St. Elsewhere 

The lives and work of the staff of St. Eligius Hospital, an old and disrespected Boston teaching hospital.

Creators:

Joshua Brand, John Falsey, John Masius

Stars:

Ed Begley Jr., William Daniels, Howie Mandel

Nominated for 5 Golden Globes. Another 25 wins & 78 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Dr. Victor Ehrlich 137 episodes, 1982-1988
William Daniels	...	Dr. Mark Craig 137 episodes, 1982-1988
Howie Mandel	...	Dr. Wayne Fiscus 137 episodes, 1982-1988
David Morse	...	Dr. Jack Morrison 137 episodes, 1982-1988
Christina Pickles	...	Nurse Helen Rosenthal 137 episodes, 1982-1988
Denzel Washington	...	Dr. Philip Chandler 137 episodes, 1982-1988
Norman Lloyd	...	Dr. Daniel Auschlander 132 episodes, 1982-1988
Eric Laneuville	...	Luther Hawkins 128 episodes, 1982-1988
Ed Flanders	...	Dr. Donald Westphall 121 episodes, 1982-1988
Stephen Furst	...	Dr. Elliot Axelrod 97 episodes, 1983-1988
Sagan Lewis	...	Dr. Jacqueline Wade 86 episodes, 1982-1988
Bonnie Bartlett	...	Ellen Craig 77 episodes, 1982-1988
Cynthia Sikes	...	Dr. Annie Cavanero 68 episodes, 1982-1985
Mark Harmon	...	Dr. Robert Caldwell 64 episodes, 1983-1987
Jennifer Savidge	...	Nurse Lucy Papandrao 62 episodes, 1982-1988
Terence Knox	...	Dr. Peter White 55 episodes, 1982-1987

Storyline

This hour-long dramatic series featured life at St. Eligius Hospital, headed by Drs. Donald Westphall and Daniel Auschlander. Every year, new residents would walk down the halls of St. Eligius; learning to deal with perfectionist Cardiovascular Surgeon Mark Craig was only the beginning of the way the hospital and its interesting patients would change their lives forever.

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | surrealism | suicide | rapist | multiple personality disorder | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 October 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chefarzt Dr. Westphall

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

MTM Productions,20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (137 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Running gags: Dr. Ehrlich is called a pig in almost every episode for being a chauvinist. And Dr. Craig is "always the last to know."

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

Everybody: You're a pig, Ehrlich.

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Crazy Credits

In the final season, St. Eligius has been bought by Ecumena. In several episodes of the final season, the following message appears during the end credits: "ECUMENA is a fictional company that does not represent any actual company or corporation."

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Alternate Versions

The versions shown on Bravo cable network in the United States have many of the songs used throughout the series replaced with generic stock music, probably due to licensing issues.

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Connections

Referenced in Homicide: Life on the Street: Mercy (1998)

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Soundtracks

St. Elsewhere
by Dave Grusin
Opening Theme Song and Closing Theme Song

User Reviews

One of the best

There is much to be said about St Elsewhere and its immense importance in defining the modern Television drama. The series set the formula for how future medical dramas would be produced. Physicians were not perfect individuals, and patients died. Doctors and nurses were "real people", and they, as did the patients, cope with day to day life inside and outside the confines of St Eligious hospital.

St Elswehere would bring the viewer into a drama filled hospital, where both doctors and patients interacted. The writers while giving us a look into the lives of both the Physician and patient, mercifully avoided a soap opera like atmosphere. They were instead disciplined in the intercourse between doctor and patient, and everything in between. They explored issues that TV had previously considered taboo, and handled those subjects in a mature, responsible manner, while never disregarding the intellect of the audience, and their ability to hold attention to dialogue.

Comparatively St Elsewhere moved on a slower pace than it's modern counterpart, "ER". The writers gave you scenes and story-lines that would cause the viewer to slow down and think, and avoided fast paced vacuous imagery and verbiage. Rarely did their ER blow-up, or the hospital fall victim to a helicopter crash. While there were expeditious Emergency Room exhibits in the St Elsewhere series, they did not bounce back and forth the camera like a ping-pong in an attempt to keep us amused. Instead, they focused on dialogue, the characters, and most imortant the plot.

Its drama along with real and diverse characters, will ensure its place in history, as one of televisions best series. St. Elsewhere is a prime example of how big ratings mean very little in defining a shows value or place in Televisions hierarchy.