Nobody ever said television was fair. It certainly hasn't been to the CBS medical drama "Chicago Hope."
However, despite the trials the series has been through and the fact that the show has been deemed "Hope"-less on several occasions, the patient still has a heartbeat. As a matter of fact, "Chicago Hope" airs its 100th episode on Wednesday (9 p.m., Ch. 2) - which is a considerable achievement for any series.When "Chicago Hope" premiered in September 1993, there hadn't been a hit medical drama on network TV in years. It had been seven years since the moderately successful "St. Elsewhere" ended, and shows like "Dr. Kildare," "Ben Casey" and "Medical Center" were but fading memories.
Ironically, 1993 was the year that not one but two medical dramas debuted. And opposite each other on the schedule.
The other series, of course, was "ER." And we know what happened with that show - it quickly became the hottest thing on TV, shooting to the top of the ratings.
As for "Chicago Hope," well, it got pummeled in the ratings. Pounded. Massacred.
Not that it was fair. Despite the fact that both "Hope" and "ER" are set in Chicago hospitals, they are very different shows. And, back in 1993, they were two of the best new shows on television.
That first season, "Chicago Hope" bordered on TV greatness. Created, written and executive produced by David E. Kelley (whose other shows include "Picket Fences," "Ally McBeal" and "The Practice"), "Hope" was fast-paced, quirky, lively and surprising.
Fortunately, CBS didn't give up "Hope." But it did beat a strategic retreat, moving the show to Monday nights. It never became a top-10 hit. It never even approached the ratings that went to "ER."
But "Chicago Hope" did become a perfectly successful series, doing well on Monday nights and carving out what seemed to be a safe niche for itself.
TV isn't fair, however. CBS signed a big development deal with Stephen Bochco, the producer of series like "Hill Street Blues," "L.A. Law" and "NYPD Blue." And what Bochco wants, he generally gets.
What he wanted was the Monday-night time slot occupied by "Chicago Hope." And, lo and behold, that's right where CBS scheduled Bochco's police drama "Brooklyn South" last season.
As for "Chicago Hope," it was shuffled off to Wednesday nights, where CBS's fortunes had been failing for years. And, not surprisingly, its ratings plummeted - down nearly 20 percent last season.
In television, however, everything is relative. And even those lower ratings were better than what CBS had gotten on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. in quite some time. So, against all odds, the show survived into this, its sixth season.
(And odds are it will be back for a seventh season as well.)
Every once in a while, there is some fairness in TV. Kelley - who worked for Boch-co on "L.A. Law" - can take some solace in the fact that one of the things that drove "Brooklyn South" off the air was strong ratings for his ABC show "The Practice," which aired opposite "Brooklyn South" last spring.
All of which brings us to the 100th episode of "Chicago Hope." Which, as it turns out, is one of the best episodes the series has turned out in the past couple of years.
Not that that's exactly a good thing. A lot of what makes this episode so good just points out that "Chicago Hope" has never equaled that stellar first season.
The biggest reason is Kelley himself. He left the writing and producing of the show to others after that first season, moving on to other projects. And his successors have never recaptured the magic.
It also hurt that the series' most distinctive character, Dr. Jeffrey Geiger, was gone from the series early in that second season when Mandy Patinkin left the show.
The series lost another great character, the hospital's lawyer, Alan Birch, when actor Peter MacNicol decided he'd rather not be on the show if Kelley weren't writing it. (MacNicol is now playing another lawyer on "Ally McBeal" - a show Kelley still writes.)
Roxanne Hart survived that second season of "Hope" as Camille Shutt, whose stormy relationship with her husband, Dr. Aaron Shutt (Adam Arkin), drove much of the story the first season. But the new writers couldn't figure out what to do with her and she was gone at the end of year No. 2.
Well, they're all back on Wednesday night - even MacNicol as Alan, who exited the series when he was shot to death.
The occasion is the hospital's 20th anniversary. On his way to the big dinner, chief of staff Dr. Phillip Watters (Hector Elizondo) collapses with a high fever. Rather delirious (or is he?), he sees the ghost of Alan, who imparts some advice along with a good deal of humor.
Phillip can't quite believe it's Alan. And he can't quite believe it when Alan tells him that "one of the perks of the afterlife" is that he now knows "everything."
"Go ahead. Ask me something. Anything," Alan says.
"All right," Phillip says. "Did O.J. do it?"
"Something hard, Phillip," Alan dead-pans.
Camille, who moved to California, is back in town. And Aaron realizes he's still in love with her - one of the best plot points the character has had in years.
There's also a return appearance by former emergency room doctor Danny Nyland (Thomas Gibson, who's gone on to bigger things as the Greg half of "Dharma & Greg"). It's way off the wall - and can only be appreciated by viewers who were watching while he was a regular cast member.
And, naturally, there's a relatively brief appearance by Patinkin as the ever-unusual Jeffrey. He does, of course, get a chance to sing. And he has a couple of perfectly lovely scenes, one with Elizondo and one with Ar-kin and Hart.
All of which leaves a bittersweet taste. It's a reminder that "Chicago Hope" was once a much better show than it is today. And a reminder that, next week, we'll be back to the less interesting characters who populate the show nowadays.
Still, you have to admire "Chicago Hope" for beating the odds and making it to 100 episodes. Five years ago, there certainly wasn't much of anybody who expected it to.