History Series / StElsewhere

* MonochromePast: In "Time Heals, Part 1", all of the 1935 sequences are shown in black and white. The first 1935 scene in "Time Heals, Part 2" begins in black and white but changes to full color when the six-year-old Donald Westphall sees Patrick O'Casey's blood on the floor as he is being brought into St. Eligius. From then onwards, each 1935 scene is in black and white for the first few seconds before changing to color.

* ShoutOut:
** In "Legionnaires, Part 2", the psychiatrist Dr. Beale is heard speaking with someone on the phone: "[[Series/{{Bewitched}} Mrs. Stephens]], I don't think your daughter-in-law is a witch...You saw it levitate?...Well, perhaps it was an optical illusion."
** Overheard on the hospital PA at least once: "[[Film/TheThreeStooges Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard...]]"
** Byron Stewart plays Warren Coolidge, an orderly. It turns out this is the same character that he played in ''Series/TheWhiteShadow''. When Timothy Van Patten guest stars as Dean in the episode "Any Portrait in a Storm", [[CelebrityParadox they run into each other]]. Warren says "Hey Salami!" but Dean tells him he must be confusing him with someone else.
** In "Strikeout", Dr. Literature/TomSwift is paged.
** In "Dr. Wyler, I Presume", Dr. Craig mentions that he and [[Series/{{MASH}} his old Army buddy B.J.]] encountered exploding bullets during UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. He mentions B.J. again in "Brand New Bag".
** In "Close Encounters", Elliot Carlin - played by Jack Riley, reprising his role from ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow'' - describes ''Series/TheWhiteShadow'' as a great show and says that whoever came up with it was "a real smoothie." ''The White Shadow'' was created by Bruce Paltrow, the executive producer of ''St. Elsewhere''. John Doe #6 later becomes convinced that he is Mary Richards from ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' and its closing credits, complete with the MTM Productions logo and its mascot Mimsie the Cat, are seen. When Dr. Auschlander is asked what television character he would be if had the chance, he picks Trapper John as he is a doctor who is always cool under pressure and never loses a patient. As with the other shows mentioned, ''Trapper John, M.D.'' was an MTM production.
** Also in "Close Encounters", Captain Gloria Neal refers to [[Series/IDreamOfJeannie Commander Healey of NASA]].
** In "Time Heals, Part 2", Dr. Westphall tells his wife Maureen in a flashback to 1975 that Dr. {{MacGuffin}} gave him two tickets for a whodunnit play.
** In "Come Home, Oh Sapien", Carol Novino likes the song "Rock 'n' Roll High School" and Lizzie Westphall tells her that she should watch the [[Film/RockAndRollHighSchool film]]. This episode was directed by Allan Arkush, who also directed ''Rock 'n' Roll High School''.
** In "E.R.", Dr. Craig complains to his wife Ellen that their house "looks like the day after ''Film/TheDayAfter''."
** The title of "Where There's Hope, There's Crosby" refers to the ''Film/RoadTo'' film series starring Creator/BobHope and Creator/BingCrosby.
** In "Where There's Hope, There's Crosby", Dr. Craig goes to see a specialist named Dr. [[Theatre/SweeneyTodd Todd Sweeney]] after injuring his hand.
** In "Getting Ahead", Carol Novino says to Dr. Bedder, "[[Film/BringMeTheHeadOfAlfredoGarcia Bring me the head of Bill Belvedere]]."
** In "Schwarzwald", Helen Rosenthal's son-in-law Klaus Brinkmann mentions that his father and brother run the Schwarzwaldklinik in West Germany. This is a reference to the West German medical drama ''Die Schwarzwaldklinik'' (known as ''The Black Forest Clinic'' in English) in which the titular hospital was run by the Brinkmann family.
** In "Good Vibrations", Ebenezer and Marley Wright are named after Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley from ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''.
** Also in "Good Vibrations", Dr. Craig says, "This is a [[Film/RiskyBusiness risky business]] but I'm a [[Film/TopGun top gun]] so we're going to [[Creator/TomCruise cruise]] through this."
** In "Heart On", Dr. Craig says that it won't be [[Film/ADayAtTheRaces a day at the races]] or [[Film/ANightAtTheOpera a night at the opera]] for Henry Spooner after his artificial heart is installed. Later in the episode, Jack Morrison is reading a newspaper with his photo on the back. Someone has drawn on it with marker to make him look like Creator/GrouchoMarx.
** The recurring surgical resident Dr. Steven Kiley, who appears in every season except the fifth, is named after Creator/JamesBrolin's character in ''Series/MarcusWelbyMD''.
** There are multiple shout-outs in the SeriesFinale "The Last One". Warren chases a [[Series/TheFugitive one-armed fugitive named Mr. Mirkin, who is Dr. Kimble's patient]]. [[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow The hospital barber Floyd Shapiro]] cuts Mr. Pearson's hair. Griffin says that Floyd "[[Main/{{Pun}} may bury]] us all." Novino performs an autopsy on "Patient [[Series/{{MASH}} #4077, Blake, Henry]]. Cause of death: [[McLeaned plane crash]]." Later, she, Fiscus, Morrison and Jackie Wade have a group hug. Fiscus suggests that they sing "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", as the former staff of WJM did in ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' series finale "The Last Show".

** In "Close Encounters", the amnesiac mental patient John Doe #6 comes to believe that he is Mary Richards from ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' after seeing it on television. He mistakes Captain Gloria Neal, who is played by Creator/BettyWhite, for the happy homemaker Sue Ann Nevins, White's character on the series. Captain Neal explains that he has confused her with someone else.

** In "Split Decision", Dr. Auschlander mentions that Chaplain Claire [=McCabe=] and Penny Franks are watching an Creator/AlfredHitchcock film. Norman Lloyd appeared in two Hitchcock films, ''Film/{{Saboteur}}'' and ''Film/{{Spellbound}}''. He also produced ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents'' as well as directing and appearing in numerous episodes.

* TenMinuteRetirement: In the Season Three finale "Cheers", Dr. Westphall resigns as the Director of Medicine of St. Eligius in order to help victims of the famine in UsefulNotes/{{Ethiopia}}. In the final scene of the Season Four premiere "Remembrance of Things Past", which takes place one month later, he returns to the hospital. In the next episode "Fathers and Sons", Westphall explains that the experience taught him that UsefulNotes/{{Boston}} was where he was most needed.

** There are multiple shout-outs in the SeriesFinale "The Last One". Warren chases a [[Series/TheFugitive one-armed fugitive named Mr. Mirkin, who is Dr. Kimble's patient]]. [[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow The hospital barber Floyd Shapiro]] cuts Mr. Pearson's hair. Griffin says that Floyd [[Main/{{Pun}} may bury]] us all." Novino performs an autopsy on "Patient [[Series/{{MASH}} #4077, Blake, Henry]]. Cause of death: [[McLeaned plane crash]]." Later, she, Fiscus, Morrison and Jackie Wade have a group hug. Fiscus suggests that they sing "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", as the former staff of WJM did in ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' series finale "The Last Show".

* WeightWoe: In "Cramming", it is revealed that Wendy Armstrong has struggled with bulimia for years. In the following episode "Rough Cut", she tells Helen Rosenthal that it is due to the fact that she always felt pressure to be the perfect daughter, the perfect student and more recently the perfect doctor. [[spoiler: The resulting depression leads Wendy to commit suicide in the latter episode.]]

* {{Revenge}}: Shirley Daniels [[spoiler:shoots Dr. White to avenge the rape of Cathy Martin]]. If you watch the scene carefully, you'll see that she actually [[spoiler:shoots him twice]]...and, appropriately, [[spoiler:the first shot [[GroinAttack isn't to the heart]]]].

** Byron Stewart plays Warren Coolidge, an orderly. It turns out this is the same character that he played in ''Series/TheWhiteShadow''. When Timothy Van Patten guest stars as Dean in the episode "Any Portrait in a Storm," [[CelebrityParadox they run into each other]]. Warren says "Hey Salami!" but Dean tells him he must be confusing him with someone else.

** In "Close Encounters", Elliot Carlin - played by Jack Riley, reprising his role from ''Series/TheBobNewhartShow'' - describes ''Series/TheWhiteShadow'' as a great show and says that whoever came up with it was "a real smoothie." ''The White Shadow'' was created by Bruce Paltrow, the executive producer of ''St. Elsewhere''. John Doe #6 later becomes convinced that he is Mary Richards from ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' and its closing credits, complete with the MTM Productions logo and its mascot Mimsie the Cat are seen. When Dr. Auschlander is asked what television character he would be if had the chance, he picks Trapper John as he is a doctor who is always cool under pressure and never loses a patient. As with the other shows mentioned, ''Trapper John, M.D.'' was an MTM production.

** "Where There's Hope, There's Crosby" begins with the camera panning around what appears to be the emergency room of St. Eligius. When the camera reaches the entrance to the hospital, Luther's giant smiling face is seen. It turns out that it is a model that Drs. Westphall and Auschlander had made for the hospital's founder Father Joseph [=McCabe=].

* CallBack: Early in Season 1, a sociopathic domestic terrorist detonates a bomb in a bank, killing and wounding many, including the bomber. The casualties are brought to St. Eligius, including the bomber. The husband of one of the victims comes to the hospital, and after his wife dies ends up wandering around aimlessly throughout the episode. Finally, when the time comes to transfer the bomber to the US Marshals, the distraught husband appears out of nowhere and shoots the bomber dead. Roll credits. Now, flash forward several seasons. Boomer Morrison is volunteering at a prison clinic, where he ends up treating the husband who's been serving hard time for murdering the bomber. Somehow during the episode, a prison riot breaks out, Boomer ends up being taken hostage by the husband who then proceeds to make with the prison rape.

* NapoleonDelusion: "[[YouAreNumberSix John Doe #6]]", a patient in the psych ward who suffered from [[IdentityAmnesia amnesia]] and imagined himself at various times to be different people including [[Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow Mary Richards]], John [=McEnroe=], and Dr. Craig.

** In "Split Decision", Dr. Auschlander mentions that Chaplain Claire [=McCabe=] and Penny Franks are watching an Creator/AlfredHitchcock film. Norman Lloyd appears in two Hitchcock films, ''Film/{{Saboteur}}'' and ''Film/{{Spellbound}}'', and produced ''Series/AlfredHitchcockPresents''.

** In "Hearts" and "Remission", it is mentioned that Dr. Auschlander is a fan of Creator/CharlieChaplin films. Norman Lloyd, a good friend of Chaplin's, played Bodalink in his final American-made film ''Film/{{Limelight}}''.
** In "After Dark", Shirley Daniels goes to the morgue to get "the report on [[Series/KnightRider that Hasselhoff car wreck]]," referencing Creator/WilliamDaniels' concurrent role as the voice of KITT.

** This happens to Dr. Vijay Kochar, a regular character in the first two seasons. His appearances only get rarer as the series progresses.

** There are multiple shout-outs in the SeriesFinale "The Last One". Warren chases a [[Series/TheFugitive one-armed fugitive named Mr. Merkin, who is Dr. Kimble's patient]]. [[Series/TheAndyGriffithShow The hospital barber Floyd Shapiro]] cuts Mr. Pearson's hair. Griffin says that Floyd [[Main/{{Pun}} may bury]] us all." Novino performs an autopsy on "Patient [[Series/{{MASH}} #4077, Blake, Henry]]. Cause of death: [[McLeaned plane crash]]." Later, she, Fiscus, Morrison and Jackie Wade have a group hug. Fiscus suggests that they sing "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", as the former staff of WJM did in ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' series finale "The Last Show".

** In the SeriesFinale "The Last One", there are several examples. In the opening scene, Fiscus treats a patient named General Sarnoff who is having trouble with his optic nerves. Fiscus tells him that it is a great network but he shouldn't damage it by spending all of his time watching television. General David Sarnoff was the founder of Creator/{{NBC}}. While chasing the [[Series/TheFugitive one-armed fugitive Mr. Merkin]], Warren Coolidge says, "Move the gurney, Hal!" Hal Gurnee was the regular director of ''[[Series/LateNight Late Night with David Letterman]]''. Later, there is a new first year resident named Dr. Brandon Falsey, who is named after the Creator/{{NBC}} president Brandon Tartikoff and ''St. Elsewhere'''s co-creators Joshua Brand and John Falsey.

* ShoutOut: Oh, goodness. (And yes, these only make the final scene even more strange.)

** In "Sweet Dreams", Music/ZZTop perform their song "Legs" in Luthor's music video inspired dream in which he and the Eliminator girls have fun around the hospital.

* AnnoyingPatient: Mrs. Hufnagel manages to insult, belittle, annoy or offend every single prominent character, with the exception of Bobby Caldwell whom she charms.

** Warren Coolidge, who previously appeared as a main character in ''Series/TheWhiteShadow'', is an orderly at St. Eligius. However, "Close Encounters" establishes that ''The White Shadow'' is a televison show.

** Robert Wade, Dr. Wade's husband.

* KilledOffForReal:
** Main characters who were KilledOffForReal include [[spoiler:Dr. White]] (shot by [[spoiler:Shirley Daniels]]), [[spoiler:Nina Morrison]]'s sudden death due to a freak slip-and-fall head injury, [[spoiler:Wendy Armstrong]]'s suicide, [[spoiler:Mrs. Hufnagel]] getting eaten by her hospital bed, [[spoiler:Elliot Axelrod]]'s heart attack., and [[spoiler:Dr. Auschlander]]'s death in the finale.

* {{Revenge}}: Shirley Daniels [[spoiler:shoots Dr. White to avenge the rape of Cathy Martin]]. If you watch the scene carefully, you'll see that she actually [[spoiler:shoots him twice]]...and, appropriately, [[spoiler:the first shot [[GroinAttack isn't to the heart]]]].

* StylisticSuck: In "Heaven's Skate", the [=DXter=] clinical computer simulation is poorly shot and is filled with BadBadActing and poor dialogue.

* SurvivorsGuilt: In "Time Heals, Part 2", the sixteen-year-old Donald Westphall suffers from severe survivor's guilt in 1945 as his mother Elizabeth and three siblings were killed in a fire ten years earlier. His father Thomas was the only other member of his family to survive. As a result of this guilt, Westphall became a juvenile delinquent but Father Joseph [=McCabe=] helped him to get his life on track.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The Season 4 two-parter "Time Heals", in which St. Eligius celebrates its 50th anniversary, features extensive flashbacks:

** In the morgue: "Patient [[Series/{{MASH}} #4077, Blake, Henry]]. Cause of death: [[McLeaned plane crash]]."
** Reference is made to a one-armed patient being sought by a "[[Series/TheFugitive Dr. Kimble]]".

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The Season 4 two-parter "Time Heals", in which St. Eligius celebrates its 50th anniversary, features extensive flashbacks.

** In 1965, Craig returns to St. Eligius after ten years at Boston General and becomes the new chief of surgery. Helen Rosenthal (then Eisenberg) emigrates to the US shortly after marrying her first husband Edgar and begins working at the hospital as a nurse.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The Season 4 two-parter "Time Heals", in which St. Eligius celebrates its 50th anniversary, features extensive flashbacks:

* {{Southies}}: Considering that St. Eligius is in the South End of Boston, many of the patients fall into this category. The same is true of Dr. Westphall, who has lived in his entire life in the area.