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See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge Archive-name: tv/er-series/more-info Posting-Frequency: monthly URL: http://www.digiserve.com/er/erdex.html ER FAQ 5.00: Finding Out More About "ER" MeMiceElfAnI Productions Copyright 1997-99 by Rose Cooper; content cannot be used without expressed written permission of the author. Last Updated: 11/27/98 by Rose "MotherFAQer" Cooper SECTION EIGHT: FINDING OUT MORE ABOUT "ER" 8.1 Are there any books about the show? Yes. One is called "Behind the Scenes at ER", written by Janine Pourroy and published by Ballantine Books in New York. The cover price is $15.00 (US). It contains an episode guide to the first season of the show as well as a wealth of information about the show's actors, characters, writers, directors and locations. There's also a book called "The ER Companion", by Stephen Spignisi. The "ER Companion" is a very different book from "Behind the Scenes at ER", and for that reason is a worthwhile addition to any ER fan's library. You'll find very thorough reviews of all of the first season episodes, including complete patient histories. There's also a comprehensive glossary of terms and a quiz section at the back of the book. My only complaint is that it only covers season 1 -- the picture of Jeanie Boulet being included among the main cast on the books cover is a bit of a con. Worth having, but buy "Behind the Scenes at ER" first. -(Thanks to Shea Bennett for the above review.) BasicBooks, a division of Harper Collins, has published "The Medicine of ER", by Harlan Gibbs, M.D., and Alan Duncan Ross, M.D. This is a very interesting book about exactly what the title says: a technical look at the medical procedures performed on the show, written for a layman's vocabulary. There's even an entire chapter on "Love's Labor Lost". "The ER Files" is a book by John Binns and Mark Jones which became available in the UK in December 1997. It is mainly a text book, with detailed episode guides, separating each episode into character threads. It covers the first three seasons, and is 260 pages long. In England it costs seven pounds. -(Information courtesy Ed Griffiths) Another book new on the scene is titled "Bedside Manners: George Clooney and ER", by Sam Keenlyside. Vanessa Rey told me about this book, and ironically just a short while after that, Phyl plopped it down on my lap for a little [ahem] "light reading". Published in 1998, it primarily focuses on Clooney, but it has detailed (though, according to Phyl and the [ahem] "light reading" that I did of it, some key info is missing) reviews of ER episodes through season 3. It also includes "the authorative ER drinking game" [hmmm], pictures of Clooney and cast (a very cute one of Clooney and Noah Wyle caught my eye), and a hilarious "Mad Magazine" cartoon parody of "ER"; damn, that was funny. I'd recommend it highly, 'cept Keenlyside sorta got some Alt.TV.ER Page info mixed-up in his "ER Website Guide". But since he gave these pages three stars, we forgive him... -(Information courtesy Ed Griffiths) *8.2 Where can I go on the Internet to learn more about "ER"? There is a newsgroup devoted to discussion of the show, <alt.tv.er>. There is also a newsgroup especially for British "ER" fans, called <uk.media.tv.er>, and one for Italian fans, <it.fan.er>. On April 30, 1998, a new group was born: <alt.tv.er.creative>, which was developed for the posting and discussion of "ER"-related fanfiction (see 8.5 for more information on fanfic). *And on October 5, 1998, Yet Another Bastid Chyld was added to the "ER" Newsgroups Family: <alt.binaries.tv.er>, for the "posting of images, sound and video files concerned with ER and the actors from ER" (from the control message sent by Tom Coates). If you can't find these newsgroups, bug the people in charge at your site until they carry it; alternatively, you can also use DejaNews <http://www.dejanews.com> to browse Usenet newsgroups. You can also subscribe to an "ER" mailing list, for the purpose of discussing the show. Send an e-mail message to: listserv@psuvm.psu.edu with the text: subscribe ER-L [YourReal Name] in the body of the message. There are a number of World Wide Web sites devoted to "ER", and more every day. Here's a partial list: NBC's OFFICIAL PAGE: <http://www.nbc.com/tvcentral/shows/er/index.html> FAQ and EPISODE REVIEWS/SUMMARIES: The Alt.TV.ER Page: <http://www.digiserve.com/er/> ER FAQ <http://www.digiserve.com/er/erfaq0.html> by Rose "MotherFAQer" Cooper <erfaq@digiserve.com> ER Reviews/Summaries <http://www.digiserve.com/er/ersum.html> by Lisa Albert <kryativ1@aol.com> (also includes medical commentary by Mike "phloem" Sugimoto) The ERuk FAQ: <http://freespace.virgin.net/e.griffiths/faq.html> MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY: Stephan Suhocki's "Medspeak-The ER Dictionary": <http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/5196/index.html> To save space and avoid duplication of effort, all other ER links are now listed on The Alt.TV.ER Links page <http://www.digiserve.com/er/erlinks.html>. This page includes links to ER Fan pages, Fanfiction, and the Internet Movie Database (source for all kinds of info on the cast and crew). If you have a ER-based URL you'd like to be added to The Alt.TV.ER Links page, please send it to me <mailto:erfaq@digiserve.com> 8.3 What's a "spoiler" and why does it upset some people? With so many TV shows featuring cliffhanger-type plots this spring, this has become a hot topic in a lot of Usenet groups. Basically, a spoiler is any piece of information about an upcoming episode. It got that name because for those people who like to go into each episode knowing absolutely nothing but what happened in previous episodes, being told certain bits of information can "spoil" their enjoyment of that episode. Spoiler information can range from things as major as the fact that a character is going to die to something as relatively mundane as the fact that a certain seldom-seen character is going to make a surprise reappearance. Because some people don't mind knowing stuff in advance, it's okay to include spoilers in your posts, but there are a few basic guidelines to follow to avoid ticking people off: 1) Always insert the word "Spoiler" in your subject header, especially if you're following up to a thread that didn't originally have spoilers in it; 2) NEVER put an actual spoiler ("I can't believe Carter is going to get hit by a train!", for instance) in your subject header. (And that is an imaginary example, by the way.) Even if you were to leave Carter's name out in that particular example, the mere knowledge that *any* of the characters is going to get hit by a train constitutes a spoiler for most people. A good example of a spoiler-safe header is something like "What I heard about the season premiere - Spoiler."; 3) Try very hard to include a lot of blank lines in a post before the spoiler information, so that some unfortunate soul whose newsreader won't allow him/her to scan subject headers, won't unwittingly stumble across a spoiler. So, you may be asking, do I have to keep doing this for every episode in perpetuity? No. The generally accepted Usenet rule is that once an episode airs, spoilers don't apply to it. (Thanks to Alan Sepinwall <sepinwal@force.stwing.upenn.edu> for supplying the above text.) 4) In addition to the SPOILER category, Common Practice by the a.t.e. Old Hats says to please put some type of notation, category-wise, in your subject headers for the following types of posts: [TNT]: First suggested here by P.A. Behrer, the [TNT] category denotes discussion of episodes being shown on US TNT (syndicated cable), all of which will be reruns for a great majority of a.t.e'ers. While not strictly spoilers, discussions of long-past episodes tend to go over well-trod ground, which if not noted by the [TNT] category, might cause the more anal or easily aggravated amongst me...uh, us...to grit teeth at Yet Another mentioning of the factoid that, Hey, Doug Has A Son, Kewl! [OT] (or [TAN]): Sooner or later, almost every long thread (related group of posts, generally under the same subject header) will "suffer" from topic-drift. It's almost inevitable, and is often quite enjoyable. But if one knows one is *starting* a wholly-unrelated-to-ER post (i.e., "Why Rotties Are So Kewl!"), it is considered Good Manners to warn those of us who don't care to read wholly-unrelated-to-ER posts by including [OT] (Off-Topic) or [TAN] [Tangent] warnings in your subject line. Those who revel in OT posts are then free to revel at will, which should be done unharassed by those who don't. The usually snarky alt.tv.homicide currently has an excellent sample of OT-marked threads (though it is expected that once the off-season comes to a close, so will the majority of OT threads). 8.31 Any other "Rules Of The Road" for unsuspecting newbies? [...you know, Road, as in Information Su-- Gak. I loathe that term.] Sure buddy, thar's *always* rules... -First Rule Of Usenet: read the FAQ for the group you're on. Obviously, since you're here, you've passed this one. You are to be commended: not everybody does this, not even Old Weather-Beaten Grizzled Usenet Vets. -Second Rule Of Usenet: after you've read the FAQ, lurk (read without posting) awhile. The amount of lurk time isn't set-in-stone (neither are these rules, but there are, of course, consequences for breaking them, as you'll no doubt find out). The important thing to remember is, Every Question Has Been Asked Before. Just about, anyway. And usually, by certain someones that haven't followed the First Rule. Give it time, you'll get an answer. The other big reason for lurking awhile is, you get the "feel" of the newsgroup, the ebb and tide of its regulars, which helps you to discern between playful banter and downright seriousness. This is not an easy thing to pick up, even for Old Weather-Beaten Grizzled Usenet Vets, but it can be done a bit more easily by watching how other Old Weather-Beaten Grizzled Usenet Vets respond. Try it, you'll see. -Third Rule Of Usenet: you've read the FAQ. You've lurked. What to do now? Go to Disneyland...uh, I mean, try lurking a little bit longer. Just a little bit. You're allllllmost ready. -Fourth Rule Of Usenet: okay, so you say you're ready. Go for it. But remember this, if you don't remember any of the other Rules: DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY. It is a virtual certainty that Old Weather-Beaten Grizzled Usenet Vets, won't. (and, by the way, Rule 4a: don't use all-caps. That's called "shouting". Old Weather-Beaten Grizzled Usenet Vets tend to react strongly to that. Sensitive "ears" and all). (and, since we're here, Rule 4b: Context Matters. Any thread--that is, multiple posts on the same theme and subject line--is only as good as the posts it contains. And on Usenet, it is unwise to assume that the reader has read a thread from the very beginning. It's important, then, to quote some part of what you're responding to, in your response; otherwise, it's likely that no one will have any idea what you're talking about. Unfortunately, the opposite tendency some folks have, to include *everything* in a response, is just as bad, if not worse. It's one of the things that has earned generic AOLers--deserving or not--the wrath of Old Weather-Beaten Grizzled Usenet Vets. How to find the best balance is something that can't quite be covered in a FAQ, sad to say). (wait, there's one more--Rule 4c: Thems Pretty Pictures--But... "I have this kewel nude picture of Donald Anspaugh that I *know* everybody will want to see," I hear you saying; "can I post it here?" Short answer: "no, thank you." Long answer: a.t.e (as well as a.t.e.creative and probably u.t.m.e and i.t.e) are non-binary groups. Posting binaries to non-binary groups is a no-no, and is generally unwelcomed by readers and newsadmins alike. There are quite a few ER web pages out there; surely, one of the page owners would be delighted to include your image on their page if you ask them. Even if not, there are plenty of *.binaries newsgroups; please post your image there, and provide a "pointer" post here. The hoardes of fans who are dying to see Anspaugh butt nekkid, will be ever grateful). -Fifth Rule Of Usenet: Old Weather-Beaten Grizzled Usenet Vets got that way, generally, because they were once young fresh net.newbies like yourself. And, as such, they likely experienced all the flammage, derision, ridicule, and, eventually, acceptance, that you'll experience in your Travels Around Usenet. Things go a *lot* smoother if you just follow the guideposts that were created with you in mind (wasn't that nice of Them?) and kept in places aptly named, like news.announce.newusers (new Usenet user FAQs), news.newusers.questions (guess), and, on the web, "How to make the best use of Usenet News" <http://home.netscape.com/menu/netet/news2.html>, just to name three [Thanks Rebecca]. Go forth, read and be merry, for you are on your way to becoming an Old Weather-Beaten Grizzled Usenet Vet. Easy, eh? -Sixth Rule Of Usenet: Don't Feed The Trolls. Eh, what's a Troll?, I hear you asking. Well...do the stuff in Rules Two to Five first, then come back. We'll chat. 8.4 Where can I chat online with others about "ER"? WEB BBS: Shea Bennett recently started a Web-based BBS with multiple topics, called "Cook County, the ER Message Center", located at <http://homepages.force9.net/sheamus/ER>. I've had some experience with Web-based BBS's (good and bad), and I wish him luck with this. IRC: People gather on Thursday nights on IRC on the channel #ER to discuss, joke about, and just chat about ER. IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. The simplest way to see if you can get onto IRC is to type IRC at the command prompt of your service provider. If your system already has IRC installed the program should start to load and connect you. At any time, 24hrs a day, 365 days a year, there can be thousands of users on IRC at any given time. There also channels for discussing just about anything you can imagine. (And a few things you probably can't.) :) For example, #xf for X-Files Chat, #riskybus for playing Jeopardy, etc... If your system does not have IRC installed, you have 3 options: 1. See if someone else on your system has it compiled and get a copy from them. 2. Ask your system admin. to compile or add to your system for you. (I hope you have a very nice admin.) 3. Compile the program yourself. This can be very daunting for the novice user, and I suggest either option 1, or getting help from your system admin. There is also supposed to be telnet interfaces connections to IRC, but they are rare and extremely slow. If you plan on compiling IRC yourself, you can get a copy of the source from ftp at cs.bu.edu. (I think) If you already have IRC on your system (lucky you!), then after loading IRC, you will be presented with a command prompt. Type: /join #ER [to join the #ER channel] /leave #ER [to leave the #ER channel] /part #ER [same as above] /bye [to quit IRC] anything [to say something public on your channel eg. 'Hello everyone!' Note there is NO '/'] /msg Bill [to send a private message to Bill, or whoever you wish - just substitute their nick for Bill] /nick JCarter [change YOUR nickname to 'JCarter' or whatever you wish] /who #ER [to list who's on the #ER channel] If you want to more about IRC, I suggest getting the IRC FAQ. It is much more informative than my simple instructions. 8.5 Is there any "ER" fan fiction out there? Yes, quite a bit. And, as of April 30, 1998, there is a place on Usenet specifically for it: <alt.tv.er.creative>, the newsgroup for posting and discussing "ER"-related fan fiction ("fanfic"). Following is the charter of <alt.tv.er.creative>: Charter: Appropriate topics for alt.tv.er.creative include: "ER"-related fanfic ("ER" characters and general storyline) and discussion of "ER"-related fanfic. alt.tv.er.creative, unlike some *.creative newsgroups before it, would welcome "ER"-related fanfic itself, as well as discussion of that fanfic. Topics not appropriate include: discussion specific to the series itself (should be posted to alt.tv.er or uk.media.tv.er as applicable), spam, binaries, or other posts not involving "ER"-related fanfic. The general Alt.TV.ER FAQ, with links to "ER"-related fanfic websites can be found at <http://www.digiserve.com/er/>; alt.tv.er.creative may have its own specific FAQ created at a later time. In addition, there are a few ER fanfic webpages cropping up out there; many are now listed on The Alt.TV.ER Links page <http://www.digiserve.com/er/erlinks.html> (Note: this is neither an endorsement nor a denouncement of fan fiction. You be the judge...) *8.6 Thanks! Many thanks are due to the following people for their help and support: Scott "FAQer Emeritus" Hollifield scotth@cris.com [it goes without saying that I couldn't have done this without Scott's guidance. Though, since I said it, maybe it doesn't. Go without, that is. Hmmm...] Lisa Albert kryativ1@aol.com [Stepping into Scott's sizeable reviews-shoes couldn't have been easy, and your summaries have made it much easier for me to do the FAQ.] Mike Sugimoto phloem@fumbling.com [Thanks for picking up where James Siy left off, and for making me laugh so daggone hard. I share your trepidation, Mike, but hopefully the ER PTB won't be using too many goats this season...] *Phyl Behrer behrer@flash.net [Your OldER advice and tales have been tremendous, and I'm sure I'll get over that Chicago Bulls shrine. And oh yeah: thanks for all the fish.] Tirya (Stretcher-Bearer) tirya@enteract.com [...for founding the "MDI!!!B" and "PTR!!!B", and...] Peanut (Patch-Bearer) peanutbax@mindless.com [...for making the "Malik Did It!!!Brigade" parody page, located at <http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/6038/erct.html> My thanks to both of you for turning a frustration into a great bit o' humor.] "Mash" mash@step.polymtl.ca [...my Adopted Son, for being a tireless advocate of the ER FAQ] Michelle Hiley er@hiley.demon.co.uk P.A. Behrer behrer@flash.net Katy Lindemann Katy.Lindemann@btinternet.com Marny Helfrich marny.helfrich@vanderbilt.edu Peanut Baxley peanutbax@mindless.com [...for collaborating with me on "101 Reasons Why You Should Read The ER FAQ". That was a much-needed laugh, guys. Thanks muchly.] Adas pikula@softlab.ii.uj.edu.pl Stephanie Abba sabba@TrentU.ca Ailbhe colmb@iol.ie Arman Afagh afagha01@mchip00.med.nyu.edu Dana Akanova dkakanov@midway.uchicago.edu Sameer Bakhda sameerb@bigfoot.com Bettina Ball ball@downtown.oche.de Ken Basinger compken@earthlink.net Mary Battershell Marybatt@aol.com Alan Bayer Some Top Secret Installation... :) Shea Bennett sgb@trend-analysis.co.uk Jorgen Blasta jba@nn.mobitel.telia.se [Sorry dear; umlauts just don't translate well into text :] Mark Brighty 101355.1266@CompuServe.COM Jennifer Burt ccmail.arnold.af.mil Evan Bynum bynum@CS.ColoState.EDU Victor Chan vichan@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca Dave Chapman dave@cheers.demon.co.uk Joe Clark joeclark@hookup.net Kristen Clute kclute@qualcomm.com Tom Coates Tom.Coates@btinternet.com Cain Cochrane cw.cochrane@student.qut.edu.au Shlomi Codish codish@bgumail.bgu.ac.il S. Coulibaly SCoulibaly@aol.com Elizabeth Crotty crottye@uwec.edu Talitha Cumi <tali@total.net> C.V.M. c.moss@virgin.net John Dybala jdybala@holly.ColoState.EDU Jim Elek Ironman26@aol.com Mathew Englander mathew@unixg.ubc.ca Erin woodford@cyberway.com.sg Ben Espe espe@ucssun1.sdsu.edu euNiCe sci61412@leonis.nus.sg Tim Evans tjevans@datasync.com Martin Feldkircher Martin.Feldkircher@mzes.uni-mannheim.de Brent Fogel bfogel@post.its.mcw.edu David Frazer dfrazer@netcomuk.co.uk Michael James Gebis mjg51721@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu Gio' giova@lunet.it Moritz Gmeiner Moritz.Gmeiner@stud.uni-regensburg.de Ed Griffiths e.griffiths@virgin.net Kathy Graydon gray@io.com G. A. Hartl hartlg@who.ch 'Hazell' Hazell@aol.com Victoria Hannan bobgirl@hotmail.com Simo S. Heiskanen sheiskan@cc.helsinki.fi Stephen Hollis steveh@kentoday.demon.co.uk Barbara Hlavin ceon@u.washington.edu (aka "Ceon Ramon") Freddy Ishizuka HAE02711@niftyserve.or.jp Cindy Jacobson cjacobso@crom.jjc.cc.il.us Heath James heath@cs.adelaide.edu.au David Jenks, MD jenks.david@mayo.edu Jiaquing Bao g834411@Oz.nthu.edu.tw Amy Heather Johnson AHJOHNSO@smith.smith.edu Barb Johnson 21329BJ@MSU.EDU Peter C. Jones petercj@camelot.bradley.edu Connie Krantman ckrantman@techsupp.com William Kucharski kucharsk@netcom.com Daniel Lander hbjou008@email.csun.edu C.J. Lehr, EMT-D cjl1782@rit.edu Loic Le Rou lobien@mail.club-internet.fr Mariane L'Veil' mes@accent.net Christy Linders ag954@ccn.cs.dal.ca Roger O. Longenbach, CRT rl@wam.umd.edu Mandy jez@candyman.demon.co.uk Paul S. Manson pmanson@inforamp.net Nadine Maraldo nadmar@ozemail.com.au Robert Means RM@delphi.delphi-int.org James Meek jbm@u.washington.edu Monique Monique6ft@aol.com Antonello Migliorini miglio@biella.alpcom.it Tinita Mitchell tmmitche@mailbox.syr.edu Michelle Morrison morman@ksu.ksu.edu Milena Mulinacci milena.mulinacci@altair.it Nancy ftfarkas@3-cities.com Adam Newman csp@ripco.com Brian Nixon nixonb@dcs.kcl.ac.uk Darren Parker djp@dlc.zetnet.co.uk Nikki Purvis jetwolf@ix.netcom.com Cristina Walstad Pulido c.w.pulido@sosiologi.uio.no Michael Rack mrack@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu Tanya Reece treece@vt.edu Ana Beatriz dos Anjos Ribeiro Rodrigues anjos@rio.nutecnet.com.br Angel Salguero salguero@lander.es Claire Sanford claire@starbase.neosoft.com Jeff Sass jms12@cs.wustl.edu Alan Sepinwall sepinwal@mail2.sas.upenn.edu Scott Drone-Silvers dsilvers@prairienet.org Bill Skeen Skeen@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu Pete Smith prs@aber.ac.uk Brian Soriano BDSoriano@aol.com Steve sjcole@sos.on.ca John Stuart jstu@engin.umich.edu Shannon Patrick Sullivan shannon@morgan.ucs.mun.ca Miyuki Takahashi takam@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca John Oliver Sy Tanbonliong johntan@uclink3.berkeley.edu Susan Taylor taylors@u.washington.edu Brooks Teeter 103707.103@CompuServe.COM Tim capstack_t@msdisk.wustl.edu Mark VandeKamp mevk@u.washington.edu Tammy Winn twi166@airmail.net Judy Zeitler zeitler@ct.picker.com ...plus anyone I might have overlooked. If you see your address in the above list and it needs correcting or updating, email me <mailto:erfaq@digiserve.com> -- Rose "MotherFAQer" Cooper, Keeper Of The Mostly New And Somewhat Improved ER FAQ EMAIL: erfaq@digiserve.com ICQ: 7760005 http://digiserve.com/er/ http://manetheren.cl.msu.edu/~bambam/ User Contributions:
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ER FAQ 5.00, Section 8: Finding Out More About "ER" (8/8)
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