Some part of me is thinking that tonight’s ER had a bit of a political undercurrent. Gallant is going to Iraq even though he lets Lewis and County’s Lawyer (who might I add played the second Sunnydale High principle on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) believe he has been called up by the Army. He’s really going overseas to protect Carter and Neela in the event there was a lawsuit over the dead patient who’s chart he falsified on the previous episode. Wow that was a mouthful. Anyway, in this same episode Carrie Weaver’s wife Sandy, a firefighter, dies from injuries in a building collapse. Sandy’s family takes their son Henry away and refuses to let Carrie see him. So deployment to Iraq and Gay Rights in one episode. Anyone else think it’s a coincidence that this script made it to air in an election year? I don’t. I’m sad that Sandy’s dead but I think this is going to bring out a new side of Carrie as she fights for her son.

Tonight’s episode of ER was mediocre at best, but at least the story line progressed a little. To sum up, Elizabeth is dating around, Carter misses his annoying fiancee, Chen is back from China and taking care of her Dad, Nila freaks out in a hyperbolic chamber, and Kovac is sleeping with the new nurse. Nothing particularly special but it was an ok episode. Next week’s episode is supposed to be huge.

But anyway, if you didn’t know by now Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) is pregnant with Chuck’s (Donal Logue) baby! She told her dad in a bar while he was watching a Maple Leafs game (somehow I think Donal got that written into the show being Canadian and all). Her Dad asks if he’s gonna marry her to which Chuck replies “If she’ll have me.” OOOH! I got all misty. I love Sherry and Donal together on screen! Ok I’m over it.

I guess I have a real thing for Donal cause he reminds me of Jason. It’s not just the Canadian thing either. They’re both kinda tall, chubby, goofy, and have a little bit of the red hair thing going (but not in that obnoxious Little Orphan Annie kind of way) even though Jason’s had some help from L’oreal. Anyway, I love them both (Jason a little bit more… ok a lot more).

Tonight was a sad night. ER rocked the drama hardcore, and every time they do that I have to say goodbye to a character I love. In tonight’s episode, I almost had to say goodbye to two characters I love. Tonight’s episode was Paul McCrane’s last appearance on ER. Rocket Romano is no more. Last season he lost his arm to the tail rotor of an helicopter. After some poignant flashbacks from his helipad incident, Dr. Romano was crushed to death by a severely damaged helicopter falling from the same helipad on the hospital roof where he lost his arm.

I was caught completely off guard. Rocket was always one of my favorite characters because he had so much depth. Yes, he was evil, but he loved his Lizzie and everyone knew it. I actually had hope that this season she would break down and hook up with him and maybe soften him a little bit. I guess I’m a mush about Rocket. I’m still very sad to see Paul McCrane leave the cast of ER. I’ve loved him since he was in Fame.

Tonight we almost lost Chuck. Susan had been struggling with whether or not she loved Chuck and whether or not she wanted to be with him. Her confusion cleared itself up really quickly when she thought he’d been in the wrecked helicopter. After finding out that he wasn’t she was thrown into another panic when he passed out from a splenic injury. Of course Lizzie saved him, but still.. twice in one episode? Are you people trying to give me a panic attack? Anyway, Chuck is played by Donal Logue. For those of you who don’t remember, he played the greasy crazy cab driver on those MTV commercials in the 90’s. Yeah! That guy! Anyway I think he’s really cute and an amazing character actor. I hope he gets more screen time on ER. Anyway, I’m still in love with Sherry Stringfield. Yes I know I’m weird. Goodnight

I saw the episode of ER where Ewan guest starred as a convenience store robber visiting from (I’d guess) Scotland. He makes the rest of the actors around him, namely Julianna Marguiles, look like amateurs. He steals every scene he’s in and looks damned good doing it. I wish there were more people on screen that cared as much about their craft as he seems to. Bad writing on both TV and in movies is unavoidable, but Mr. McGregor can shine even through mediocre dialogue and poor action.

Have you ever stopped to think about how Black males are portrayed on TV? I, like most Americans, watch way too much TV, and I have seen my share of Black male characters in various shows (sitcoms, dramas, etc). I’ve recently noticed that there are only two types of Black male characters portrayed on TV. There is the happy go lucky clown type (Will Smith in Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Jimmy Walker in Good Times), and there is the ultra-broody-sometimes-violent Black male who’s always angry (Eriq LaSalle in ER, John Amos in Good Times).

Notice that though some of the characters were on sitcoms, they were still broody. Good Times was not a drama, yet the James Evans character was more angry, frustrated, or serious than not. Granted John Amos is a talented actor and he can do comedy as well as drama, but his character was really not written to be funny in any way. Odd for a sitcom, eh?

The only exception to this rule of note is Bill Cosby. On all of his shows, he strayed from playing too far into either stereotype. He was funny, without being too slapstickish (most of the time) and still could play the stern father figure convincingly. Of course this stems from the fact that Bill Cosby was conceivably the most famous Black man on network television for most of his career and had massive amounts of creative control. It seems as though most of the other characters fall into one of the two above mentioned camps. I am sure that there are exceptions, but none of them is so clear cut as the Cos.

If you have any thoughts or blatant exceptions to this rule, feel free to post them in the comments.