"Motherhood" | |
---|---|
ER episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 24 |
Directed by | Quentin Tarantino |
Written by | Lydia Woodward |
Produced by | |
Featured music | Martin Davich |
Cinematography by | Richard Thorpe |
Editing by | Jim Gross |
Production code | 456623 |
Original air date | May 11, 1995 |
Running time | 47 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Motherhood" is the twenty-fourth and penultimate episode of the first season of the American medical drama ER . Written by supervising producer Lydia Woodward and directed by Quentin Tarantino, the episode was first broadcast on NBC on May 11, 1995.
In the Mother's Day-themed episode, Susan Lewis helps her sister Chloe give birth, John Carter learns the true outcome of his surgical internship application, and Peter Benton is told tragic news about his mother. Writing the episode, Woodward said she did not create the script with Tarantino in mind, but that she did try to "gross out" the screenplay after learning he would direct.
In its initial airing, "Motherhood" received the highest rating of the week, in front of episodes from Friends and Seinfeld , and was watched in a total of 21.8 million homes by 33.1 million viewers. The episode also received generally positive reviews from critics, who enjoyed the episode but also said that for ER, the directing style of Tarantino did not stand out.
Late at night, Chloe (Kathleen Wilhoite) tells her sister Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield) that she is experiencing frequent contractions due to her pregnancy. At the hospital, Chloe gives birth and sings "Blackbird" to her newly born daughter, who she names "Little Susan" after her sister. On Mother's Day, Susan learns from her mother Cookie Lewis (Valerie Perrine) that she will have to help Chloe take care of her daughter. Meanwhile, John Carter (Noah Wyle) learns that he has not been accepted to the surgical internship he applied for, and Peter Benton (Eriq La Salle) learns that his mother has died. Additionally, Doug Ross (George Clooney) takes a long time to decide whether he wants to move in with his girlfriend Diane Leeds (Lisa Zane), who later rejects him after seeing him with his former girlfriend Linda. At night, Benton expresses his grief over his mother's death and Chloe sings "Blackbird" to help her baby fall asleep.
"Motherhood" was directed by Quentin Tarantino and written by ER supervising producer Lydia Woodward. Tarantino decided to come on board as director after George Clooney (the actor who was portraying Doug Ross on ER) gave him the idea after filming From Dusk till Dawn . Writing the episode, Woodward said that she did not create the script with Tarantino in mind, but did try to "gross out" the scenes featured in the episode after learning he would direct. [2] [3]
For his work on the episode, Tarantino received $30,000 from NBC. [4] Filming it, Tarantino said he "liked the ER style" and the use of Steadicams to shoot long takes. On set, the director encountered a problem with executive producer John Wells, who told him to go back and reshoot a scene. Tarantino said that the incident taught him that in television, the choices were actually made by the producers as it was "their show. I'm directing the episode, and then I'm leaving". [5] Julianna Margulies mentioned that Tarantino would only shoot one take for the scenes so the network would be forced to accept his cut of the episode without any interference. [6]
According to the ratings system developed by Nielsen Media Research, "Motherhood" was the highest-rated television episode of the week from May 8 to May 14, 1995, in front of episodes from Friends ("The One with the Birth") and Seinfeld ("The Face Painter") that aired the same week. [7] With a household rating of 22.9 and an audience share of 37, the NBC episode was watched by 33.1 million viewers in a total of 21.8 million homes. [8] [9]
The ER episode received generally positive reviews from critics, who gave generally positive notes to director Quentin Tarantino. [1] In a review from the Detroit Free Press , a critic said that the episode was "high-powered, fast-paced, [and] darkly funny", and said that the episode contained "sudden moments of intense, emotion-grabbing sentiment." [10] Writing for The Boston Globe , Frederic M. Biddle said that NBC's choice of hiring a film director like Tarantino was risky, but ultimately said that the "gift of mischief dazzles." [11]
Additionally, television critic Hal Boedeker simply called the episode "memorable", and said that it revealed "unexpected tenderness" from the director. [12] [13] In a positive note, David Zurawik from The Baltimore Sun compared Tarantino's dark humor to the jokes found in M*A*S*H and St. Elsewhere , [14] while Richard Helm, writing for the Edmonton Journal , said that he felt Tarantino was "[fighting] the temptation" of applying his "reputation on shock violence and dark humor" to the episode. [15] On a mixed review from The News-Press , Kinney Littlefield said that Tarantino's directing style on the episode was "edgy" but that for ER, it did not stand out. [16]
From the South Florida Sun Sentinel , Tom Jicha wrote that overall, the episode was not worse than others from the season. [17] Writing for The Indianapolis Star , Steve Hall gave the episode two and a half stars out of five, and said Tarantino's unique style of directing was "almost undetectable". [18] In his weekday column on the Lansing State Journal , Mike Hughes said the episode was not special compared to others on ER, writing that "Tarantino is smart enough to avoid overwhelming the show. He adds his few touches, but mainly lets ER be itself." [19] In 2019, Gold Derby ranked it as the 20th best episode in the series. [20]
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue including a pervasive use of profanity, and references to popular culture.
ER is an American medical drama television series created by Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994, to April 2, 2009, with a total of 331 episodes spanning 15 seasons. It was produced by Constant C Productions and Amblin Television, in association with Warner Bros. Television. ER follows the inner life of the emergency room (ER) of Cook County General Hospital in Chicago, and various critical issues faced by the department's physicians and staff.
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The first season of the American fictional drama television series ER aired from September 19, 1994 to May 18, 1995. This season, containing 25 episodes, is the longest running of the series.
The second season of the American fictional drama television series ER first aired on September 21, 1995, and concluded on May 16, 1996. The second season consists of 22 episodes.
The first season of the American sitcom Friends aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 18, 1995.
Quentin Tarantino is an American filmmaker who has directed ten films. He first began his career in the 1980s by directing and writing Love Birds In Bondage and writing, directing and starring in the black-and-white My Best Friend's Birthday, a partially lost amateur short film which was never officially released. He impersonated musician Elvis Presley in a small role in the sitcom The Golden Girls (1988), and briefly appeared in Eddie Presley (1992). As an independent filmmaker, he directed, wrote, and appeared in the violent crime thriller Reservoir Dogs (1992), which tells the story of six strangers brought together for a jewelry heist. Proving to be Tarantino's breakthrough film, it was named the greatest independent film of all time by Empire. Tarantino's screenplay for Tony Scott's True Romance (1993) was nominated for a Saturn Award. Also in 1993, he served as an executive producer for Killing Zoe and wrote two other films.
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Justified: City Primeval is an American neo-Western crime drama television miniseries developed by showrunners Dave Andron and Michael Dinner. The series continues the story from Justified taking inspiration from the Elmore Leonard novel City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit and short story "Fire in the Hole". Timothy Olyphant returns to star as Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, with Paul Calderón also reprising his role as Detective Raymond Cruz from the 1998 crime comedy film Out of Sight, a film adaptation of Leonard's 1996 novel of the same name. A world premiere was held on June 1, 2023, at the 12th ATX Television Festival, and the series premiered on FX on July 18, 2023, with back-to-back episodes. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
"Ambush" is the premiere episode of the fourth season of the American medical drama ER. The 70th episode overall, it was written by executive producer Carol Flint and directed by Thomas Schlamme and it was first broadcast on NBC on September 25, 1997, as a live episode, filmed twice for the East and West Coast. The episode was also pre-filmed in the event a technical issue happened.