long, in his own world, staring at that toy. What's he thinkin' about?" The toy is revealed to be a snow globe with a replica of St. Eligius hospital inside. Tommy shakes the snow globe, and is told by his father to come and wash his hands. Donald Westphall places the snow globe on the family's television set and walks into the kitchen and the camera closes in on the snow globe. [1].
One of the more common interpretations of this scene is that the total series of events in the series St. Elsewhere had been a product of Tommy Westphall's imagination, with elements of the above scene used as its own evidence [2] [3].
One of the results of this has been an attempt by individuals to determine how many television shows are also products of this Tommy Westphall's mind because of shared fictional characters: the "Tommy Westphall Universe". See Tommy Westphall for further discussion of this hypothesis.

DVD releases

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has released the complete first season of ''St. Elsewhere'' on DVD in Region 1 for the first time.

Cover Art	DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
	Season 1	22	November 28, 2006
	Season 2	22	TBA
	Season 3	24	TBA
	Season 4	24	TBA
	Season 5	23	TBA
	Season 6	22	TBA

Trivia

★ Donald Westphall's exit is notable in TV history. Frustrated by the new administration of the hospital, he quit and then mooned boss John Gideon, with the mooning shown on camera.

★ The building used in exterior shots of the hospital, while only a block away from Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center, and ostensibly the basis for the hospital depicted on the show), is an apartment building and was never used as a hospital. (It was, however, used as a nurses' residence.)

★ In the opening credits, a rare (and, by the end of the show, anachronistic) shot of an MBTA Orange Line train can be seen on the Washington Street Elevated, above Washington Street. This line was demolished and relocated about one mile west in 1987. In 2002 the MBTA Silver Line began running Bus rapid transit service on Washington Street, following the former Orange Line route. Newton Street Station is next to the building which "played" St. Elegius Hospital.

★ Bonnie Bartlett, who played Mark Craig's wife Ellen, is married to Craig's portrayer William Daniels in real life. Ellen Craig was a recurring character during the show's early years, appearing in a few episodes per season. She became a regular cast member beginning with ''St. Elsewhere's fifth season.

★ Actor Tim Robbins appeared in a first-season story arc, playing an injured, nasty and unrepentant terrorist who had set off a bomb within a bank as a form of social protest. At the conclusion of his story arc, he is shot dead inside the hospital by the husband of one of his victims. Seasons later, the husband, now in prison, resurfaces in a story arc involving Jack Morrison.

★ "Time Heals," a two-part episode in the middle of Season 4, has been cited by David Bianculli and others as one of the finest moments in television history. Over the course of the two episodes of "Time Heals," the dense narrative goes back in time to reveal the back stories of many of the show's main characters. Among the compelling threads is one involving Father Joseph McCabe, played by Edward Herrmann. "Time Heals" was listed 44th on TV Guide's ranking of the greatest television show episodes of all time.

★ In "After Life," a Season 5 episode, Wayne Fiscus is shot and, while his life hangs in the balance and he is being operated on, his soul or spirit has a series of experiences in heaven and hell, meeting past characters from the series who have died, including Peter White, Murray Robbin, Eve Leighton and Ralph (the "Bird Man" from Season 1). Fiscus also encounters a man claiming to be God, who looks like just Fiscus.

★ Mimsie, the kitten in the MTM logo at the end of each episode, is wearing a scrub suit and a surgical mask, which is animated to look like a mouth is moving underneath when she meows. In the final episode of the series, she is hooked on life support on a hospital bed and then dies. (The actual cat that was used for the logo had also died around the same time as ''St. Elsewhere's ending.)

★ The show was sued by the Humana Hospital system because the name "Ecumena" was so close it was considered to be a put down of their hospitals. ''St. Elsewhere'' obliged by not only having Ecumena give up St. Eligius, but the large sign above the steps of the hospital came crashing down and broke into pieces when being removed. They then changed the corporate name to "Weigert Hospitals, Inc".

★ Notables guest stars on St. Elsewhere over the years included Eric Stoltz, Pauly Shore, Ray Charles, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Tom Hulce, Jane Kaczmarek, Lainie Kazan, Jayne Meadows, Laraine Newman, James Coco, Doris Roberts, Piper Laurie, Alan Arkin, Robert Davi, Christopher Guest, Lance Guest, Ray Liotta, Betty White, Michael Madsen, Ernie Hudson, Kate Mulgrew, Kathy Bates, John Astin, Michael Richards, Austin Pendleton, Jason Bateman, Tim Thomerson, Blythe Danner (wife of producer Bruce Paltrow) and then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

★ Hal Linden was first offered the role of Donald Westphall, but turned it down. Character actor Josef Sommer was then cast as Westphall, but was cut from the unfinished original pilot, and replaced by Ed Flanders.

★ Actor David Paymer was originally cast as Wayne Fiscus. But he was fired and replaced by Howie Mandel. Paymer later appeared as a guest star during a Season 6 episode.

★ Regular cast members William Daniels, David Morse and Eric Laneuville each directed at least one episode of the series.

★ The series has aired on ''TV Land'' and ''Bravo (TV network)'' networks. On ''Bravo (TV network)'', the series was digitally re-mastered and surrounded by introductions and recollections by series staff, stars and guest stars.

In-jokes, puns and crossovers

★ The series was noted for its unusually large number of in-jokes and oblique pop culture references. A favorite device was to use the hospital's P.A. system to page doctors from other medical series. (This was usually only heard in the background, and was never remarked upon by any St. Elsewhere character.)

★ Other pop culture references were buried in dialogue, such as Mark Craig telling his housekeeper, "Watch out Grace, the roads are a little slick" (ref. Grace Slick); or Daniel Auschlander telling Donald Westphall "When you're petty, you can be a heartbreaker" (ref. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers); or having several of the regulars on Steve Allen's Tonight Show appear as various St. Elsewhere cast members' fathers — and then, in a line of dialogue about a fire, having Allen say to the other 'fathers', "Well, that's tonight's show over."

★ A 1985 episode featured a ''Cheers'' crossover, in which Westphall, Auschlander and Craig stop into the fictional Cheers Pub (also set in Boston) for a drink, and Craig gets into a verbal altercation with barmaid Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman). This was perhaps unprecedented at the time, as it crossed sitcom characters over into a dramatic series.

★ ''Chicago Hope's Dr. Kate Austin (played by Christine Lahti, cast regular) tells a journalist in Season 2 that her surgery mentor had been Dr. David Domedion, who is also Mark Craig's mentor and appeared ''St. Elsewhere'' episode 68, played by Dean Jagger, and episode 86, played by Jackie Cooper, in a flashback. Craig, Domedion and Austin were all cardiothoracic surgeons.

★ Orderly Warren Coolidge, played by Byron Stewart, was a crossover character from the 1970s TV series ''The White Shadow'', in which he played a flaky but talented high school basketball player in Los Angeles. In one ''St. Elsewhere'' episode, Coolidge is seen wearing a "Carver High School" T-shirt. Over the years, several oblique references were made to Coolidge's basketball days, usually by fellow orderly Luther Hawkins, which explained his crossover to ''St. Elsewhere''. In one episode, Coolidge explains that he accepted a basketball scholarship at Boston College but blew out his knee during his sophomore year. In another, Timothy van Patten, also a regular from ''The White Shadow'', guest-starred. Coolidge called out to the man who, he was convinced, was his old teammate, but was told by van Patten's character that he had "the wrong guy."

★ Betty White, when she appeared on ''St. Elsewhere'', was called "Sue Ann" by a psychiatric patient, a reference to Betty White's character on ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (White was playing a different character, totally unrelated to Sue Ann). Furthermore, the patient believed himself to be Mary Richards. In the same episode, another patient in the psychiatric ward is none other than Elliott Carlin, the resident neurotic from ''The Bob Newhart Show'', as played by veteran character actor Jack Riley. Carlin tells another patient he is there because his life was ruined by "a quack psychologist in Chicago."

★ B.J. Hunnicutt, a fictional character from the series ''M
★ A
★ S
★ H'', was referred to by Mark Craig as a drinking buddy in Korea.

★ Show creators Joshua Brand and John Falsey went on to create ''Northern Exposure''. In that show's pilot episode, Ed Chigliak (Darren E. Burrows) tells Dr. Joel Fleischmann (Rob Morrow) how he became fascinated with doctors after watching ''St. Elsewhere.''

★ The ''Scrubs'' episode "My Sacrificial Clam" (original air date, April 30, 2002), featured four unnamed doctors sharing a single hospital room, played by ''St. Elsewhere'' cast members William Daniels, Ed Begley Jr., Stephen Furst and Eric Laneuville. (However, this is not a crossover, as Laneuville did not play a doctor on ''St. Elsewhere'', and Furst's ''St. Elsewhere'' character died in season six.)

★ Jack Dodson, who played Howard Sprague in The Andy Griffith Show had a recurring role as a patient who happened to be a judge, when he finally died he called out for "Floyd" as in Floyd, the barber, in Mayberry.

Awards and nominations

Awards won

'Emmy Awards:'

★ Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series Mark Tinker (1988)

★ Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series Tom Fontana, John Tinker, John Masius (1986), and Masius, Fontana, and John Ford Noonan (1984)

★ Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series William Daniels (1985 and 1986)

★ Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Ed Flanders (1983)

★ Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Bonnie Bartlett(1986 and 1987)

★ Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series James Coco (1983)

★ Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Doris Roberts (1983)
'Peabody Award' (1984)
'Humanitas Prize' (1985)
'Television Critics Association Award' for Drama Series (1988)

Awards nominated

'Emmy Awards:'

★ Outstanding Drama Series (1983-88)

★ Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Ed Flanders (1985, 1986)

★ Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series William Daniels (1983-84, 1987)

★ Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Alfre Woodard (1986)

★ Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Ed Begley Jr. (1984-88)

★ Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Bonnie Bartlett (1988)

★ Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Piper Laurie (1984)

★ Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Christina Pickles (1983, 1985-1988)

★ Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series Alfre Woodard (1988)

★ Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series Lainie Kazan (1988)

★ Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series Steve Allen (1987)

★ Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series Jayne Meadows (1987)

★ Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series Edward Herrmann (1986 and 1987)
'Golden Globes:'

★ Outstanding Drama Series (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988)

★ Outstanding Supporting Actor Ed Begley Jr. (1986)
'Directors Guild of America':

★ Oustanding Directorial Achievement in Drama Mark Tinker (1985, 1987, 1988, 1989)

References and further reading

★ Robert J. Thompson, ''Television's Second Golden Age'' (1996)

★ David Bianculli, ''Teleliteracy: Taking Television Seriously'' (1992)

★ David Bianculli, ''Dictionary of Teleliteracy: Television's 500 Biggest Hits, Misses, and Events'' (1997)

★ Joseph Turow, ''Playing Doctor: Television, Storytelling, and Medical Power'' (1989)

External links

★ Cast list and links

★ Episode guide

★ Encyclopedia of Television

★ Tommy Westphall's Mind - A Multiverse Explored