It's Like Having to Toss Out Your Favorite Blanket

For a good part of the past fifteen years, my Thursday nights have ended the same way. Well, that is until recent events (marriage, career, a son, and the advent of DVR) have forced and at the same time enabled me to watch it at my convenience. 

ER. I can easily classify it as my favorite TV show of all time. There have only been a handful of episodes that I haven't truly loved. The one they aired as a live episode was pretty lame. I took issue with Keri Weaver's Lesbianism, but continued to tune in. 

I knew that it would be hard for them to end the show well, and a couple of seasons back I felt as though they had missed their chance to go out on a high note. But with the Fall 2007 season, the writers and actors have come back in true ER fashion, and have since delivered on what I believe is the most astonishing season ever. I have loved watching the episodes of the past few weeks and seeing how they would manage to bring the original cast members back through one last time. 

I look forward to the last three episodes with excitement and sadness, but also a true sense of nostalgia. I have followed this show for exactly one half of my life. I know it will live on in syndication for decades to come, but it is still hard to see it go. 

As I think back on fifteen years of ER, I realize that most of the show's most memorable moments have occurred during the departure of the characters. In fact, my two favorite episodes are the final episodes of Mark Green and Peter Benton. 

In fact, Benton's last dialogue with Carter is my all-time favorite line of the show:

Carter, choking back tears, "Hey Peter...I'm a good doctor because of you."

Benton, smiling and beginning to jog away, "No you're not. But keep trying."