It occurred to me that it's been a few years since this episode aired which means there must be quite a few people who don't know how this episode turned out, not to mention the many people who NEVER saw it (myself included). Frankly the title is a bit of a spoiler.

Here's what people are going to think:

Hmmm... the "Love" refers to the West Wing guy's love for his wife, the "Labor" refers to the fact that she's in labor, the "Lost" means...uh-oh.

So here they are going through much of the episode with a mounting feeling of dread before they find out that dread was justified. That's not what keeps people's eyes glued to their TV set. It's the not knowing that keeps them coming back. That's what kept me watching to see if Abby would find that baby. That's what kept me watching to see if Jim Belushi and his kid would pull through. (I know, I know. Not the best examples but it's all I could think of at the moment.)

-- Dan (d_garrett001@hotmail.com), March 07, 2001

Answers

Actually, this episode is pretty well-known, and is from the 1st or 2nd season (*LOL* please correct me if I'm wrong about that!); ER has been in syndication for several years--not only has this episode aired on the TNT cycle several times, but across the US at least on many, many stations, so I don't really think there's much "spoiler" type information. The title of the eipsode is the same as a Shakespeare play; I'm not sure how spoilerish that is either. JMNSHO, mind you.

~~tarragon~~

-- ~~tarragon~~ (Zavijah@operamail.com), March 08, 2001.

I'm with Tarragon...ER often uses the name of a song or poem or a famous phrase. Such Sweet Sorrow...The Peace of Wild Things...Love's Labor Lost. So why lose the lost?! In fact, I've found that distracting.

A bit OT: I think I heard that tonights airing of LLL will be uninterrupted and hosted by Anthony Edwards. Is that correct?

-- Diana (dilynne@juno.com), March 08, 2001.

"I think I heard that tonights airing of LLL will be uninterrupted and hosted by Anthony Edwards. Is that correct?" I heard "uncut" not "uninterrupted." This probably means that if any scenes have been cut out for rerun airing, they will be back in.

-- Driad (driad@mailcity.com), March 08, 2001.

Well, I wonder if the are going to change the title card as well? I'm of the opinion that we are guessing they "'lost the Lost' because it gives away the ending" only because a huge portion of us know how it ends. At the time of the original viewing, we didn't. In fact, I picked up on the Shakespeare reference immediately, having just read it the previous year, and was not set for such a sobering episode. Shakespeare's Love's Labour Lost is, in fact, a comedy.

And my opinions re: the uncut vs. uninterrupted debate: If Anthony Edwards is "hosting" the episode and offering commentary, I'm sure there will be fewer commercials than we're used to. Perhaps not totally "uninterrupted," but definitely noticable. They have to make up the time somehow. ER has always been known for running long, even in the first seasons.

-- Cathy (cybercathy@wi.rr.com), March 08, 2001.

NBC's latest previews have been referring to this episode as "Dr. Green and The Birth".

-- Amie (worry_not@hotmail.com), March 08, 2001.

That was IT with Anthony Edwards "hosting" the episode? Coming out for 60 seconds and giving a grade-school-assembly presentation of A Very Special Episode? LOL.

-- Ellen (eedgert1@twcny.rr.com), March 08, 2001.

yes, that was hardly *hosting.* and did anyone get the voiceover blurb right before anthony edwards started talking, calling the episode "love's labor" when both the title on the screen AND edwards referred to it by its complete title? is this yet another pathetic attempt to convince us that this really is some new and improved version of "love's labor lost?"

by the way, i had never seen it before, so i was properly amazed and tearful. carter and deb/jing-mei look so young! also, when did ming- na stop being credited as ming-na wen, as she was in this episode?

-- e. kerry (efields01@yahoo.com), March 08, 2001.

What time did this start and what did Anthony Edwards say? I turned it on before 10 and the ep had already started (Mark & Doug playing outside). So apparently they started early and maybe AE didn't say much.

-- Driad (driad@mailcity.com), March 09, 2001.

This episode was not much different than the original, maybe a few different cuts than what i remember (i have seen it a lot) but basically the exact same episode. AE only spoke for 60 secs, kind of dumb.... Ming-Na Wen left after "House of Cards" and when she returned was known as Ming-Na and also her characters was changed from Deb to Jing-Mei. Bye, and to all those monkey butts who were being stupid on this BB, go away and let us talk about ER.

-- Steven Jacobson (steven@episodeguides.com), March 10, 2001.

Steven - THANK YOU for that last comment!! Certain people have to ruin this board for those of us who want to talk about ER (imagine that!!) and not climb on a soapbox!

-- Robin (rkonger@hotmail.com), March 11, 2001.

Oh please! My goodness!! If you're gonna namecall, at least gimme a higher-order primate....

-- Andreaux (andscott@email.com), March 12, 2001.