Medical dramas – a retrospective
ER (1994-2009)
Set in the emergency room at County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, ER follows various critical issues faced by the room’s physicians and staff. Running for 14 seasons with a total of 331 episodes, ER became the longest running primetime medical drama in American television history. The programme acted as a break out roles for now A-list actors such as George Clooney and Jennifer Aniston. Over the duration of the series, ER won 116 awards in total, including 23 Emmy Awards and the cast won four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Drama Series.
John Q (2002)
In the film John Q, John Quincy Archibald (Denzel Washington), a husband and father to a son with an enlarged heart, takes things into his own hands when his insurance won’t cover his son’s necessary heart transplant. John Q takes the hospital emergency room hostage until the doctors agree to perform the operation.
HOUSE MD (2004-2012)
A record-breaking medical TV drama starring Hugh Laurie (complete with a very impressive American accent), House follows genius doctor Dr. Gregory House as, absent of bedside manner or any etiquette at all, as he uses his intelligence to crack medical mysteries no other doctors can solve. The multi-award winning drama ran for 8 seasons with 177 episodes. House is a medical drama favourite and has received high critical acclaim for every season.
Grey’s Anatomy (2005 – Present)
Finishing its tenth season, Grey’s Anatomy is one of the most successful medical dramas in television. The series focuses on the lives of survival interns and residents as they gradually advance into seasoned doctors. The show both focuses on their professional and personal life, as all the characters overlap in both realms in one way or another. Grey’s Anatomy has won countless awards including the AFI TV Program of the Year.
Scrubs (2001-2010)
Scrubs, an American medical-comedy-drama TV series, follows the lives of employees at the Sacred Heart teaching hospital. Following the lives of trainee doctors as they evolve into fully qualified doctors and surgeons, the show takes a comic spin on a traditional medical drama. Scrubs ran for nine seasons and ended in 2010. The show has received countless awards and nominations including, 17 Emmy nominations winning 2 and three Golden Globe nominations.
The Good Doctor (2011)
Martin Blake (Orlando Blood) is a British medical student comes to the United States to begin his residency. Martin goes to unbelievable extremes in order to remain in the service of a female patient with kidney disorder. Premiering at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, the film received high praise.
Parkland (2013)
The emergency room of the Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas on November 22nd 1963 received the fatally wounded President JFK and seriously injured Governor of Texas. The hours that followed would change the world, as well as the lives of the doctors and nurses on duty that day. Parkland takes us inside the emergency room and introduces those little known people who had the toughest job in the world at that moment.
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