St. Elsewhere - Overview

Overview

The series had a large ensemble cast, a "realistic" visual style, and a profusion of interlocking stories, and could be regarded as something of a "serial" for its ongoing storylines that continued over the course of many episodes, and sometimes multiple seasons. Its influence can be seen in Northern Exposure, another Brand-Falsey series, as well as in other medical dramas, such as ER and Chicago Hope. The series was well regarded by critics and received 13 Emmys during its six-season run.

The producers for the series were Bruce Paltrow, Mark Tinker, John Masius, Tom Fontana, John Falsey and Abby Singer. Tinker, Masius, Fontana, and Paltrow wrote a number of episodes as well; other writers included John Tinker, John Ford Noonan, Charles H. Eglee, Eric Overmyer, Channing Gibson, and Aram Saroyan.

In addition to established actors Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels, St. Elsewhere is also noted for a strong ensemble cast that included David Morse, Alfre Woodard, Bruce Greenwood, Helen Hunt, Christina Pickles, Kyle Secor, Ed Begley, Jr., Stephen Furst, Howie Mandel, Mark Harmon and Denzel Washington. The series is credited with helping propel the careers of several St. Elsewhere performers, such as Begley, Hunt, Morse, Mandel, Harmon and Washington, to greater heights of film and television stardom, which they enjoyed subsequent to the show. Actor Tim Robbins's first major role was in the first three episodes of the program, in which he played domestic terrorist Andrew Reinhardt.

The show's main and end title theme was composed by famed jazz musician and composer Dave Grusin. Noted film and TV composer J.A.C. Redford wrote the music for the series (except for the pilot, which was scored by Grusin). No soundtrack was ever released, but the theme was released in two different versions: the original TV mix and edit appeared on TVT Records' compilation Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3: 70s & 80s, and Grusin recorded a full-length version (4:13) for inclusion on his Night Lines album, released in 1983.

Also a popular series in the United Kingdom, St. Elsewhere has been aired twice by two independent broadcasters. Channel 4 aired the series between 1983 and 1989, and then Sky One repeated it in a daily Midday timeslot during 1992-93. In 2012, Channel 4 began twice-weekly early morning repeats, usually at around 03:30. As of October 2012, series 4 is being shown. All 137 episodes are also available to view online at 4OD.