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CHICAGO HOPE, starring Mandy Patinkin, Adam Arkin, Hector Elizondo, E.G. Marshall; creator-executive producer David E. Kelley; Twentieth Television; previews tonight at 8, regular time-period premiere, Thursday night at 10 on CBS. (FOUR ZAPPERS)
E.R., starring Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Sherry Stringfield; created by Michael Crichton; executive producers Crichton and John Wells; Warner Bros. Television; previews tomorrow night at 9, regular time-period premiere, Thursday night at 10 on NBC. (FOUR ZAPPERS)
Series are rated by the Kitman Remote Control Gizmo Ratings System (Pat. Pending). Four zappers means a show is very good. Three: above average. Two: mediocre. One: the usual trash. Zero means the show has nothing to recommend it at all. `HOW CAN they put two great medical shows on against each other?" asked Jerry Orbach's wife, Elaine, at the National Academy of TV Arts and Sciences Emmy night dinner at Tavern on the Green last week. Right away I knew she didn't have what it takes to be a network executive. Anybody who can't figure that out should throw away her resumes.
The way two networks put on the two hottest drama shows of the year opposite each other - Michael Crichton's much-anticipated NBC medical show "E.R." against David E. Kelley's much-anticipated "Chicago Hope," a medical show for CBS Thursday nights at 10 - is what's called counter-programing. It's a clear alternative.
Both are medical shows, yes. But they're in different hospitals. One is on the North Side of Chicago ("Hope"), the other on the South Side ("E.R."). And they're on different floors and, more importantly, in different departments: "E.R." is emergency room; "Hope" is surgery. One is about rich, older doctors ("Hope"); the other is about younger doctors who...