Nurses (TV series)
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| Nurses | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Sitcom |
| Created by | Susan Harris |
| Starring | Arnetia Walker Stephanie Hodge (1991-1993) Mary Jo Keenen Carlos Lacamara Jeff Altman (1991-1992) Florence Stanley (1991-1992) David Rasche (1992-1994) Loni Anderson (1993-1994) Kip Gilman Markus Flanagan (1992-1993) Ada Maris |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 67 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | September 14, 1991 – May 7, 1994 |
Nurses was a television sitcom that ran on NBC from 1991 to 1994, developed and produced by Susan Harris as a spin-off of Empty Nest (which in turn was a spin-off of The Golden Girls).
The show revolved around a group of nurses working at the same hospital as Empty Nest's Dr. Harry Weston. Initially, the main characters were strong-willed nurse Annie Roland (Arnetia Walker), sarcastic nurse Sandy Miller (Stephanie Hodge), dim-witted nurse Julie Milbury (Mary Jo Keenen) and Latina nurse Gina Cuevas (Ada Maris) who frequently reminisced about her (un-named) homeland. Also in the cast were arrogant Dr. Hank Kaplan (Kip Gilman), wise-cracking orderly Paco Ortiz (Carlos Lacamara) and flaky nurse Greg Vincent (Jeff Altman). In addition, Florence Stanley had a recurring role during the first season as Dr. Riskin.
Changes were made however after the first season. In an effort to boost ratings, David Rasche joined the cast in the second season as Jack Trenton, a slimy white-collar criminal forced to perform community service at the hospital and in the final season Loni Anderson joined the cast as new hospital administrator Casey McAfee. Other changes included the addition of Markus Flanagan as Luke Fitzgerald for the second season only, the dropping of the theme song altogether, having nurse Gina and Dr. Hank Kaplan get married (Gina being pregnant with Dr. Hank's child), and oddly, having nurse Gina's extremely thick Spanish accent competely disappear. Nurse Greg Vincent was also written off after season one. In the show's final season, nurse Sandy was gone, and the show's focus moved increasingly from the nurses to the antics of Jack Trenton and his sidekick Paco the orderly.
The ratings failed to improve, however, and NBC cancelled the show after its third season.
[edit] Opening Sequences
In the beginning, Nurses had a very original opening sequence which slightly set the show apart from its Saturday night Susan Harris-produced neighbors. The first two seasons had the title appear in thin, red Compacta or Impact font against a white background with a pulsating red heart rhythm line. The first season only, however, expanded on this graphic look by featuring CGI outlines of each cast member against the white, which would travel into live-action video footage of the characters as they worked around the hospital. The only constant between Nurses and other Susan Harris shows was the use of Craw Clarendon Bold font for the credits. The first season also had the sensual, lyrical theme song "Here I Am", which definitely played more into the emotions of viewers.
The second season saw changes in the credits. The show's title display remained the same, but the animated outlines of the cast members were eliminated and the theme song was changed to an upbeat instrumental with a bouncy Latin beat. The third season for the most part saw a truncated opening sequence with yet another instrumental melody, dominated by flutes and piano. The Nurses title logo, still set against white, was now in a bold variation of Arial font and had a small lowercase display of the title appear (in white) along a giant, capitalized version of the name (in purple). Many episodes just featured the title briefly as a "cold open", and the cast and principal crew members were credited during the first scene of the show. When a traditional, full version of the sequence aired, black-and-white video insets of each cast member appeared against the white, while the actors names (in thin Arial) floated into place below them.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] External links
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