Stat!

1 9 9 1 (USA)
6 x 30 minute episodes

Dr Tony Menzies (Dennis Boutsikaris) is the senior resident physician overseeing the chaos of the ER room at Hudson Memorial Hospital in New York City while trying to mentor idealistic new resident Dr Elizabeth Newberry (Alison La Placa).

The ER is staffed by highly skilled and fiercely dedicated physicians whose dark, off-beat sense of humour is their only emotional safety valve.

Dr Lewis “Cowboy” Doniger (Casey Biggs) finds time to be very popular with the ladies between saving lives; former Vietnam nurse turned doctor Willie Burns (Angela Bassett) has seen it all; hapless orderly Julio Oscar (Julio Oscar Mechoso) tries to play by the book, but everyone else is too busy to pay attention, and hospital administrator Jeanette Lemp (Alix Ellias) judges people by the medical insurance they carry.

The hospital’s harried administrator Leonard Sorkin was played by David Margulies, Ron Canada played Nurse Anderson “Mary” Roche (embodying every characteristic of gay stereotyping from the lisp to the limp wrist), Jose Perez was put-upon orderly Eddie Diaz, and Gerrit Graham co-starred as the nervous Dr Gus Rivers, who had no sense of humour to speak of.

This short-lived ABC sitcom – a semi-revival of A.E.S. Hudson Street (1978) – was co-created and produced by Danny Arnold, who was responsible for Barney Miller.

Despite Arnold’s involvement, the writing was poor, the plots were terrible, the laugh track was overdone, and the critics hated it, pronouncing the show DOA.

Dr Tony Menzies
Dennis Boutsikaris
Dr Elizabeth Newberry
Alison La Placa
Nurse Anderson ‘Mary’ Roche
Ron Canada
Dr Willie Burns
Angela Bassett
Nurse C
Cynthia Lea Clark
Julio Oscar
Julio Oscar Mechoso
Dr Gus Rivers
Gerrit Graham
Dr Lewis “Cowboy” Doniger
Casey Biggs
Jeanette Lemp
Alix Elias
Leonard Sorkin
David Margulies
Eddie Diaz
Jose Perez
Hesh Cooper
Allan Arbus