That's the Best you Could Write?

I was in college when ER started. I remember it clearly because I was following Michael Crichton's (RIP) works having loved Jurassic Park. ER was played in the bar all the time at the pizza joint I worked. I watched it some the first year, but never watched after I moved to Chicago unless someone I knew was a guest star, which happened less than five times. So tonight, I'm watching the finale of a show I don't like that much but respect for its longevity. Thinking that a show lasting 15 friggin years would go out with a bang, I figured I'd take a look.

The finale wasn't a bang, but the real thud came from the advertisements for ER's replacement. It's pretty much an automatic death to take the spot of something that's been successful for so long. Anyone remember what replaced M.A.S.H., Happy Days, Cheers, or Friends? Didn't think so. NBC's marketing department poured a little more poison on the show starting the replacement show ad thusly: "As one great drama ends, another takes its place." This forces the replacement show to measure up to its predecessor's success, but the real marketing suicide happened in the dialogue chosen for the ad:

"You're a cop because you don't know how not to be one."

Hwa-ba-da-HUH?

Now I'm guilty of being verbose and nonsensical but come on. What's worse is that someone wrote that for TV, then someone else thought that was a great way to advertise the show, and no one stopped them. Too bad. I know some things in the marketing world can't be stopped and there are plenty of unstoppably bad ideas that somehow get approved. Maybe the show is actually good. Those involved better hope the marketing department just didn't promote the show well, because here's the final kicker: I can't even remember the name of the show that's replacing ER. The crap-ass dialogue was the only thing that made an impression on me. Best of luck.