1996: ER stays on top of the TV ratings

 

For the second year running, ER is the most-watched show on TV and it is really cooking. I continued my run of picking episodes with intriguing directors:

Match Game - directed by Thomas Schlamme, who I would later know quite well from Sports Night and The West Wing;

Take These Broken Wings - directed by Anthony Edwards, which I just thought was cool;

Homeless for the Holidays - directed by Davis Guggenheim, whose later claim to fame would be for directing This Might Get Loud and An Inconvenient Truth, but I'm now seeing tons of TV credits which makes more sense than the feature-length documentaries.

It was the supporting cast that kept things really fun, though, with plenty of familiar and soon-to-be familiar faces like Marg Helgenberger, Kirsten Dunst, and Jake Lloyd (presumably on the very cusp of auditioning for Anakin Skywalker). 

I got to see some of the continuing drama of Susan and her sister's baby, and I could see myself checking back on this show when I'm all done here. Mind you, it still has to take a number behind Dallas, and I won't pretend that a 15 season run isn't a little daunting.