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Steve Arino
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A recent email I sent to Brian Ward, CEO of SHOUT! Factory:
Dear Brian,
I have a proposal for SHOUT! Factory: to make a deal with 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) for SHOUT! Factory to issue, for the first time EVER on DVD, "St. Elsewhere: The Complete Series," showcasing all 137 hour-long episodes of the hit '80s Hospital Drama "St. Elsewhere" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way each episode originally aired on the NBC Television Network.
Created by Bruce Paltrow, "St. Elsewhere" originally aired on NBC for 6 seasons from October 26, 1982 - May 25, 1988; the show centered on the staff and patients of the fictional St. Eligius Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts--among them Dr. Donald Westphall (Ed Flanders), the Chief of Services at the Hospital; Dr. Mark Craig (William Daniels), a brilliant cardiac surgeon with an even bigger ego; Dr. Victor Ehrlich (Ed Begley, Jr.), Dr. Craig's protege and recent Med School graduate; Dr. Wayne Fiscus (Howie Mandel), a Lithuanian First-Year Resident who served as Comic Relief (given Howie's real-life background as a Stand-Up Comedian); and Dr. Phil Chandler (Denzel Washington), the unsure-of-himself African-American Hospital Resident.
Other characters included on the series included Dr. Bobby Caldwell (Mark Harmon), a Plastic Surgeon who eventually left the Hospital after becoming HIV Positive and eventually dying of AIDS the following year (after Mark Harmon in real life left for a short-lived film career, eventually returning to TV on the JAG spin-off "NCIS"); Mrs. Hufnagel (Florence Halop), a frequent Hospital patient; and Nurse Helen Rosenthal (Christina Pickles), the Head Nurse.
Though "NYPD Blue" gets the credit, 6 years earlier, "St. Elsewhere" delivered Network TV's first-full Nude Scene when, in his last regular episode (before the finale), Ed Flanders dropped his pants and mooned actor Ronny Cox (joining the cast that season as Dr. John Gideon, the new Chief of Services at the Hospital), showing his naked *** and subsequently delivered Prime-Time Network TV's first-full Deliberate Nude Scene.
The Series Finale telecast on May 25, 1988 was one of Network TV's memorable Series Finales. Among other notable events: after a months-long Absence, Dr. Westphall returned; Dr. Craig and his wife, Ellen (Bonnie Bartlett, William Daniels' real-life wife), left Boston for the Greener Pastures of Cleveland, Ohio, where Ellen took a Job in Food Service; after a series-long battle with Liver Cancer, Dr. Daniel Auschlander (Norman Lloyd), died of a Massive Stroke in his Office (by comparison, Auschlander's portrayer, Norman Lloyd, is still very much alive on Planet Earth, about to turn 106 years old next month, having been born on November 8, 1914 in Jersey City, New Jersey and raised soon after birth in Brooklyn, New York); after a 3-year Hospital Residency, Dr. Fiscus walked out of the Hospital for the last time; and the entire 6-year run of "St. Elsewhere" was revealed to be the Figment of the Imagination of Dr. Westphall's severely, non-verbal Autistic son, Tommy (Chad Allen). Dr. Westphall, likewise, wasn't really a Doctor, but rather revealed to be a Widower Construction Worker who had his own father, Daniel (Norman Lloyd), returning from the Dead as Westphall's own widower father, Daniel, helping Donald raise Tommy; in the years since, reruns of "St. Elsewhere" have aired in Syndication, as well as on Nickelodeon and its sister network, TV Land, with "St. Elsewhere" making its Nick at Nite debut on April 29, 1996 as part of an all-night sneak peek of TV Land (then officially known as Nick at Nite's TV Land), after which reruns aired daily on TV Land from 1996-2000 as well as on Saturday nights on Nick at Nite at 11 P.M. ET from May 4, 1996 - July 6, 1996 as part of a rotating block of Programming known as "Nick at Nite's TV Land Sampler."
After its Nick at Nite stint ended, reruns of "St. Elsewhere" continued to air on Nick at Nite as part of a week-long "Greatest Episodes Marathon" simulcast on both Nick at Nite and TV Land from June 30, 1997 - July 4, 1997--its final time on Nick at Nite.
Tentatively, SHOUT! Factory shall issue "St. Elsewhere: The Complete Series" on DVD on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at a cost of ONLY $49.99 wherever DVDs are sold.
The DVD box set of "St. Elsewhere: The Complete Series" shall also include a number of Bonus Features--including, but not limited to, the following: "Ed Flanders Remembered," a DVD featurette where the living original "St. Elsewhere" cast members remember the life and legacy of Ed Flanders, who shot and killed himself at age 60 in February 1995 in rural Denny, California after a lifetime of Chronic Back Pain coupled with Clinical Depression--a major highlight of which shall be the famous moment where Ed Flanders bared his nude *** on camera; "Norman Lloyd: Hollywood's Oldest Living Memory," a DVD featurette where Norman Lloyd recalls his own life and legacy as Hollywood's Oldest Living Memory; and various promos and interviews from NBC, Nick at Nite, TV Land and the Bravo Cable Network.
Sincerely,
Steve Arino
Dear Brian,
I have a proposal for SHOUT! Factory: to make a deal with 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) for SHOUT! Factory to issue, for the first time EVER on DVD, "St. Elsewhere: The Complete Series," showcasing all 137 hour-long episodes of the hit '80s Hospital Drama "St. Elsewhere" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way each episode originally aired on the NBC Television Network.
Created by Bruce Paltrow, "St. Elsewhere" originally aired on NBC for 6 seasons from October 26, 1982 - May 25, 1988; the show centered on the staff and patients of the fictional St. Eligius Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts--among them Dr. Donald Westphall (Ed Flanders), the Chief of Services at the Hospital; Dr. Mark Craig (William Daniels), a brilliant cardiac surgeon with an even bigger ego; Dr. Victor Ehrlich (Ed Begley, Jr.), Dr. Craig's protege and recent Med School graduate; Dr. Wayne Fiscus (Howie Mandel), a Lithuanian First-Year Resident who served as Comic Relief (given Howie's real-life background as a Stand-Up Comedian); and Dr. Phil Chandler (Denzel Washington), the unsure-of-himself African-American Hospital Resident.
Other characters included on the series included Dr. Bobby Caldwell (Mark Harmon), a Plastic Surgeon who eventually left the Hospital after becoming HIV Positive and eventually dying of AIDS the following year (after Mark Harmon in real life left for a short-lived film career, eventually returning to TV on the JAG spin-off "NCIS"); Mrs. Hufnagel (Florence Halop), a frequent Hospital patient; and Nurse Helen Rosenthal (Christina Pickles), the Head Nurse.
Though "NYPD Blue" gets the credit, 6 years earlier, "St. Elsewhere" delivered Network TV's first-full Nude Scene when, in his last regular episode (before the finale), Ed Flanders dropped his pants and mooned actor Ronny Cox (joining the cast that season as Dr. John Gideon, the new Chief of Services at the Hospital), showing his naked *** and subsequently delivered Prime-Time Network TV's first-full Deliberate Nude Scene.
The Series Finale telecast on May 25, 1988 was one of Network TV's memorable Series Finales. Among other notable events: after a months-long Absence, Dr. Westphall returned; Dr. Craig and his wife, Ellen (Bonnie Bartlett, William Daniels' real-life wife), left Boston for the Greener Pastures of Cleveland, Ohio, where Ellen took a Job in Food Service; after a series-long battle with Liver Cancer, Dr. Daniel Auschlander (Norman Lloyd), died of a Massive Stroke in his Office (by comparison, Auschlander's portrayer, Norman Lloyd, is still very much alive on Planet Earth, about to turn 106 years old next month, having been born on November 8, 1914 in Jersey City, New Jersey and raised soon after birth in Brooklyn, New York); after a 3-year Hospital Residency, Dr. Fiscus walked out of the Hospital for the last time; and the entire 6-year run of "St. Elsewhere" was revealed to be the Figment of the Imagination of Dr. Westphall's severely, non-verbal Autistic son, Tommy (Chad Allen). Dr. Westphall, likewise, wasn't really a Doctor, but rather revealed to be a Widower Construction Worker who had his own father, Daniel (Norman Lloyd), returning from the Dead as Westphall's own widower father, Daniel, helping Donald raise Tommy; in the years since, reruns of "St. Elsewhere" have aired in Syndication, as well as on Nickelodeon and its sister network, TV Land, with "St. Elsewhere" making its Nick at Nite debut on April 29, 1996 as part of an all-night sneak peek of TV Land (then officially known as Nick at Nite's TV Land), after which reruns aired daily on TV Land from 1996-2000 as well as on Saturday nights on Nick at Nite at 11 P.M. ET from May 4, 1996 - July 6, 1996 as part of a rotating block of Programming known as "Nick at Nite's TV Land Sampler."
After its Nick at Nite stint ended, reruns of "St. Elsewhere" continued to air on Nick at Nite as part of a week-long "Greatest Episodes Marathon" simulcast on both Nick at Nite and TV Land from June 30, 1997 - July 4, 1997--its final time on Nick at Nite.
Tentatively, SHOUT! Factory shall issue "St. Elsewhere: The Complete Series" on DVD on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 at a cost of ONLY $49.99 wherever DVDs are sold.
The DVD box set of "St. Elsewhere: The Complete Series" shall also include a number of Bonus Features--including, but not limited to, the following: "Ed Flanders Remembered," a DVD featurette where the living original "St. Elsewhere" cast members remember the life and legacy of Ed Flanders, who shot and killed himself at age 60 in February 1995 in rural Denny, California after a lifetime of Chronic Back Pain coupled with Clinical Depression--a major highlight of which shall be the famous moment where Ed Flanders bared his nude *** on camera; "Norman Lloyd: Hollywood's Oldest Living Memory," a DVD featurette where Norman Lloyd recalls his own life and legacy as Hollywood's Oldest Living Memory; and various promos and interviews from NBC, Nick at Nite, TV Land and the Bravo Cable Network.
Sincerely,
Steve Arino
