St. Elsewhere isn't only one of televisions all-time best dramas, but is arguably the greatest hospital drama of them all. Take this episode, "AIDS and Comfort". The episode was produced in 1983 when AIDS was hardly on the public's conscience as it would be only two years later. The resulting panic of the staff, the media frenzy and how it compromises a much needed blood drive seems cliché over 24 years later, but this is remarkable stuff for 1983. This episode not only takes the unfounded paranoia about AIDS head on, but it also addresses the misconception that AIDS is strictly a homosexual disease. Not only an episode way ahead of its time, but sadly an episode that's still all too timely considering the prejudice AIDS patients continue to live with. And if this episode hadn't broken enough fresh ground with the AIDS plot alone, it also delves into the whole problem of athletes using steroids to gain an edge. In this case it's a young teen tennis prodigy whose own father is having her take them to advance her career. St. Elsewhere has been off the air for over 18 years, but for me it continues to be head and shoulders above "ER". St. Elsewhere paved the way and "ER" grabbed all the glory and big time ratings.
2 Reviews
The First Volley
Hitchcoc18 March 2022
As previously stated, most of us in 1983 heard of this strange virus that apparently came out of Africa. It was a horror because it allowed other diseases to ravage the people who contracted it. Because it was mostly spread by homosexual contact, the victim were vilified. I had a minister tell me that these people could go quietly to hell. We need to cure other diseases, not waste resources. This episode nicely presents the issues in a very short space.
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