The Cutting Edge (11 May 1983)

A dock worker is seriously injured in an accident and loses his arm in the process. He is taken to an experimental hospital called Project Hope headed by a dedicated surgeon named Gabriel ... See full summary »

Director:

Georg Fenady

Writers:

Glen A. Larson (creator), Lou Shaw (creator),

Stars:

Jack Klugman, Garry Walberg, John S. Ragin

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Klugman	...	Dr. R. Quincy, M.E.
Garry Walberg	...	Lt. Frank Monahan (credit only)
John S. Ragin	...	Dr. Robert Asten (credit only)
Val Bisoglio	...	Danny Tovo (credit only)
Robert Ito	...	Sam Fujiyama (credit only)
Joseph Roman	...	Sgt. Brill (credit only)
John Randolph	...	Peter Muscanni
Paul Rudd	...	Kenny Kelso
Mary Louise Weller	...	Dr. Wendy Peterson
Anita Gillette	...	Dr. Emily Hanover
Barry Newman	...	Dr. Gabe McCracken
Allen Fawcett	...	Dr. Ted Wickett
Julie Phillips	...	Judy Kelso
Chevi Colton	...	Nurse
Terrence O'Connor	...	Hilary Barron

Storyline

A dock worker is seriously injured in an accident and loses his arm in the process. He is taken to an experimental hospital called Project Hope headed by a dedicated surgeon named Gabriel McCracken where his arm is reattached. The operation is a success, but a complication arises and he loses the use of his good arm. Now McCracken and his staff of cutting edge surgeons try to find a way to help the young man lead a better quality of life.

---

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Crime

---

Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 May 1983 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was not only the final episode of "Quincy M.E", it also served as the pilot of a proposed series entitled "The Cutting Edge" with many of the characters that were in this episode. Also, Anita Gillette, who played Quincy's wife Dr. Emily Hannover, was to have become a regular on this series once "Quincy" went off the air.

User Reviews

"I am not a laboratory rat!" The worst episode of Quincy ever.

Quincy M.E.: The Cutting Edge starts as Los Angeles coroner Quincy (Jack Klugman) & crime scene photographer Ed (Eddie Garrett) are helping out after an accident at a pipe yard, they find six injured men including fork lift truck driver Kenny Kelso (Paul Rudd) who has lost an arm. Quincy stabilises Kenny & lets the paramedics take over, they take Kenny & his severed arm to Las Manos Medical Center where Dr. Gabriel McCracken (Barry Newman) runs a program called Experiment Hope in which the finest doctor's & specialists all work together on new techniques & try to find solutions to seemingly hopeless cases like Kenny & his severed arm...

Episode 24 from season 8 The Cutting Edge was the very last episode of Quincy, after eight seasons & 148 episodes Quincy was no more. You know generally speaking I really like Quincy as a show, with it's murder mysteries & varied range of story lines so when the show was good I loved it but especially towards the end of it's run when it was bad boy it was absolutely awful! The Cutting Edge is probably the single worst episode of Quincy I can remember seeing, I almost feel like a traitor calling it awful but that's honestly the way I felt about it & since it was the very last episode one would have thought Quincy & the regular supporting cast would have had a decent send off but no apart from Quincy appearing in the opening sequence to attend the accident scene, going to visit Dr. McCracken for a couple of minutes about twenty minutes in & a further two or three minutes at the very end he's barely in it while none of the regular support cast are in at all, not Sam, not Asten, not Danny or Lt. Monahan or Brill. Unbelievable, I actually thought I was watching McCracken M.D. rather than Quincy M.E.! I didn't know while watching it but I've since learned that this was actually a pilot for a planned series called The Cutting Edge with Barry Newman as McCracken tackling serious medical issues, or that's probably how it would have played but luckily the series never got made. You can see that McCracken is given lots of background as his family troubles are pointed out as is his relationship with the hospital administrator as well as several other colleagues who are also all fleshed out more than one would expect from a single one off 50 minutes Quincy episode. A real wasted opportunity to give Quincy a great final episode & a good farewell. The basic story isn't even any good, there's no murder, there's no mystery, there's no laboratory work at all & it's just a terrible piece of drama that doesn't deserve to be called Quincy.

While watching The Cutting edge I was becoming increasingly concerned about Kenny Kelso, KK to his mates, I mean he started the day off minding his own business going about his job only to have a stack of large metal piping collapse on top of him severing his arm, then he has to undergo hours in the operating theatre undergoing surgery to reattach it, then he almost dies from a subdural haematoma for which the doctor's have to revive him & then bore a hole in his skull with a drill to drain the excess blood & if that wasn't enough he loses the ability to use his one remaining good arm all in a day! Wow, talk about bad luck. I bet KK wishes he had just stayed in bed that morning.

The Cutting Edge is the single worst Quincy episode ever, in fact I'd struggle to even call it a Quincy episode since he's only in for about five minutes & doesn't do anything. It's even more of a shame since it was the very last Quincy episode so no-one got a proper send off & you know what, I just hated it, the story, the character's & everything about it & I'm glad they never made the proposed series. Anyway, one final thought from me, goodbye Quincy & thanks for all the great episodes & it's unfortunate The Cutting Edge wasn't one of them.