St. Eligius is a poor Boston teaching hospital often derided as St. Elsewhere. It refers to the perception that it's the elsewhere where unwanted patients and staff end up. Dr. Donald Westphall (Ed Flanders) is the kindly chief of medicine. Dr. Daniel Auschlander (Norman Lloyd) is the constantly dying chief of services. Dr. Mark Craig (William Daniels) is the pompous arrogant chief of surgery. The show starts with Dr. Victor Ehrlich (Ed Begley Jr.), jokey Dr. Wayne Fiscus (Howie Mandel), caring Dr. Jack Morrison (David Morse) and serious Dr. Philip Chandler (Denzel Washington) as residents. Helen Rosenthal (Christina Pickles) is the head nurse and Luther Hawkins (Eric Laneuville) is the always present orderly.Medical dramas have been around since forever. There are medical mystery procedural, movies, and also soaps. St. Elsewhere serves as an important transition into darker and more realistic TV hospital dramas paving the way to later shows such as ER. It follows multiple parallel intersecting stories which some are procedural and others serials. It also doesn't hurt that some interesting actors are on the show as regulars as well as guest stars. It doesn't have many female doctors which keeps the romantic intrigue at a minimum. It was another era. I remember liking the lesser character Peter White who seems to have a darker hidden side until they made him a rapist. The most lasting effect is its evolution of the medical drama although its most memorable aspect may be its controversial and much-derided finale. It's definitely a problematic ending but I refuse to deduct points for it.

I do not agree that this series was "soap-opera" like, although certainly one must care about the characters, identify with them and want to tune in (then again, I do not watch soap operas).Ed Flanders, as Dr. Westphal, is the indelible favorite; an empathic, non-egotistical doctor who cares about the patients, not profits. Bruce Paltrow deserves credit for the show; the likes of which I have never seen equaled ever again, on television.Dr. Daniel Craig (William Daniels) is excellent as the self-absorbed heart surgeon, Howie Mandel, Ed Begley, Mark Harmon, Terence Knox,Paul Sand, W.George Bailey and a well-varied cast each season made for an ever-changing theme; having not been a fan of hospital shows before (or after) this series, I would have to say is representative of its superiority, and creative story lines.While the show dealt with both sad and humorous medical issues, the stories were well-written, and actually gave the audience something to think about. One standout episode concerned Dr. Craig's heart transplant patient, Eve Layton, and her affect on the stalwart doctor. Howie Mandel and Ed Begley are the comic relief.Unfortunately at the end of the series, Ronny Cox portrayed the Chief of Medical Services, when the hospital is taken over by a conglomerate, at the expense of patient care. The sets of the hospital began to crumble (literally) representing the state of health care in the US which we have today. A brilliant analogy which was before its time. 10/10

Very simply the most provocative, intelligent, most well written, well casted and best acted drama in American television. Each character is defined, nuanced and consistently portrayed. The relationships between the characters are so real that it is like eavesdroping on real life...just witness Dr. Erlich and his relationship with Dr. Craig or Fiscus and anyone he comes in contact with. The subtle back-stories (like in the first year when in the first five episodes a nurse or orderly would make a comment about things missing from the supply room and by episode 6, the Bird man appears sitting in a nest that he had built from the missing supplies from the cabinet) are brilliant. And who could forget Dr. Morrison's face when he bent over to listen to his wife's heart (who died tragically without warning) in the body of the transplant patient after the surgery in the recovery room . I still get choked up at the thought of that heart wrenching moment. St. Elsewhere set the bar for ensemble drama's and the ER's and Grey's Anatomy's of the world are sophomoric by comparison. I had the good sense to tape every episode by the middle of the first year...so I have St. Elsewhere at my beck and call. I urge anyone who demands quality and intelligence in television drama to find St. Elsewhere in syndication or on DVD (if available.) It defies the norm, tackles subject that are still being avoided on television today. Hopefully it will be acknowledged as one of the best television has (had) to offer.

As groundbreaking as it was for the early 80s, unfortunately, St. Elsewhere hasn't aged well, especially compared to ER. Viewing them side by side, St. Elsewhere is quite a cheesy-type soap opera (yeah, ER has soap-like aspects, but it's a TON more realistic than St. Elsewhere ever was), with stilted, cliched plots.Too bad, though, that they can't work a way to get Dr. Craig to transfer to Chicago to replace Romano on ER -- that was one character worth saving :)