Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing St. Elsewhere, a medical show which ran on NBC from 1982 to 1988.  The show can be found on Daily Motion.

This week, season 3 comes to an end.

Episode 3.24 “Cheers”

(Dir by Bruce Paltrow, originally aired on March 27th, 1985)

It’s Easter at St. Eligius and, of course, everyone is a bit depressed.  While the patients in the Children’s Ward prepare for the annual Easter egg hunt (and are told about the magic Golden Egg), a man who dresses like Jesus is attacked by a bunch of vagrants and wheeled into the Emergency Room.  Meanwhile, Dr. Craig is shaken to learn that his mentor, Dr. David Domedion (Dean Jagger), is suffering from dementia and Dr. Auschlander worries about his wife as she undergoes heart surgery.

And yet somehow, Dr. Westphall still manages to be the most depressed person in the hospital.

I have to admit that, over the course of this season, I’ve grown a bit frustrated with Dr. Westphall and his nonstop depression.  At least one terrible thing has happened to every character on the show but they’ve all managed to continue on with their lives and their careers.  Dr. Westphall is selling his house and, as a result, he’s spent a year having an existential crisis.  Dr. Asuchlander is terminally ill and he still manages to smile occasionally.  I realize that I’m probably being too hard on Westphall but seriously …. cheer up, old man!  People love you!

This rather dark and depressing episode features an odd moment when Westphall, Crag, and Auschlander go to a neighborhood bar and talk about life.  Their conversation is serious but the bar is Cheers, which was the setting of a popular sitcom of the same name in the 80s.  (Dr. Frasier Crane first appeared on Cheers, though he’s sadly not present in this episode.)  While the doctors wrestle with their misery, the bar regulars make jokes.

Barmaid Carla (Rhea Pearlman) gives them a hard time when she discovers that they work at St. Eligius.  In fact, the entire bar seems to groan at the hospital’s name.

Bar regular Norm (George Wendt) is also Auschlander’s former accountant.  Norm apologizes for losing Auschlander a good deal of money.  Then Norm goes back to drinking.  Maybe don’t hire an alcoholic to be your accountant.

Postman Cliff (future PIXAR regular John Ratzenberger) tries to get free medical advice.  The doctors aren’t in the mood.

It’s an odd scene but there’s still a definite charm to it.  It’s as if the show’s writers were acknowledging how difficult it can be to take Westphall’s nonstop glumness and they were puncturing his self-absorption a little by having the cast of another show attempt to steal the spotlight from all of his problems.  This episode seems to be saying, “There’s a world outside of St. Eligius and it’s full of day drinkers.”

Still, the scene is ultimately about Dr. Westphall.  At the end of it, he announces that he’s done with being a doctor.  He’s going to retire.  He’s going to leave St. Eligius and presumably find a new group of people to depress.  Well, good for him.

The episode ends with Westphall leaving the hospital, perhaps for the last time.  As he leaves, he spots and picks up the Golden Easter Egg.

Hey, Westphall, that egg is for the kids!

Next week, we start a new season!